Olympic spirit alive at Target PR

It’s been a quiet couple of weeks at Target. No, not quiet in terms of us sitting at our desks twiddling our thumbs – there’s plenty of work to be done, but an eerie silence has replaced the ohhs and ahhs of the fortnight of the Games.

No more shrieks, words of encouragement or gasps of despair (mainly due to buffering broadband) as we watched Team GB make it their most successful Olympics in more than 100 years. And while we were all caught up in the whole buzz of the Games, it was Greenwich and the equestrianism which was a particular favourite. Through our work with the British Equestrian Federation and its World Class Programme, we’ve been lucky enough to work with, and visit, a number of the 2012 riders’ yards, so we eagerly followed our equestrian stars on their glorious road to victory.

And what a road it was. Team silver for the eventers, team gold for the showjumpers – their first medal since 1952 and gold for the dressage team too, another record - Britain’s first in this event. Meanwhile ‘golden girl’ Charlotte Dujardin made it a double, with gold in the individual dressage (with a score that set a new Olympic record), while Cirencester based Laura Bechtolsheimer picked up the bronze. Even those of us less familiar with the four legged athletes couldn’t help break a sweat when it came to those final tense moments; the last jump, centre line or cross country time.

And so the drama is over, but only for now. Next week (29 August) sees the start of the Paralympics, where Team GB aims to bring home 103 medals. Our para-equestrian dressage riders will also take to the world stage, including the nine-time gold medal Paralympian Lee Pearson, who with a 100 percent success rate, aims to make 2012 the Games where he proves he’s the most successful Paralympian ever.

Target's Colin shares finance experience

TARGET PR’s Chairman, Colin Spencer, has become an Associate Director of SouthWestfd.

Maintaining his role at Cheltenham-based Target, Colin joins a team of 12 highly qualified executives who offer interim and part-time financial director services to businesses with a turnover of £1-£15m all over the South West.

They provide a safe pair of hands and experience at the highest level in a wide range of industries at a fraction of the cost of employing a full time person. The company is based in Exeter.

Colin, a chartered management accountant, worked for Saatchi & Saatchi from 1983 to 1991. He joined Target, based in Bath Road, Cheltenham, as Financial Director in 1994 before taking over as Chief Executive and then Chairman.

“Being part of SouthWestfd is a new venture for me,” said Colin, 52, who was lives in Ross-on-Wye.

“I’ve been involved with growing businesses all my career and know how hard it can be to take a burgeoning company to the next level, especially in a recession.

“MDs can’t do everything alone and working with a financial expert with years of experience is a huge asset. They can get on with the operational side of the business, whilst we help them to keep a real grip on the financial complexities.”

www.southwestfd.co.uk

Target Public Relations boosts new business

James Wood has joined Cheltenham-based Target Public Relations as New Business Manager.

The former Sir Thomas Rich pupil takes up the new role after eight years with Brunswick Home Loans in Gloucester.

“I have a strong sales background, but the PR industry is a new departure for me,” said James, 35, who has a degree in Business Management.<

“It’s all about building and maintaining relationships and getting the Target name out there. PR can be the most cost-effective way of adding to a company’s marketing mix, but it is sometimes overlooked. It’s my job to help change that and make sure businesses know about Target’s breadth of expertise.”

Chief Executive Sarah Bryars welcomed James to the team, based in Bath Road.

“We created this new role as we shift focus to what we do best – public relations. We have strong experience in the field of trade PR for building materials and services, as well as consumer markets in health and beauty, and we are going all out to capitalise on those strengths. James’ sales experience will be invaluable as we go forward,” she said.

The award-winning company’s current clients include Specsavers, ADEY Professional Heating Solutions, Sapa Building System, and SLG Beauty.

Sapa Building System hands press office to Target

Sapa Building System Ltd in Tewkesbury has chosen Target PR to handle its public relations.

