WOMENINBUSINESS
inside THE BUSINESS :
SHARP RELATIONS
BEYOND THE GLASS CEILING ...
THE FOOD AND DRINK PR AGENCY BRINGING ITS FEMALE FIREPOWER TO PR AND COMMS .
According to The Gender Index , under 17 % of all active companies are led by women and yet they only managed to attract less than 12 % of 1.3m investments made in UK firms . 1 This makes Ashford-based Sharp Relations , one of the UK ’ s leading food and drink specialist PR and marketing agencies , something of a rarity .
The eight-strong team led by founder and managing director , AJ Sharp , is one of the 12 % poised for a strong year of growth , having recently won investment that will allow the agency to expand the team in the coming months to keep pace with a steady stream of new food and drink clients and offer a wider range of communications services . By the end of 2023 , the company employees will grow by 50 %, and revenue is tipped to double over the same period .
“ Even in 2023 ,” says agency founder and FoodTalk Show radio presenter , AJ Sharp , “ in business , the balance is not tipped in favour of female-led businesses , but traditional investors are missing a trick . Female founded start-ups on average are , according to Forbes magazine , yielding higher revenues than male founded new businesses , they ’ re six times increasingly likely to hire women , they retain staff for longer and are more likely to create more empowering work cultures .”
The agency works with some inspirational coaches and mentors , many are successful females who ’ ve overcome significant bias , to ensure that the whole team can grow and develop personally , building confidence to better equip the team to be resilient and effective . Sharp Relations has ‘ an always learning , open-minded approach ’ to its culture , with plenty of development opportunities , from leadership and management , to mindset coaching and mental health first aid training .
Says AJ Sharp : “ In the last few years , we ’ ve been laying the foundations of a company culture that is nourishing , nurturing and gives its people space to be human . No one is a robot and this is a creative industry , you have to give your team space to work at their own frequency , that ’ s where the magic lies . I genuinely believe this is why our results are so extraordinary . That , along with empowering the team to take decisions and develop themselves and their portfolios .
“ Mental health and wellbeing are a big part of our work ethos , and we recognise that the team is made of individuals who are all carers , parents and partners so we have to build in flexibility and make room for that .
“ We actively want to employ more diversity into our team and welcome applications as we go through a big growth drive in 2023 . Our talented team is emotionally sophisticated and intuitive , qualities which lend themselves to building great client and media relationships .
“ When it comes to the nuts and bolts of what we do , our team is trained to feel the nuance and emotional pull of brands , something that is central to refining messaging and influencing buyer behaviour . That ’ s why our campaigns always hit the mark and our clients see incredible return on investment .”
www . sharprelations . com
1 . The Gender Index , which was launched in March 2022 , is a research study of all 4.4m active UK companies and allows users to track the impact of female-led firms on the economy via an online , interactive tool .
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