The tech channel’s PR gurus

Who are the top PRs currently working in the UK tech channel? We asked PCR’s esteemed readership to nominate those they think are among the best public relations executives, who go above and beyond to ensure a company’s message is on point. Here are our top picks.

Jen Andersson

PR Manager, Northern Europe, Nvidia

Jen joined Nvidia in March 2012 after holding positions at B2B and B2C PR agencies, during which she successfully launched Skype into the UK market and was instrumental to its success. As PR manager for Nvidia, she supports both brand and product work across the UK and Northern Europe. This summer Jen has been particularly busy bolstering Nvidia’s presence at E3 and the mammoth
(in more ways than one) Titan X product launch.

Natalie Boon

Channel Marketing Specialist, ASUS

Having started working as a marketing and PR intern for technical recruitment company Vertex a few years back, Natalie secured local radio coverage and shortlisted for the eGaming Review – Recruiter Of The Year award in 2013. She joined ASUS UK in July 2013, taking responsibility for social media, the Student Ambassador program and a myriad of digital and experiential marketing projects. As of September last year, she transitioned to manage channel marketing for ASUS UK.

Iain Bristow

PR Manager and Regional Lead EMEA, AMD

Iain has been working for AMD for over five years and has brought a wealth of skills to bear to the numerous roles he has held, which currently sees him driving strong PR for AMD across product lines. Iain is –through his management of a team of PR and community managers based across EMEA – tasked with ensuring consistent messaging across multiple channels. In the words of his peers, Iain is ‘highly effective, skilled at building relationships and extremely proficient in all aspects of communications and marketing’.

Kerri Chard

Managing Director, Pick n Mix PR

Having represented technology companies for 15 years, Kerri is a prevalent PR and marketing strategist, boasting long term relations with both clients and the media. Committed to embracing evolving communication methods, she promises her clients the most up to date service. Kerri is highly regarded for her ability to become an extension of her clients’ teams to provide the most personal and educated service.

Sarah Chard

Director, The PR Room

Sarah founded The PR Room in 2002, building one of the UK’s leading consumer electronics, lifestyle and IT public relations agencies. She quickly got into tech PR after graduating from university and has excelled ever since. Those who nominated Sarah picked out the fact she works hard to personalise The PR Room’s approach and press material to suit each media outlet, looking at relationships in the long term rather than just a one-off. This approach has helped The PR Room amass a client roster that includes Bullguard, Sennheiser and Beurer UK.

Victoria Chernih

PR Manager, Sennheiser

Victoria joined Sennheiser in 2013, with responsibilities that include managing and working with a large number of external PR agencies across the UK and Nordic regions, along with managing the corporate PR strategy and plan that includes all of Sennheiser core business divisions. In addition, Victoria is responsible for dealing with media enquiries and keeping up with news relevant to the industry. There is no typical working day for Victoria – she faces new opportunities and challenges which she takes in her stride and finds motivating and rewarding. Her most recent project was the launch of the acclaimed HE 1 set of headphones.

Joe Cowell

Northern Europe PR & Community Manager, AMD

Joe currently works across PR and community management for AMD across Northern Europe, including the UK. He previously worked at Text 100, where he helped AMD to increase its brand and performance within the countruy. Joe also has experience working at Zaboura Communications, Dennis Publishing, Hope&Glory PR, Frank PR and W Communications. The ex-journo, gamer and budding guitarist has built up quite a media contact book over the years.

Michelle Cross

Senior PR Account Manager, The PR Room

Having joined The PR Room nearly four years ago, Michelle’s contribution and standing with her colleagues and clients has made her one of the company’s most valuable members. Michelle’s different and friendly approach to PR has lead to journalists, bloggers and influencers to really enjoying working with her. She has created solid relationships, ensuring she is offered unique opportunities. She has become a vital part of the team who always secures first class media coverage for The PR Room’s technology clients, including headset manufacturer Sennheiser.

Rachel Gordon

European Marketing Manager, Mad Catz

After cutting her teeth in the PC industry almost 20 years ago, Rachel Gordon now holds an incredibly varied role as Mad Catz’ European marketing manager. Calling Rachel Gordon’s job role diverse would be a bit of an understatement. She is involved with retail and trade marketing, events, social media, product launches, merchandising, eSports sponsorships among other aspects of Mad Catz’s business. Her success in this role convinced our judges to award her with the 2015 PCR Women of the Year Marketing and PR accolade.

Hayley Gregson

PR Manager – UK and ROI, Argos

Online now accounts for more than 50 per cent of all Argos sales as the retailer continues its digital transformation. With the task of relaying that change – and 2015 initiatives such as FastTrack same day delivery – Hayley has thrived. And with Sainsbury’s buy out of Argos owner Home Retail Group having been green-lit, she will be heavily involved in relaying the details of the deal to the massed ranks of the UK’s press, both consumer and trade.

Nick Haywood

UK PR Specialist, Razer

Thanks to Nick’s PR nous, Razer has positioned itself front and centre of gamer needs during the rise of eSports and online gaming, with its burgeoning array of connected devices and software. The company had a busy E3 with several product announcements. Razer also confirmed its first open mass tournament. This was a lot of information to convey, but it was expertly done by Nick, who always makes sure the media is provided with the images and backgrounders they need before they even have to ask.

Ian Hood

CEO and Co-Founder, Babel PR

Ian has nearly 30 years’ experience working with both small and large technology brands including Google, Dell, Philips, Tiscali and Epson. Having worked both in-house and agency-side during his career, his understanding of the wider PR landscape provides him with a unique view on how to successfully build a brand. Today, Ian is actively involved in Babel client campaigns and he is renowned for his cool head and quick thinking when it comes to crisis management. He’s also very happy when tinkering with old motorbikes.