From its new state-of-the-art premises in Tewkesbury Business Park, Sapa Building System offers architects and specifiers a range of innovative aluminium systems for curtain walling, doors, windows and specialist applications.

Sapa has 140 staff in Tewkesbury and is part of the Sapa Group which employs 14,600 people worldwide and has an annual turnover of $4.9 billion.

Sapa’s Commercial Director, Jon Palethorpe, said taking on Target was a major step forward in the company’s bid to consolidate its position in Gloucestershire.

“Our new building enables us to merge our two existing operations in the county at a single site with great access to the whole of the UK. We now want our sales and marketing messages to get out there as efficiently as our products can travel up the M5,” said Jon.

“We have class-leading products and wanted a class act to help us shout about them. Target has all the contacts we need in the building sector, and the company is local which is hugely important when it comes to communication.”

Sarah Bryars, Chief Executive of Target PR which is based in Bath Road, Cheltenham, is delighted to be working with Sapa: “It’s a privilege to be working with a global brand with high standards and a reputation as a major force in the UK fenestration industry.”

The Account Director is Rachel Meagher who has been with Target for more than six years. She will be putting Sapa’s core messages out to local authorities, the architectural press, building titles and specialist magazines.

Sapa Building System’s recent contracts include providing windows for the new Welsh Assembly in North Wales and a unique unitised curtain walling system for the new Co-op HQ building in Manchester.

Award win that stemmed from someone else's great PR

The team at Target PR is still basking in the glow of pride at winning the Small Business category of the first Gloucestershire Apprenticeship Awards, held last week.

Run by The Citizen and Gloucestershire Echo with the sponsorship backing of some great Gloucestershire businesses, the night was impressive on many levels. The Princess Royal was the guest of honour among 340 attendees there to celebrate the skills and talents of local young apprentices and the businesses that support them - as employers and training providers.

For some of the big businesses attending, apprenticeships are nothing new. Engineering, manufacturing, construction - these are all sectors that have long understood the benefits of training on the job, blending theory with practice and a living wage.

Our story is a little different. PR and Marketing has traditionally taken the graduate route, drawing talent fresh from university or as a career change from journalism, and these will undoubtedly remain popular pathways into our profession. But two years ago, we had a little light bulb moment that started our apprenticeship journey.

I was attending the launch of the '100 in 100 Apprenticeship Challenge' at the Hotel du Vin in Cheltenham. It promised to be a handy networking opportunity, I thought, with some rather nice canapes. But I was hooked by a couple of great speakers sharing their personal views - an employer and an apprentice. That, plus a chance to chat to someone from the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) began the dialogue that led to us taking on our first marketing apprentice, Courtney (pictured here on the right next to me).

The launch was the start of a series of campaigns that Gloucestershire Media has taken to its heart, leading to the awards night last week. But the idea started in the PR team at Gloucestershire College, for which they deservedly won a CIPR PRide Award.

Taking a task as vast as 'growing apprenticeships' and giving it a campaign focus has been hugely successful in this county; targets of creating 100 apprenticeships in each campaign have been exceeded, and that has created a sense of momentum. The partnership with Gloucestershire Media has been pivotal.

The pace has been sustained, and more and more 'advocates' have got involved - some are advocates with direct interests such as training providers, others are simply businesses that want to be part of something positive. Positive for their own business, and for the business community.

So for us, winning an Apprenticeship Award has been a double whammy. Great for Target - a little bit of profile and a pat on the back always does us good. And great for PR, as something that probably started at a brainstorm somewhere deep within Gloucestershire College has sparked a chain of events that are contributing to real change and a life of its own.

Sarah Bryars

Minister to visit Gloucestershire Skillsfest

Target is part of a team of local businesses, training providers and apprenticeship experts gearing up for the first Gloucestershire Skillsfest, taking place on 9 February.

The Skillsfest, which is being held at Gloucester Rugby Club, is a day-long programme of events designed to inspire and inform businesses and youngsters to take up apprenticeships, part of National Apprenticeship Week.

