PR Not BS

Hosted by Fiona Scott

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134

Latest episode

Aug 2026

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About the show

Fiona Scott is a straight talking PR professional, a former TV journalist who has run a successful PR company for 14 years. Fiona dispels the smoke and mirrors around the world of public relations and instead presents you with practical advice, hints, tips and inspiration.

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September 1, 202638 min

Joe Tompkinson talks about going from policing to tech

Hosted by Fiona Scott, today’s podcast welcomes Joe Tompkinson. Joe is one of the founders of the Swindon based tech company called MyMarketr. Joe explains how their company helps to support people with their marketing at a very reasonable price. He goes on to say how this is a really exciting time for business as there is so much happening in the tech industry. Joe begins his podcast by telling the audience how tech hasn’t always been his career and that he was originally a police officer for fourteen years. Joe was also featured as a policeman on the TV show ‘999 What’s your emergency?’. He goes on to say that policing was always a big part of his life and identity but after fourteen good years in the police force, he felt it was time for a change. He states how he made great friends through the show including cameramen, who are still great friends of his today. Fiona asks Joe how he made the leap from policing to tech and IT. Joe explains that he has always been a ‘proper techy geek’ and even when in the police force, he loved to test out new equipment. His background before the police was security through sales marketing. He feels his interest in Tech is something that has always been there, even if only behind the scenes for a long time. Joe goes on to share that he feels he is now ‘exactly where he’s supposed to be’ and feels very content with the path his life has taken. He explains how he built up a tech business at home alongside policing. He built up a great side gig which worked well with his family dynamics and having three young kids. However, his wife told him that she didn’t see him policing for much longer. He enjoyed the job, but the tech side of things was making enough money that he finally took the leap to doing tech full time. Fiona says that she has joined to use Joe’s service because she writes a lot of stories etc. and MyMarketr has helped her to consider how people are searching for people on the internet. She explains how this really worked for her business. She explains that as a busy business owner, it can be hard to find the time to do everything so it’s really helpful to have this level of support. Fiona asks Joe what makes her a good client for him, and he explains that it was a ‘great win’ for him. He talks about the keywords that need to be used for a lot of AI platforms. Google wants high-quality content and having relevant content on your website, leads people to your blogs etc. MyMarketr looks at what content you need on your website in the broadest sense and focuses a great deal on your competitors, what they are doing, what is the gap between you and them etc. It helps to build content strategies that build up your business and online presence. He also talks about how MyMarketr aims to push their clients beyond their competitors to help them take the lead. He also explains that AI is being used a lot more now to search for things, so we need to make sure we are doing what we need to do for AI to make sure businesses, and business owners don’t get left behind. Joe and Fiona also go on to discuss how important making mistakes is in business. Joe recalls at the beginning when his support system failed, and he had to email all his clients to let them know that they were investigating the issue but that he was there if needed. He also goes on to say that this event led to him giving clients his WhatsApp number which meant that he built a stronger relationship with them. In his words ‘you can’t put a price on that.’ Therefore, reiterating that building relationships and having that personal touch in an increasingly digital world, can really make a difference. Fiona talks about how she’s been using it to manage her domain authority. Domain authority is a score from 1 to 100 created by Moz that predicts how well a website will rank on search engine results pages. The higher the score means a better rank. This is the trust you build with Google. Joe says that one of his main goals is to give business owners more time to work on the business. He says getting feedback from clients is really important to help them understand what can push the business and increase their domain authority. Fiona goes on to discuss with Joe the fears many journalists have around using AI. While AI offers many positives, it also has negatives and it’s clear that AI is taking jobs from people in some sectors. Joe agrees and understands why AI can be so controversial. Fiona then asks Joe how he gets around copyright issues when using visuals and images with MyMarketr. Joe responds with ‘We use royalty free imagery and another thing you can do is use AI generated imagery.’ Photography is an art form and finding the right person to take your images is really important. Joe stresses the importance of clients using authentic imagery because people can tell when AI has been used too much. Joe reminds listeners to remember the importance of having your own mobile device to take photos on. This way the images belong to you and there can be no copyright issues. He explains that ‘you don’t have to go far in your own home or office to find images that can be relevant to the point you are trying to make online.’ He does say that you can’t beat a great photographer with professional images, but not everyone has the budget for this straight away.’ Fiona finishes the podcast by asking Joe, ‘Is there anything coming up in 2027 that we can look forward to for MyMarketr?’ Joe says that he’s always been obsessed with having everything just available to you as a business owner. He wants MyMarketr to integrate into other things. Especially Chrome and Adobe. He wants to create My Companion, a marketing companion that can flag up something and say such and such has just released this and you should write about this...’ The idea is to showcase things for clients using AI that can sit in the toolbar and organise things for you with prompts. You can contact Joe at MyMarketr.io or on LinkedIn, Facebook and TikTok. To get in touch with Fiona and the Scott Media team, visit www.scottmedia.uk . Join our free Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe

