I’ve been to Tesco loads of times. Seriously. I’m not bragging, but I mean loads and loads of times. In fact, I’ve been so many times I know that if you were to live your life sequentially, rather than chronologically, then the time spent in Tesco would take up a 64 day stretch. That’s bonkers really. 64 days. Two summer months and two days. 9 weeks and a day. 92,160 minutes.

But I’d never been with Launch Group. Not for one second.

I am new at Launch Group, coming to the end of my third official week. It’s been great: really cool. What I have particularly responded to, and talked about at home and on the phone to my mother, is the immediate sense of cohesion. I never felt like the ‘work experience’ kid, I never felt like the ‘tea-mule’, rather a legitimate member of Launch Group. Sure, the most inexperienced member, but a member none-the-less.

This sentiment is no better explained than on my second day. I was at home, talking about how much I was enjoying Launch and eating a Solero, when I receive a text asking whether I would like to attend a photo-call in the morning at a nearby Tesco to launch the Together for Trees initiative. I didn’t expect that. It wasn’t necessary to extend a professional olive branch. I was grateful enough, as I should have been, to be on work experience with Launch Group, let alone be allowed to attend official business with our CEO Johnny and an important client. But then again, I have been in Tesco loads, so maybe they have spotted my retail nous. ‘I’d love to’. ‘Great news David, see you at 8am’.

It’s 8am. I enter, what is a very large Tesco near Earl’s Court, and bashfully ask whether a PR event is being hosted. The gentleman didn’t know, but pointed me to an aisle that had been turned in to a “rope bridge or a jungle or something”. I’ll give that a try. I walk down the central reservation, no real jungle in sight, but there is a group of people at the very far end. As I get closer and closer, what unravels is both surprising and charming. The aisle isn’t an aisle any more, it is closer to an installation: lined with looming plants, and a wooden bridge on the floor held together by rope. Two colleagues are being directed by the photographer. I stand, reticent. Not only do I not know how to help, but I don’t know what I could even do to enhance what is an impressive display of PR imagination and implementation. In the meantime, Kevin is still being told to hold the hose higher above Harri’s umbrella while she peers out looking delicately affected by the fake rainfall.

I turn around and am suddenly shaking hands with Ed Stafford. I know of Ed Stafford. It was a real pleasure to meet him, and he put me at an ease I didn’t realise I needed. He gets called to position by the photographer. “Here?”. “Yeah that’s great”. Immediately, and with consummate ease for an explorer not a model, he looks like he is back walking the Amazon. Except for the trolley of food. Although I wouldn’t put it past him to walk the Amazon again with a trolley full of food, that’s for sure.

The photographer is done. I look to my colleagues. “Right, back to the office’. That’s it. This magnum PR event finished. Except of course it isn’t finished. It is just the spark that starts the day’s work.

Do you want to work in a dynamic, challenging agency working with some of the UK’s top brands? Who wouldn’t?!

We are currently looking for great people to join us at various levels across the business – from graduates to senior roles, and we might just have the perfect opportunity for you.

Our all-channel offering isn’t just great news for clients, but also for our people too, as it means they get exposure to every part of the marketing mix – regardless of level, or department. Our consultants work hard to produce breathtaking campaigns – just read our blog to see some of the highlights from the past few months.

If you’re interested in joining our team, please send your CV & covering letter to cvs@launchgroup.co.uk. And we’ll be in touch if we’d like to set up an interview. (no agencies please)

Is one of your new year’s resolutions to be working at a ‘PR Week Best Place to Work’ agency, implementing exciting client campaigns for the likes of Tesco, BP, Capital One, Disney & The Royal British Legion, with an incredible bunch of like-minded people -  then look no further!

Launch Group is recruiting for brilliant consumer Group Account or Account Directors, Consumer Account Managers, Corporate Account Execs and Graduates to work across our all-channel accounts.  You will be results-minded, have a love of media relations, and have experience working at well-known agencies on big, well-known brands and have a passion to be part of an exciting, growing agency.

Please send your CV to cvs@launchgroup.co.uk and we look forward to a very Happy New Year with you.

Great talent drives great businesses – and here at Launch HQ we are on the look out for some fantastic new PR talent to come and join us……

If you’re a seasoned Consumer Account Manager or fresh faced Assistant Executive looking for a new challenge, look no further. If you want to work at an award winning agency on some of the most exciting consumer brands in the UK, then talk to us!

With a results-driven ethos and big creative platforms at the centre of everything we do, our all-channel PR approach means our consultants work on everything from traditional media relations to digital and experiential campaigns.

If you think you’ve got what it takes, please send your CV and covering letter to cvs@launchgroup.co.uk stating your desired salary and one of the team will be in touch.

We can’t wait to hear from you!

We’ve always known that Launch is a great place to work but now everyone else knows it too!

It’s been celebration time at Launch Towers this week as we’ve just been named as one of PR Week’s Best Places to Work for the second year running!

In a survey of the PR industry to find out which are the best agencies to work for in the UK (that’s around 3500 agencies by the way) Launch received the bronze medal, with the judges being particularly “impressed with the agency’s commitment to staff wellbeing and training”.  And being one of the main things that attracted me to Launch in the first place, I would be inclined to agree with them.

Since starting at Launch five months ago, I’ve had regular 1-2-1s with my line manager and Johnny, our CEO, to discuss my development, enjoyed several training sessions on everything from commercial practices to twitter, joined the team on an amazing trip to Paris in honour of their stunning work on a client campaign and even been promoted.

