James Staunton has left comms firm Instinctif Partners to launch a new PR and thought leadership agency, Air Cover PR. Staunton, who started his career at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, was one of the three owners of award winning corporate PR agency, The Wriglesworth Consultancy. When Wriglesworth was sold in January 2015, Staunton became a partner in acquirer Instinctif.
“I want to do a lot with Air Cover PR,” said Staunton said. “First, I want to fight juniorisation. Most London corporate PR agencies roll up to pitches with the senior team, then keep their costs down by farming out the work to graduates fresh out of university. These kids learn on the job, at the clients’ expense. I’ve been around the industry for 20 years now. Since then, I’ve provided specialist comms support to all sorts of clients operating in the HR space – from recruiters and outplacement providers to search and selection and talent management consultancies. I don’t want to waste that exposure to the industry; I want to exploit the experience.”
Staunton also claims many businesses in the HR and recruitment space would like to position themselves as thought-leaders in their field but it’s a challenging thing to do without the right skills in house or the senior comms bandwidth. “I am setting up Air Cover PR with a view to carrying out research on behalf of clients in the recruitment and wider HR sector, delivering research content that can lend them a voice of authority in the industry,” he says. “Without expensive premises in London, the research will represent good value for money, too and help empower the recruitment underdog!”
Adam Nicoll, marketing director at recruiter Randstad UK said: “I have worked with James in various different guises over the last 15 years. I first collaborated with him back in 2007 when he supported the opening of the New York operation at global risk recruiter GRS. He was involved in the nuts and bolts PR that we needed – new hires, new desks, new country launches, new products; the creative content that gave us some genuine cut through in the industry; and the strategic outputs around our management buyout and the divestment of assets, too. He carried out PR on behalf of Kinsey Allen International, too – securing us a front page on CityAM if I recall – helping us punch way above our weight in the media.”
Bridget Designs, a digital studio based in Canterbury, Kent, built the Air Cover PR website – having previously created sites for payroll umbrella agency SSC Services and social care recruiter Grace James – as well as design work for specialist dental recruiter Smile & Shine.
Founder Bridget Tann said: “We take great satisfaction in designing original, creative, effective websites that are tailor made for every client. We’ve provided Air Cover with bespoke web design and development, graphic design, and branding support and we’ve really enjoyed working with the business. We’re proud of the new site and are looking forward to deepening our relationship as we undertake the ongoing website hosting and maintenance.”
Accountancy services are being furnished by fellow PriceWaterhouseCoopers alumnus Yukimi Rabnott of On the Spot Accountants – with bookkeeping provided by Charmian Heys, director of Now Accounting Services.