Luke Karmali

Account Executive, Bastion

Luke joined Bastion in January having previously help the post of UK editor and video host at IGN. This gave him a nice perspective of both the media and agency sides of the business. Over the three and a half years that Luke was at IGN he built up a deep understanding of the games industry and honed his skills in production as a frequent host of IGN’s video features. With Bastion’s recent account wins and the launch of the company’s
new video division – Turnstile Productions – Luke was a natural choice to join the team.

Julia Lavin

Account Manager, Axicom (Dell)

As an enterprise tech enthusiast Julia is ideally suited to the Dell account at agency Axicom. Julia is an extremely helpful press officer, who goes the extra mile to ensure journalists have what they need to tell an entertaining and informative story. She is happy to assist when called upon, and will also take the initiative to offer stories and interviews to media. Julia has been an exceptional driver of Dell’s PR strategy in the UK and a pleasure to work with.

Steven Levitt

PR Manager, Overclockers UK

Steven has been focusing on Overclockers UK PR for a year. Over that time he’s certainly been kept a busy man, having publicised several significant initiatives for the company. One high profile project was a major partnership with GAME to take PC gaming back to the High Street. He was also part of the team that launched the 8Pack OrionX, which is one of the fastest consumer PCs in the world – the campaign reached a wide range of media, including business giant Forbes. ‘Helpful, knowledgeable and quick to respond’, said one of the people who nominated him.

Suzanne McNicholas

Senior Marketing Executive, Mitra Marketing

In August, Suzanne joined Shrewsbury-based agency Mitra Marketing. Having previously served as a marketing executive at Entatech, where she was responsible for the company’s retail and networking and communications vendors, including Philips, Fujitsu, Kaspersky and TP-Link, Suzanne has proved to be an excellent member of the marketing team. Developing and executing marketing plans for each vendor, Suzanne’s role required close observation of quarterly targets, desired skus and budget.

Sam Mohr

Senior Account Executive, Jargon PR

Sam’s skills are in working with smaller and more complex technology clients. He brings creativity to niche markets, particularly the IT channel, working with a number of companies to carve a profile that differentiates them from the rest of the market. Sam’s clients include some of Jargon PR’s longest serving clients, who he has helped to retain for his three years working at the company, including Cambridge tech darling RealVNC, cloud reseller Ancoris and channel services provider Agilitas. He’s also had a number of pieces published providing PR advice in PR Week and Real Business.

Narelle Morrison

COO and Co-Founder, Babel PR

Narelle is a champion of equality, diversity and flexible working within the PR industry. Her business acumen and analytical nature have seen her move from being one of the biggest revenue generators in previous agencies, to setting up her own successful and profitable business. As part of her team development initiative, Narelle encourages employees to learn and foster new PR skills, become versatile business professionals, and work smarter rather than harder. This has led to the creation of a team of tenacious, creative and business savvy PR professionals that will become the future of the industry.

Olly Moorby

Business Manager, Fujitsu Enterprise of Exertis

Olly is a well-known and respected professional, with good connections and focused on delivering value to partners. With a clear understanding of the business, Olly is a key enabler, creating profile, relationships, partnerships and opportunities – all of which has meant that partner growth and success has accelerated. As one nomination stated, he’s also committed to responding to requests, challenges and demands of a fast moving and dynamic environment.

Clare Newsome

PR and Social Media Marketing, Exertis Unlimited

Clare joined Exertis Unlimited with a wealth of experience, contacts and the track record of the great story teller.Since then, she has been instrumental in encouraging brands to work with the company to drive their development. In four years she has won over 40 brand PR contracts, resulting in hundreds of thousands of editorial and advertising column inches. Clare also changed the way Exertis Unlimited looked at channel marketing, encompassing e-shots, catalogues, brochures, pitch presentations and internal training.

Helen Smith

Director, Brunswick Group (Dixons Carphone)

Helen is a member of Brunswick’s consumer industries sector team, advising listed and unlisted retailers and consumer-facing companies on a range of corporate and financial communications issues, including tech giant Dixons Carphone. Her experience includes M&A, IPOs and other financial situations, corporate positioning, profile-raising, thought leadership campaigns and crisis communications. Helen is mostly based in London, and has also spent time working in Brunswick’s New York office.

Arjang Salehi

Head of Notebook PR & Marketing, MSI

Described as a ‘one man, walking, talking marketing machine’ by one of the people who nominated him, Arjang is known by his peers to be smart, capable and professional in his dealings with the media. Always front and centre for the MSI cause when it comes to industry events and expos, he also – if you’ll forgive the cliché – does a lot of charity work, proving he can climb mountains inside and outside of the tech channel.

Shaun Wooton

Co-Founder & Principal Consultant, Otto PR & Communications

Shaun is a much-liked and multilingual corporate communications professional, with extensive global experience and a focus on helping tech companies and brands communicate across borders. His specialties include strategic global communications, issues management and crisis communications, executive communications and coaching, facilitation, creative thinking, corporate and product comms. And yep, Shaun was the one behind the infamous Acer x Christian Cowan-Sanluis Selfie Hat.

Bethany Smith

Senior Account Manager, Eskenzi PR

Beth is highly knowledgeable about the information security industry. She has an eye for detail and manages to organise multiple clients’ hectic PR schedules into an ordered plan that produces great results. As one nomination read: “I’ve worked with PR professionals in various industries over the past 15 years and Beth is easily one of the very best.”

HOW WE COMPILED THIS LIST
This list is based on the nominations from people across the industry plus some editorial discretion where required. PCR considered a range of criteria including experience, creativity, coverage secured and
other achievements.