University student Alice Norman spent a month with us at hopwood public relations. Here’s what she thought of her time as an intern…

Before I started at Hopwood, I can honestly say I was a little lost when it came to choosing a career. Like most people doing History at uni, you reach a point when you realise that your degree really doesn’t help you chose your career path. Public Relations had been recommended to me by quite a few different people, so naturally, I started asking around. But the thing about public relations is that no one really knows what it is (no matter how many people you ask, I can guarantee you won’t get a straight answer from anyone – that’s part of the charm). So I decided to do some work experience while back home in Leicester to help me judge the true meaning of Public Relations for myself. After just four weeks, Hopwood has helped me map out my future.

Like all new interns, I had no idea what to expect. All I hoped was that my job wouldn’t entail simply fetching tea and coffee, or sitting doing research all day long – the sort of things most people do on an internship. I had no idea that I’d be writing my own press releases within the week and conducting phone interviews and organising photo shoots within two. It’s been amazing to get stuck in to all the work and actually be trusted with writing and organising. I feel like I’ve really gained an insight into the world of PR while actually managing to make a difference along the way. After a week, I was totally hooked (and was even getting used to the early mornings!) More

hopwood have been hired by the National Youth Agency (NYA) to promote projects aimed at improving the lives of young people.

We were selected from a shortlist of consultancies and will work with the NYA on national projects in areas such as financial education and citizenship. Here at hopwood, we will deal with the media, produce publications, set up social media campaigns and recruit young people to projects. More

As winter draws in, we have to say a fond farewell to all our wonderful PR interns who have kept us bright from June to October.

Armed with tons of public relations experience from hopwood, this is what they have been getting up to since.

Daraca Lehane has returned to Leicester University to do the final year of her Media and Communications degree.

Jessica Ward, a graduate from Nottingham Trent, has successfully gone on to a new job at a PR agency.

Harriet Barker, a Masters graduate from the University of Exeter, has gone to London to chase her literary dreams working at a publishing company.

Sophie Heffernan has returned to complete her management studies degree at the University of York.

We wish them all the best for a bright future.

The hopwood team will be out in force at the East Midlands Property & Business Investment show this November.

We’ll be showcasing our experience of PR and marketing in the regeneration and property sector, with case studies of work with clients including architects, developers, inward investment managers and regeneration agencies.

We’re also launching a brand new service so watch out for more information.
 
Entrance to the show at the East Midlands Conference Centre on Friday November 11 is completely free, so why not pay us a visit at stand 60 and say hello. We would love to see you. For more information click here.

 We took full advantage of the silly season and generated dozens of pieces of coverage for clients across finance, B2B and not for profit sectors around August.

Incorporatewear, the premier corporate clothing company co-founded by celeb designer Jeff Banks and others, featured in national print media 11 times.

We successfully managed media around an affordable housing plan for East Midlands Housing Group, for whom we’ve also just finished penning annual reports and autumn magazines.

Other clients have achieved coverage in regional media in the East Midlands and in high-powered national insurance and property publications.

Our digital media activity continues to grow with clients extending their reach into social media and online news outlets.

We generated 50 pieces of print and online media for clients during May and June, including 18 national hits.

 
Highlights included:
Arranging for celebrity designer Jeff Banks, a co-founder of Incorporatewear, to feature in The Sunday Telegraph’s Fame and Fortune column. News about the corporate clothing company hit 19 other national and regional media.

Expanding Leicester insurance broker Brett and Randall made seven appearances in key regional media, including a main article in Business Issues.

hopwood pr clients featured prominently in more than 90 print and online publications in the first two months of the year. A dozen pieces of national coverage, plus articles in regional newspapers and business magazines, gave our clients more than five million opportunities to be seen. More

My boss Duncan Hopwood is a regular participant in #PRStudchat, a twitter chat that brings together public relations students, educators and professionals for a live monthly discussion. More