"We're really pleased to get involved in spreading the word - not just to businesses who may have never considered taking on an apprentice, but to young people and their parents trying to figure out their next steps after school," says Target's chief exec Sarah Bryars.

Beginning with a Business Breakfast, smaller businesses will hear how the Apprenticeship scheme works with contributions from a local employer and apprentice, and from Ian Mean, Editor in Chief of Gloucestershire Media and a prominent advocate of apprenticeships.

A seminar for some of the county’s larger businesses will be addressed by Chris Grayling, Minister for Employment, Richard Graham, MP for Gloucester, and Terry Chappell from the National Apprenticeship Service.

There will also be opportunities throughout the day to “Meet the Apprentice” and a briefing aimed at parents/carers to help them understand more about apprenticeships.

Terry Chappell is part of the team responsible for the event. He says: “Last year we ran a very successful Apprenticeship Jobs Fair, but this year we decided to think bigger and embrace the ‘past, present and future’ of apprenticeships.

“We’ll have people who have already been training as apprentices and employers operating successful schemes giving their inside view; live current vacancies so that jobseekers can talk directly to employers that are seeking apprentices now; and we’ll be whetting the appetite of youngsters still at school, who may be apprentices of the future, encouraging them to ‘have a go’ at a new skill.

“Throughout the day there will be an exhibition from local training providers and employers who run apprenticeships explaining what’s involved, the process, funding, employer incentives, and plenty of opportunities to hear directly from apprentices and their managers.”

Chappell concludes: “Our aim is to inspire businesses to create apprenticeship roles in their organisations, inform them how to do it, and get them started on a path that can bring fresh talent into their company and stimulate long term growth.

“We also want to excite young people about the opportunities to learn as they earn. The scope of apprenticeships is vast and caters for every level of education from the equivalent of GCSEs to degree standard, across a diverse range of sectors and types of organisation.”

The Gloucestershire Skillsfest has been organised by a collaboration of local businesses, training providers, GFirst and the National Apprenticeship Service.

GFirst Chief Executive David Owen said: “Nurturing Gloucestershire’s young talent is at the heart of GFirst and we want to encourage more apprenticeships within the county. They can be very beneficial for the apprentice but can also be invaluable to businesses by bringing in another skilled member to your team and fresh ideas. The Skillsfest is a really exciting opportunity to find out more about apprenticeships and we are sure it will be a great success.”

For details of the day’s programme visit www.GlosSkillsfest.co.uk or email glosskillsfest@apprenticeships.gov.uk or call 01242 500 009.

Winning entry showcases young skills

A joint entry by Year 9 pupils Tiffany and Lauren from Heywood Community School in Cinderford, Forest of Dean, scooped the prize for the best photograph in Target’s ‘have a go’ skills competition.

Part of a county-wide skills day for teenagers held at Gloucester Rugby Club, Target challenged youngsters to try their hand at either writing a press release or taking a photo to illustrate a PR launch story.

Tiffany and Lauren chose to create a photo that would help promote the launch of a new beauty product – the sumptuous Spa Paradisa body butter – and this is their winning image.

Sarah Bryars, Target’s chief executive, explained what impressed her and apprentice account executive Courtney Conroy, who both worked with pupils attending the event.

“Tiffany and Lauren had a really great attitude and approach to the task – they thought carefully about what they wanted to do and came up with the idea for the ‘warpaint’ pose themselves.

“It was a very clever idea: a great way of using the product within the image – the product itself will always be rubbed in (and therefore invisible) when used, so the warpaint idea was a clever visual solution. It also had a sense of drama.

“They listened carefully to the guidance from the professional photographer (who lent us his camera and experience!) and concentrated on the task. The result was a photo that was well composed, dramatic, and showed a good use of the product branding.

“It was great team work.

“The girls were being presented with their prizes by their headmaster in front of the whole school assembly at the end of term, so we look forward to hearing how that went down!”