One of the standout things about Launch is that if you are interested in doing something, they will give you every opportunity to do so and as the company moves into an exciting new decade, I can’t wait to see what that will bring.

To find out about Launch’s other top drawer benefits that caught the judges’ eyes (and the eyes of our Launchers) check out the awards results online here.

Being the ambitious bunch we are though, along with our Olympic hopefuls, we’ll be going for gold next year so watch this space.  Or, better still come and join us!

Most of the recruitment we do is looking for the hottest PR talent about – but we’re currently looking for something a little different…..

…we have a vacancy in our Support function, and are looking for someone special to join the team. The role of PA& Office Manager includes PA support to the CEO & Board, general office management as well as admin support to our HR function. It’s a full time role based in our busy London HQ and would be perfect for a highly organised, energetic person who would thrive on being involved in the running of a growing business.

If you think you’ve got what it takes, please send your CV and covering letter to katieb@launchgroup.co.uk and one of the team will be in touch.

We can’t wait to hear from you!

Howdy, I’m Lucy and I got the privilege to do a week’s work experience at the fabulous Launch Group HQ.

I have had a thoroughly enjoyable and interesting week working with all the delightful people at Launch. They were all so friendly and within the first day I felt like I had been there for a while!

This was the first time I had worked within PR and I have to say I loved it, from helping with day to day admin tasks, to brainstorms and meetings! My glimpse of living the London life couldn’t have been any better; eating out everyday, going out for lunch with the Launch lot (especially going out with the corporate team to Wahaca where we had the most delicious Mexican food), and also being shown the interesting sites of Soho, even the ‘adult street’! I got to see the Olympic Ceremony of “one year to go” at Trafalgar Square with the likes of The Feeling performing and even standing next to one of The Feeling’s mum in the crowd!

My week at Launch consisted of working in every aspect of PR and it gave me a real insight into PR. I have had a brilliant week working within Launch Group and the people I worked with were amazing. I would like to thank them all for an enjoyable and fun week of work despite having been on holiday for a whole month already they made it easier getting me back into the working mood!

Hello! I’m Stuart and I am the newly recruited Support Manager.

I have recently relocated to the ‘Big Smoke’ after 8 years in sunny Brighton. I previously office managed a digital marketing agency and after 5 fantastic years, I wanted to seek out my next adventure! Interesting facts about me; I have an identical twin brother (who drives me crazy but we speak every day), my party trick is that I can walk on my hands, im a bit of a perfectionist that sometimes borderlines OCD when it comes to office aesthetics and secretly I’m a complete computer geek – you will often find me fixing something or obsessing about the next big advance in the technology industry.

After my first couple of days at Launch, I can already say that I am thoroughly enjoying it! There is a real ‘buzz’ within these four walls which really surprised me for such a small group of people. It’s already apparent that everyone is incredibly passionate about what they do and the clients that they work for which is fantastic to see and experience.

I’m thoroughly looking forward to putting systems in place and doing some fun things that will make the office environment even more enjoyable. Watch this space!

Love will be in the air across the world next week as St Valentine visits…and myself, and my fellow graduates Imogen and Sonal will be celebrating a special anniversary ourselves – six months since we joined Launch Group.

Ours was a summer romance; we met in July (albeit a very rainy day) at the graduate recruitment day, and I guess you could say it was a little like a speed dating event (it wasn’t at all, it was a fun/nerve-wracking day of interviews and group tasks determining our potential) where we met our perfect match (I’m even making myself feel queasy writing this).

It took two days for Launch to call after that first date and tell us that the agency wanted to see us again – and we were all ecstatic.

A month passed where LG found out more about us via a few emails and calls, and then came the big day, the first day of our PR careers…

Fast forward six months, and the three of us are utterly immersed in Launch Life – we couldn’t be happier.  We’ve been through a lot, from Toddler Art to Burlesque World Records, (with some OAP Mobility Scooter coverage in between) so we decided that we’d let you know a few of our favourite highlights of the past six months…

Harriet: Standing in Trafalgar Square on New Year’s Bank Holiday Monday attempting to organise over 100 scantily clad burlesque enthusiasts at 9am…driving a car round the block for three hours with a cameraman hanging out the back filming cyclists behind me for Yell.com…winning the LG pub quiz!

Imogen: Getting a Butlins Redcoat to wear for sell-ins, and taste-testing their birthday cupcakes… cooking a chili for twenty-five people and everyone (claiming) to love it… persuading the Guardian Art Editor to go to a toddler art exhibition!

Sonal:  Travelling around the country filming small businesses on the Yell Tour – and meeting weird and wonderful business owners… achieving record breaking positive coverage for Peverel… winning the Launch Lightbulb award for fantastic media relations skills, earning a day off and putting the prize money towards a night at the theatre!

Well, we are all back in one piece and life has returned to normal at Launch HQ following the excitement of this year’s end of year conference. From ‘Bus Bingo’ to traipsing across the countryside behind dark glasses (!) we all had a great time.

The team showed their usual Launch spirit, singing and dancing until the early hours – with even the bar manager commenting that he didn’t think the Cotswolds have ever seen such a party!

As well as having a good time, it was a great opportunity to reflect on the past year and look ahead to the coming months. We heard from Andy (Director of Integration) and Rich (Head of Digital Strategy & Creative) about their new piece of thought leadership, ‘Optimised PR’ – more on this soon I am sure. We also unveiled our new look benefits package, with highlights including days off for charity work, sabbaticals and a new personal wellbeing budget for all Launchers to help them get the work/life balance just right.