Grayling's new division, called Grayling Media, is designed to offer the agency's public relations and public affairs clients a “360 media service”, including media consulting, media relations, content creation, campaigns and media training.
The Media Relations unit comprises over 30 publicists, media experts, former journalists, campaigners and creatives, operating as one combined UK-wide team across Grayling’s offices in London, Leeds, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Bristol, Southampton and Cardiff.
Romilly Dennys, corporate affairs director and former head of UK and Ireland communications at Deliveroo, who joined Grayling earlier this year, will oversee Grayling Media, alongside Ashley Daly, the company’s director of brand communications.
The service will be supported by a media advisory board comprised of professionals from across the “political, mainstream and commercial media landscape” to provide advice, insights and media opportunities to Grayling’s clients.
Lucie Cave, former editor of Heat Magazine, now entertainment editor of ITV’s Lorraine and content editor at Bauer Media Group, has joined as a founding member of the Media Advisory Board alongside Jordan Schwarzenberger, co-founder of Arcade Media and manager of UK YouTube collective The Sidemen.
The duo are joined by Charlotte Griffiths, editor of the Mail on Sunday and a commentator for MailPlus, Palace Confidential, Sky News, LBC and GB News. For 15 years, Griffiths was also editor of the Mail on Sunday newspaper.
Other founding board members include Lord Ross Kempsell, a political and media strategist and adviser, a former political journalist and political director at Conservative campaign headquarters, who was a special adviser and spokesman to former Prime Minister Boris Johnson. and Jane Hamilton, recruitment editor at The Times and The Sun.
Grayling Media will offer “media intelligence, storytelling and relationship building capabilities for individuals, businesses and organizations, all from a single agency team,” according to the company.
The service was designed by Heather Blundell, Grayling UK Managing Director, who said: “Grayling Media has strengthened our talent pool across our nine UK offices and, by investing in new tools to enable a more integrated client offering and establishing a media advisory board of experts, we are taking our media capabilities to new heights, helping to bridge the gap between communications professionals and journalists in this new era of media.”
The advisory board strengthens Grayling UK’s existing media expertise, including Stephen Bevan, former editor of the Sunday Times and deputy news director of the Times; Joey Jones, senior legal counsel and former deputy political editor of Sky News; and Scott Langham, former deputy editor of the Mail Online and senior legal counsel specialising in crisis communications.
Cave said of joining Grayling’s Media Advisory Board: “I have worked with Grayling on a number of projects and am very impressed with the talent and creativity within the agency. That’s why I jumped at the opportunity to join their new Media Advisory Board and help advise their brilliant roster of clients and consumer brands. I look forward to getting started and supporting Grayling in their new media and creative offering.”
Schwarzenberger added: “It’s a pleasure to be part of Grayling’s new advisory board. This is a company at the top of its game and I look forward to working more closely with them and their customers, particularly on Gen Z and digital transformation initiatives. It’s going to be lots of fun!
The creation of Grayling Media follows Grayling’s recent launches of an “integrated” healthcare division and Grayling Connect, which focuses on employee engagement and change communication. In May, the agency officially launched Humble Mavericks, a creative studio specializing in branding, animation, video production, and website design and development.
Grayling, part of strategic communications group Accordience, had UK PR revenues of £21m in 2023, putting it in 24th place PRWeek's Latest Top 150 Consulting Firms Ranking.