August 18, 202634 min

Dr Deborah Cohen talks medicine, marketing and misinformation

Hosted by Fiona Scott, today’s podcast welcomes Dr Deborah Cohen. Dr Deborah Cohen is an award winning medically qualified broadcaster, journalist, editor and author who has worked across mainstream and academic print, digital, TV and radio. Deborah begins by introducing herself to the audience. She explains that she’s written a book called ‘Bad Influence: How the internet hijacked our health.’ Deborah tells us that the premise of the book is to get the reader to question whether what they’re seeing online is medicine, or is it marketing? Often there are techniques and tricks that are being used which we don’t understand as ‘evidence-based medicine.’ (The idea that the treatments you get, in the NHS for example, are based on robust medical evidence). Fiona then asks Deborah why she decided to write the book. Deborah states initially, that she trained to be a doctor and worked on the BMJ (British Medical Journal) for about 12 years and she set up their investigative journalism. Deborah worked with Panorama, Dispatches, Channel 4 news, The Telegraph and as part of the international consortium of investigative journalists. Later, she decided to go freelance and was recruited by Newsnight to do some of their health and science content. In 2019, she was doing more investigative research but in 2020, Covid hit. Her editor realised they had someone on the team with a medical background and wanted to use this to their advantage. They asked her to be on the health team. Deborah recounts the time of panic, distress and uncertainty. She talks about the phenomenal pressure she faced and the rise in social media, mainly because people were stuck at home with nothing else to do. Then she was headhunted by ITV news to be their science editor. She talks about how burnt out she was but that it was a great experience. After deciding to leave, Deborah thought she would go back to doing documentaries. However, the market had totally changed. She notes how even the BBC where she had worked for years, wanted more ‘influencer’ type people reporting on quite heavy affairs. She came to a crossroads and had to decide what to do next and she realised she needed to understand social media better, especially since the internet is a place many are now going for their health information. She shares that the book started from a conversation she had with her cousin’s friend in her aunty’s garden about an AMH test. An (Anti Malarian Hormone Test) to see how fertile she was. Deborah said to her, is it really going to tell you that though? And the lady’s reply was, ‘well that's what it says on Insta.’ Deborah told her that fertility is much more complex than just AMH and there are many other factors involved. Deborah explained that if she was going to go to her GP about her fertility anyway then the test was redundant and was a waste of money. This struck Deborah as a real issue because it was being marketed as a fertility test, which really concerned her. Her friends were also getting information about HRT, ADHD and full body testing on social media, which she felt she had to take a closer look at. Deborah explains how this book took her on a really interesting journey to understanding the impact that social media can be having on our physical health as well as our mental health. She describes the book as a science book that tells a story. Her book has now been shortlisted for an award. Fiona then goes on to discuss with Deborah how algorithms can be damaging. Algorithms can’t ‘see’ the difference between good and bad; they just see interaction which leads to more of the same content. Interacting with bad messages leads to more bad messages. Fiona then asks Deborah if she believes there are any answers to tackling this issue. Deborah says that medical professionals need to be everywhere. Fiona also discusses with De Deborah about the misinformation spread online about weight loss jabs and how the healthcare profession is facing more challenges than ever before. Dr Deborah goes on to talk about how social media has allowed damaging advertising to go directly from pharmaceutical companies to consumers now. This never used to be the case but now this can be so hard to regulate. She talks about how we used to always consider someone healthy until proven sick, whereas now it can be considered sick until proven healthy. Is it normal for us to continually be questioning what illnesses we may have? Dr Deborah also talks about the fearmongering that is caused by this and that companies are profiting from scaring consumers. Fiona asks Dr Deborah if she thinks we are losing the ability to think critically about what we post on social media. Deborah says she doesn’t think it’s about thinking critically, she thinks it’s more about our lack of exposure to this level of information. For example, Americans are used to drug ads because they’ve grown up with them and a healthcare system that is privatised and commercialised. Whereas, in the UK, we are not used to it. The two go on to discuss the similarities in their fields and how medicine and journalism link. Fiona then asks Dr Deborah what her plans are for next year. Dr Deborah shares that she still wants to do journalism and promote her book. She says how the book is a different experience than she’s had before. She’s really glad how well her book has landed and the reach it’s had all over the world and she wants this to continue. Fiona expresses that she feels Dr Deborah will be able to write another book connecting with likeminded healthcare professionals. Deborah’s book is available at all bookshops. You can contact her via Instagram and LinkedIn. Her handles are DebCohen001. To get in touch with Fiona and the Scott Media team, visit www.scottmedia.uk Join our free Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe

August 4, 202623 min

Angela Roberts shares how important networking is in business

Hosted by Fiona Scott, today’s podcast welcomes Angela Roberts, who she met around fifteen years ago. Angela was running her own business, and they met at an ‘I am woman’ networking group. Angela talks about how valuable networking is because you ‘make those contacts that nobody can ever take away from you.’ Fifteen years later, Angela had a job in marketing for ‘Gensmile’ a dental group and just after the lockdowns, she decided to help other businesses by starting her own networking group in Malmsbury at the Old Bell Hotel who’ve been very supportive over the years. Angela explains that Cotswold Networking is now full time for her. Fiona shared how she used to buy loads of scarves and jewellery from Angela back in the day and notes how even then, a lot of product-based businesses ‘don’t and didn’t bother’ with networking, which she feels is a huge mistake. Angela says that everybody should be networking because it’s not just about getting people to buy off you, it can help you build your business by finding social media managers, solicitors if you need them and finding others that can help you in your business. Fiona goes on to ask Angela, why, when setting up the Cirencester networking group, did she choose to have evening meetings? Angela explains that she had a day job, and she’d only ever been networking in the evening. She also explains that some businesses may be busy in the day, so it gives people the chance to be more sociable in the evening and she’s now introducing the Witney group in the day, with a morning session to see how it goes. Fiona then asks Angela why she has steered away from other networking groups which include a single seat policy. When asked what her thinking was around that, Angela explains that she wanted variety. She thinks it’s important that when choosing people for your business, you can pick someone who’s the right fit for you etc. It could be that you need a solicitor for your business, but if you don’t like the person then you won’t work with them etc. This fits with Angela’s belief that people buy from people. She also shares how important she feels collaboration is for business owners. Next, Fiona asks Angela how she made the final leap of faith to make networking her income rather than her full-time day job. Angela shares that she started opening more and more groups and it was taking up all of her time, and she had no work life balance. She says handing in her notice to her day job was the best decision she ever made. Fiona asks Angela about what groups are available and how people can find them. Angela says she covers Malmesbury, Cirencester, Cheltenham, Witney, Bristol, Corsham, Worcester and Bath. She stresses that this isn’t just a social event but it’s a chance to network and get to know people. There is a process to the events whereby people swap tables and get to meet others with a minute timer each. Fiona asks Angela why some people may choose not to volunteer to speak at events. Angela says a lot of people haven’t got the confidence and if they’re new it can be quite daunting. She does stress however, that speaking is important to grow your network and business. Fiona asks Angela what her top three tips are for networking. Angela says turning up regularly, taking responsibility for their networking and following up with people after by connecting with them on LinkedIn and communicating afterwards. Fiona asks Angela, ‘What is the wrong mindset to have when it comes to networking?’ Angela says the people who don’t make the effort at all and don’t come often can make it difficult. Those who aren’t able to put themselves out of their comfort zone and just sit in the corner quietly will really struggle. Angela also shares that people who leave quite early also miss great opportunities. Try to stay for the whole event if you can. Angela says a top tip for finding success is to make the continued effort and attend social events such as ‘curry club’. She shares that people are most likely to get out what they put in and that having the right mindset when it comes to networking is the most important thing. Angela says that there is also a chance for the members of her eight groups to attend and swap to different groups in order to widen their circle further. She encourages people to make the most of these chances. Once you become a member, you get a space on the website with your photo and bio etc. This is a valuable bit of marketing to take full advantage of. Fiona then asks Angela what she envisions for small businesses in 2027. Angela says there are a lot of challenges facing small businesses currently and that now is the time to get out there. ‘Don’t sit in your office struggling on your own, take the chance to get out there because there are so many people who can help you.’ She finished by saying that there is a lot of support out there and new friendships to be made. Fiona then asks how much it costs to be a member. Angela says you can come twice as a visitor before being asked about becoming a member. There is a cost to being a member, unless you know a member and they can invite you for free. Once you become a member it’s £40 + VAT a month. That gives you one membership group a month and then all the other benefits mentioned above. If you want to have more than one group it is £70 + VAT. Fiona then asks Angela what else she’d like to share. Angela says her next plan is to get others in to help run the groups for her because she’s so busy. Angela says she has found Natalie who runs Forever Living to run the Worcester group, but she is still looking for others too. You can find Angela via her website or her email which is info@cotswoldnetworking.co.uk To get in touch with Fiona and the Scott Media team, visit www.scottmedia.uk . Join our free Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe

July 21, 202620 min

Arthur Dallimer believes people should embrace change

Hosted by Fiona Scott, today’s podcast welcomes Arthur Dallimer, who Fiona met a few years ago. Arthur is an extremely experienced property developer local to the Swindon area. He’s been doing property for 12 years and contacted Fiona to learn about PR and how to develop his business. He’s Swindon born and bred; he knows the people and has a great love for Swindon. Arthur shares his opinions about Swindon as a town, and he wants to encourage people in the community to embrace change. Fiona begins by asking Arthur about property and he shares that when he was 17 years old a property went up for auction in the local village where he was raised. He knew the house, he knew it had been burnt down many years ago and ended up in auction because the man who owned it had passed on. He goes on to state that because he knows the house and the road so well that he felt a great connection to the property and wanted to save it. Arthur says he was lucky enough to have inherited £50,000 so he bought it and decided to renovate it. He estimates that he made around £70,000 from his first project. Arthur says he learned a business brain from a young age. Fiona then asked Arthur how he knew he had a ‘business brain’ and where he learned this from. Arthur shares that at 9 and 10 Arthur began selling chicken eggs at school with a friend of his. He said he became engaged in trying to solve problems and create solutions. He also went to a business school over the summer where he learned a lot about money. He also shares that he’s always had a dream of being able to make money so that has been a motivator over the years. Fiona asks Arthur where his attitude towards money comes from. Arthur replies that it’s deep from his upbringing and he felt a lot of responsibility to help with his autistic older brother. He also shares that support doesn’t come without a price and he wants to give his family the best life possible. Fiona also goes on to ask Arthur what he likes and enjoys in life. Arthur states that he soon realised material goods such as clothes and accessories didn’t bring him much satisfaction. He wants to do something to support a better lifestyle and to see the world. He shares that he loves going on holiday and wants to experience as much of the world as he can. Fiona then asks him about uni, studying, making money and property. Arthur says he went to university and studied accounting and finance. His mother instilled a need in him to drive for the best and although he says he doesn’t use his degree on a daily basis, he feels he’s learned a lot from it and the university experience. Arthur recounts that when he was a student, he would complete his lectures and coursework and then come home at the weekends to work on the houses. He says he worked around 100 hour weeks, including his part time job, but it was something he loved doing and so he felt it was worth it. He says ‘not to worry, I did still have fun at uni and party! But I also wanted to make money.’ Arthur shares that he became a millionaire at the age of about 23. He says he uses his accountancy degree to use the knowledge to his advantage. But collecting assets was more his interest and this is where his business grew. He says he sells property for commercial purposes and also for residential purposes. When Arthur hyper focuses on something and he wants to get it and find a challenge, he homes in on how to get a project completed. Arthur shares that he enjoys the social side of it and wants to benefit the people of Swindon. He said when he bought ‘Apsley House’ from the council he really made sure that he was the only option for the council. Arthur wanted Fiona’s support to help navigate the negative connotations that come with developers and people wanting change for the town. Arthur and Fiona discuss the difference between embracing and inflicting change on a community. Some people can be very reluctant to this, but Arthur feels embracing change is really important. Fiona asks Arthur what is going to be happening with Apsley house in 2026. Arthur says they’ve signed up commercial tenants for a bakery, a restaurant and a coworking tenant who is already signed. He says they are moving onto the construction phase where they’ll get people in to look at the cladding, the windows and ‘the fancy bits.’ He says his side of the development ends in July when the commercial tenants can come in and set things up. The tenants and the operators will probably be setting this up throughout September and October where they will then launch the project in time for Christmas. Fiona then goes on to ask Arthur to share why he has chosen to live in a manor house which he bought. Arthur says he bought Burderop House because it was a house he saw daily on his route to school and that he never in a million years thought he’d be able to buy it, but with luck and determination he made the dream a reality. Arthur says that he had a private opening for people to attend, in which he thought about thirty people would come and it was more around the 300 mark. Fiona goes on to ask about what work he’s done to the property. Arthur says the house is 27,000 sq. ft. Compared to a standard 1400 sq ft it is a real difference. It was a stately home without buildings which he’s renting and renovating to make into a liveable space. Arthur shares that for a long time he’s been an advocate that for a place to develop you must provide a very enriched cultural offering. He’s trying to encourage people to bid for the cultural capital of the UK for 2029, because it opens so much funding for the area and opportunity. Arthur makes it clear that he feels his space really should be open and enjoyed by others. He wants it to be a place to experience new things and to be part of something positive for the town. Fiona asks Arthur how he manages conflict with others who don’t want the space to be enjoyed by others. Arthur says ‘naturally you have the worry and anxiety around what might happen. He reassures that he’s not doing this alone and he has professionals coming in to manage the events.’ He feels Burderop house could be like the likes of Glastonbury and Westonbirt and it is something we need in this town/area. Fiona then asks Arthur what his future plans are and he explains that he wants more renovations on his home including tennis courts etc. but that he also wants to pivot from property, and he wants to launch tech businesses and a medical business. You can connect with Arthur via his Instagram page @william_arthur_property or via his website www.williamarthurproperty.com for more information. Listeners can tune in to hear all about Arthur’s story. To get in touch with Fiona and the Scott Media team, visit www.scottmedia.uk . Join our free Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe

July 7, 202634 min

Morgan Thomas talks identity, visibility and finding her voice

Hosted by Fiona Scott, today’s podcast welcomes Morgan Thomas, who Fiona met at Swindon Town Football club. Fiona approached Morgan and asked if she’d be comfortable enough to share her story on the PR not BS podcast. Morgan Thomas shares her experience of being a thirty-year-old trans woman in modern society. She tells us that she works as a DJ, Event Organiser and works as part of the Swindon Culture Collective. Morgan joins Fiona to share with listeners the challenges of being a trans woman today. Fiona starts her chat with Morgan by asking about her childhood. Morgan shares that she always knew she felt ‘different’ but only became aware of this confidently at around 26, 27 years old. She states it’s “not something you really think about because the only way to get support medically for being trans, is to begin by doing introspective reflection for the psych evaluation”, which ultimately talks about your childhood. She states “upon introspection, it was always a thing going back as far as 11, early teens. There’s a period when you black it out, but it always resurfaces.” Fiona then goes on to ask if Morgan was fearful to face this truth as an adult. Morgan shares that it was ‘frightening because there’s different problems for trans men and trans women. With trans women are more publicly vilified whereas trans men are essentially erased and put to the side. Both for the same reason because some people believe it is not an ‘actual thing.’ She shares that although she’d never been introduced to the idea of being trans by family, friends or school, it still happened organically. Fiona then goes on to ask Morgan if she feels happy, which receives an immediate laughing response. Morgan shares that the short answer is ‘no’ because it’s difficult right now because of the ‘current state of the country and the way things are legislated.’ She also shares how the question is interesting because you wouldn’t ask a cis woman if they’re happy because it’s based on the assumption that being trans is a choice and not something you can’t control. Fiona asks Morgan if these are questions, she gets asked every day and Morgan says ‘yes, the different places you work can have different cultural environments. She shares that her current workplace is very good, but she’s worked in other places before where it’s not as easy. She goes on to say that she ‘feels lucky not to have experienced much explicit negative, targeted harassment but that it’s still there as an underlying thing, passively.’ Fiona then asks Morgan why she takes the risk to be out there ‘publicly’ and to share her story on social media. Morgan says it’s her ‘basic human right and the only other option is to stay in your house forever. It’s just human rights and it’s heavy talk... I honestly would rather go outside and one day have it end badly or have a bad experience but at least I’m me and not hiding in my house forever because that’s not living. She goes on to highlight how insane a question that really is, but it demonstrates the way the topic is slanted. She thinks it’s a different topic to get around. The bottom line is to take a populist approach and appeal to common ground things like medication, gender affirming surgeries on the NHS, things that ‘any woman’ might need.The needs she has for HRT are the same as cis women who need HRT for menopause. We should live and let live. Do we all have the things we need? What is the government doing? Fiona then goes on to ask about different projects Morgan is involved in. North Star New Wave Sound Collective, which is a loose organisation of rappers, DJs, photographers, visual artists who launch and make free music events in a mean well space. Fiona asks Morgan how this came about and she says it “came out of necessity.” After coming out of higher education, Morgan sought more opportunities to stretch her creative muscles and wanted to find somewhere to do performances when someone mentioned the Brunel Shopping Centre. Morgan has received grants from the arts council to support her endeavours and continues to apply for further funding to support her creative aspirations in the local community. She discusses with Fiona her plans for growing in the music industry and for becoming more visible online. You can connect with Morgan via her Instagram handle @denim_morgan or via @northstarnewwavesc for more information. To get in touch with Fiona and the Scott Media team, visit www.scottmedia.uk . Join our free Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe

June 23, 202630 min

Andrew Wilkinson shares why Health and Safety is the backbone of business

Hosted by Fiona Scott, today’s podcast welcomes Andrew Wilkinson, co-director of Secure Safety Solutions which provides health and safety, fire safety and compliance support, advice and services to businesses. Andrew joins Fiona to share with PR not BS listeners the importance of running a Health and Safety business and sheds light on his passion for protecting people. Fiona starts her chat with Andrew by asking about his journey into the world of health and safety. “I don’t think anyone chooses to go into the world of health and safety. You usually just fall into it,” he says. Andrew started at Heathrow as security manager. What started as project work turned into loving this area of his work and he fell in love with it. The kinds of issues he dealt with at Heathrow and the vast opportunities and experiences he had whilst being there. He explained how Heathrow is a little like a city with the public, high risk areas like the runway and heavy machinery. “No day was the same,” he recalls. SME businesses tend to be a little uneducated around the risks they have in their workplace and Andrew tells listeners about how every organisation has risks and responsibilities to keep people safe, regardless of home, on or off-site working. “Regardless of the size of your organisation, the same rules apply, the same legislation applies. It’s just how it applies that’s the difference,” he says. “We help to translate how that legislation applies.” Andrew shares his insight into where to start with health and safety when it comes to a small business, like Fionas, and step by step measures to help provide safe policy and making sure small business owners understand the environment they are working in and all risks that can pose. “If it’s not specific to your business, it’s not worth the paper it’s printed on.” Andrew also chats about his mission to provide tailored solutions that not only meet standards but also nurture a culture of wellbeing within organisations. He dives into how his approach to businesses is different from other health and safety advisors and his holistic overview of his work. “It’s about progression not perfection!” He also shares how when providing training, he is often met with challenging conversations. People questioning the role of a health and safety advisor, often seen as someone barking orders and dictating decisions. However, Andrew sees his role as more about making people aware of the risks of their decisions and advising them on next steps. With some harrowing case studies discussed, Fiona and Andrew discuss the importance of personal responsibility and discussions of liability many businesses need to be aware of. That a lot of business owners get the brunt of it when often, middle management and managers have significant personal responsibility. Ultimately, Andrew shares his role in making sure people know their liability within health and safety in the workplace. Andrew doesn’t see himself as a businessman, much to Fiona’s surprise. Andrew shares how he fell into the trap of following his passion and realising other factors of owning business were taking over. That he’s striving for that balance of passion and business acumen. Andrew goes personal and talks about the triumphs and challenges of working and family life, discussing how his wife, Kim, joining the business was life-changing but how they also make an effort not to become ships in the night and balance work responsibility with being a father and husband. Fiona doesn’t miss out on the important questions and asks Andrew about his relationship with marketing and PR. Andrew shares the importance of in-person networking and the impact it had on his business when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. He also shares the journey of meeting Fi and realising PR is a good option for him. Before social media and targeting on LI and broad content in-person networking. How Andrew met Fi, he saw the value in PT and in-person networking and has always done it and relationship building – especially in the pandemic. “I was seeing other people’s coverage and started thinking ‘I can do that!’” 2026-27 looks fruitful for Andrew and Kim, with their first charity of the year collaboration with local Swindon charity, Wiltshire Treehouse. Additionally, their plans for the future include looking for businesses wanting to grow, businesses who care and are not seeking health and safety support reactively. Listeners can tune in to hear all about Andrew’s world of health and safety, not the BS! To contact Andrew at Secure Safety Solutions, visit: LinkedIn at Secure Safety Solutions Email: info@securesafetysolutions.co.uk Website: https://securesafetysolutions.co.uk/ To get in touch with Fiona and the Scott Media team, visit www.scottmedia.uk Join our free Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe

June 2, 202621 min

Not Just Numbers: Sally Holland on Accountancy, Community and PR

Hosted by Lauren Roberts, today’s podcast welcomes Sally Holland, partner at PPS Chartered Accountancy as she discusses all things accountancy and PR. Sally joins Lauren to share with PR Not BS listeners the ins and outs of running an accountancy firm in their town of Swindon, Wiltshire. Plus, she dispels the myths and fables around what people think accountants to and shares the reality. “People often think it’s this grey-haired old man telling them what to do with their business. It’s not that!” says Sally. Lauren kicks off her chat with Sally by diving into her journey to becoming a partner at PPS and what it means to have worked for an organisation for 25 years. Sally shares with Lauren how her business has changed in the last 25 years and how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the accountancy firm. She discusses the integration of hybrid working and their unique business-focused mindset. She also discusses how working with owner-managed businesses means creating important and personable connections with clients. “Often owner-managed businesses work alone,” she says. “[By visiting businesses] it gives them someone to bounce ideas off of.” Community is at the heart of everything PPS does, Sally discusses how supporting local charities is essential to their ethos and shares the ins and outs of their tri-annual ‘PPS Charity Breakfasts’ which highlights networking, speakers and a local charity which deserves a spotlight. When it comes to networking, Sally is a professional! Being the president of the BNI White Horse, she has been facilitating networking and business connections in her local area for years. Sally speaks candidly about the nerve-wrecking experience of starting networking and her journey to becoming president of a networking event. As many business owners know, particularly women, the work-life balance between family and work can be challenging. Lauren and Sally speak about motherhood and how Sally approaches this and how she balances work, parenthood, and her own wellbeing. Sally talks about her involvement in the world of PR, and how she honestly doesn’t know much about it. She shares how through PR professional support, she’s been able to take steps she wouldn’t have known to take and are hopefully taking leaps in the right direction to sharing PPS with more people. Sally discusses what the future holds for her and PPS Chartered Accountancy and reaching more clients across the South West and the UK. She also shares that their next charity breakfast is coming up this June 2026. As Sally dispels the rumours around accountancy, listeners can expect to hear the reality of being an accountant, not the BS! Tune in now to hear all the details. To contact Sally at PPS Chartered Accountants, visit their website: https://www.ppsacc.co.uk/ To get in touch with Fiona and the Scott Media team, visit www.scottmedia.uk Join our free Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe

May 26, 202629 min

Sean Harper, shares how PR took his business to the next level

Hosted by Fiona Scott, today’s podcast welcomes Sean Harper, co-founder of Just For Fun Holiday Club which provides childcare services through their clubs across the Swindon, Wiltshire area. Sean joins Fiona to share with PR Not BS listeners on the ins and outs of running a holiday club business and shines a light on how he fell into becoming a business owner. Fiona kicks off her chat with Sean by asking about Just For Fun and his experience of co-founding a business for 9 years. “Year on year we’ve just got bigger and, hopefully, better,” Sean said. Sean begins his conversation with Fiona by talking about his career history and experience working in the education and childcare sector and how Just For Fun emerged as a business venture in his late 20s/early 30s. Sean looks fondly back at the first ever Just For Fun holiday club. “I always say that summer was the best summer since we started because we were naïve to what was to come. It was easy and free flowing.” Knowing their first club was a success, Just For Fun ventured into wrap-around care and more holiday clubs at multiple sites across Swindon. Sean chats about the day-to-day life of managing a holiday club and how Swindon’s Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme has changed how he approaches inclusion at his clubs. Sean delves into how his passion for working with children and young people developed over time, discussing how his upbringing and personality informed his choice to enter into this field. “Being a role model felt like a natural step for me and I moved into education at 20 or 21.” Sean speaks about always working in this sector and having a full-time job alongside his business. He speaks candidly about his realisation that running both was having a detrimental impact on his life. Therefore, Sean details leaving his job to focus on Just For Fun full time, but he felt stuck. “There was no clear direction [for the business] for how to market and who we needed to reach out to,” he said. “We just got through every month but we didn’t really know what we were doing and we reached out to you.” After noticing where he needed help, Sean contacted Scott Media for support and advice. Sean shares the importance of PR and being active on social media. He also speaks about how his focus on PR has fuelled him to keep developing. “It enabled me to look at people to connect with I had never thought of. I always thought it would be parents, but I didn’t think to reach out to companies,” he said “PR opened my eyes to opportunities of where we could take the business and expand relationships.” Sean comments on how he thrives on ‘the chase’ in business, as he’s got a hunger to develop which pushes him forward. “I am not a good businessman! The decisions I make are more emotionally led than financially led.” “I think you absolutely are,” said Fiona. “Good businesspeople always know that they have something to learn, once you think you’ve become perfect, that’s the day you stop.” Sean discusses what the future holds for him and his business. That his next steps towards merchandising and commitment to PR will be his focus. “If you see someone with your logo on, you’re not just a quick one or two year business, you’ve been around for a while and seeing kids with a t-shirt, jumper, or bottle - they’ve bought into our brand.” Whilst Sean divulges how he doesn’t know what the future holds, listeners can expect to her the reality of running a holiday club, not the BS! Tune in now to hear all the details. To contact Just For Fun, visit their website: www.justforfunholidayclub.co.uk Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/justforfunholidayclub.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justforfunholidayclub.com To get in touch with Fiona and the Scott Media team, visit www.scottmedia.uk Join our free Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe

May 12, 202622 min

Rachel Bedgood talks about building a business in a changing world

Hosted by Lauren Roberts, today’s podcast welcomes Rachel Bedgood, founder of CBS, trusted screening experts who help organisations stay compliant and reduce risks through screening processes. Rachel joins Lauren to share with PR Not BS listeners the ins and outs of running a background screening business and shines a light on this, often presumed boring, industry. Lauren kicks off her chat with Rachel by asking her about the journey to become a business owner and the story behind how background screening came into her life. “It was luck more than judgement,” said Rachel. “My partner said at the time that it’s a myth that working for someone else provides job security.” Rachel shares how her business came from her paying £50 a week for a little office in her village in the South Wales Valleys, to becoming a successful UK and international business in Mountain Ash. Listeners will get to hear from Rachel about the range of businesses she works with and how the appetite for background screening has expanded over the past two decades CBS has been operating. She guides Lauren through the details of how and why businesses across the UK are raving about CBS’s services. Rachel shares how the background screening landscape has changed since she started and how her business has taken on challenges and changes with gusto. From the slower and paper-based systems of the 2000s to the faster and digital world of now. Rachel discusses the pivotal role of technology in her business. Rachel also delves into the emotional complexities her business encounters on a daily basis and how there is a lot of shame, hiding, and embarrassment around background screening checks. She speaks about her experience of working with people to reduce stigma and provide support when it comes to sensitive information. Rachel discusses the importance of her staff and how the impact her industry has on people’s lives is never lost on her or her employees. “There are people behind our service who really care,” she said. “In our DBS department, there are people who know that the faster they process a document, a foster carer will be able to take a child into their home.” Rachel dives into what 2026 is going to look like for CBS and reflects on the employment expansions in the past year and the upcoming months, commenting: “Oh, we’re very ambitious!” She also chats about her ethos of ‘giving back’ and the charitable focus of her staff and herself by sharing the details of her charity events and the impact it has on her outlook as a business owner and the people in her local area. “Businesses that are doing well should be giving back!” As always with PR Not BS, Lauren asks the important question of why visibility is important to Rachel and CBS. “Our industry is so white collar and lots don’t want to talk about it,” she said. “They err on the side of caution as if it’s a subject that shouldn’t be discussed in a promotional context.” “We want to talk about CBS. One, because we think we’re brilliant and our customer service is brilliant and two because we love what we do and our teams are brilliant.” Tune in now to get all the details of Rachel’s professional journey and see the reality of building a background checks company, not the BS! To contact Rachel Bedgood at CBS, visit: https://cbscreening.co.uk/ To get in touch with Lauren and the Scott Media team, visit www.scottmedia.uk Join our free Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe

April 28, 202623 min

Kevin Griffiths shares why care is more than just care homes!

Hosted by Fiona Scott, today’s podcast welcomes Kevin Griffiths, co-director of The Care Show. Having met Kevin 7 to 8 years ago, Fiona found he was enthusiastic about business, networking and food. Fiona then introduced him to her VA, Hannah and now, together, Kevin and Hannah run The Care Show. The event is Swindon’s Health & Social Care Expo where care industry professionals, suppliers, and service providers gather to share their insights and expertise bringing information and knowledge to businesses and members of the public. “The Care Show is about helping people who provide care, need care, want care and are interested in it, no matter what part of the business world you hold,” Kevin said. Kevin dives into the journey of stepping into this new role of co-director of The Care Show with Hannah, and what this new business venture means for himself and the local community. He shares the past success and future hopes for The Care Show and how they’re stepping into networking and charity events. Kevin shares their ethos of giving back and how the focus is accessibility. “Care is a very loose term and it covers a plethora of things,” he says. “It’s not just dumping an old person in a care home because that’s the first thing that comes to people’s minds.” Kevin discusses the need for a collation of information around care and it not being on the internet and how having one place that a person can come to and ask about care options is essential. The Care Show’s expo attracts businesses which specialise in a variety of care aspects for example: care homes, mental health, fostering, adoption, self-care, wills and probate, financial services, nutrition, and youth support. Fiona shares how she underestimated the wide range of businesses which could attend The Care Show. Kevin and Hannah are both systematically underestimated and in January 2026 they successfully pull their first show together and did it extremely well. Kevin reflects on his personal relationship with care provision both for himself and family members, sharing how different care is now than it was decades ago. He reflects on how people need to take responsibility to protect themselves and plan their future. “If you haven’t got the plans in place you will have, what they used to call in the old days, ‘a pauper’s funeral’, because you aren’t going to get anything from the state,” he said. “We need to make a difference now.” He speaks about people’s reluctance to ask for advice around care and how if he can bring one person who is worried or embarrassed of coming to the expo, and they get to ask questions, they have done what they set out to do. The pair talk about the future of social care in this current political climate and how care isn’t discussed and undervalued in society. Kevin discusses how The Care Show aims to change that narrative and takes care and those who provide care more seriously and sets to bring care into people’s lives and makes it more successful and cohesive to support them as early as possible. “Sometimes you have to stop and say, ‘hang on, why is this happening?’… and step outside of the bubble and see things with a new pair of eyes. That’s when you can come to the care show and ask people for advice,” he said. Kevin concludes by chatting about how the conversations at The Care Show bring peace of mind to many and businesses are not there to gain clients but ease their worries. The Care Show’s next event is on Saturday 10th October 2026, 9:30am to 2pm at DoubleTree by Hilton in Swindon. To contact The Care Show, visit www.thecareshow.co.uk To get in touch with Fiona visit www.scottmedia.uk Join our free Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe