PR Not BS

Fiona Scott
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Fiona Scott is a straight talking PR professional, a former TV journalist who has run a successful PR company for 14 years. Fiona dispels the smoke and mirrors around the world of public relations and instead presents you with practical advice, hints, tips and inspiration.

  1. 3 days ago

    Andrew Wilkinson shares why Health and Safety is the backbone of business

    Hosted by Fiona Scott, today’s podcast welcomes Andrew Wilkinson, co-director of Secure Safety Solutions which provides health and safety, fire safety and compliance support, advice and services to businesses.  Andrew joins Fiona to share with PR not BS listeners the importance of running a Health and Safety business and sheds light on his passion for protecting people. Fiona starts her chat with Andrew by asking about his journey into the world of health and safety. “I don’t think anyone chooses to go into the world of health and safety. You usually just fall into it,” he says. Andrew started at Heathrow as security manager. What started as project work turned into loving this area of his work and he fell in love with it. The kinds of issues he dealt with at Heathrow and the vast opportunities and experiences he had whilst being there. He explained how Heathrow is a little like a city with the public, high risk areas like the runway and heavy machinery. “No day was the same,” he recalls. SME businesses tend to be a little uneducated around the risks they have in their workplace and Andrew tells listeners about how every organisation has risks and responsibilities to keep people safe, regardless of home, on or off-site working. “Regardless of the size of your organisation, the same rules apply, the same legislation applies. It’s just how it applies that’s the difference,” he says. “We help to translate how that legislation applies.” Andrew shares his insight into where to start with health and safety when it comes to a small business, like Fionas, and step by step measures to help provide safe policy and making sure small business owners understand the environment they are working in and all risks that can pose. “If it’s not specific to your business, it’s not worth the paper it’s printed on.” Andrew also chats about his mission to provide tailored solutions that not only meet standards but also nurture a culture of wellbeing within organisations. He dives into how his approach to businesses is different from other health and safety advisors and his holistic overview of his work. “It’s about progression not perfection!” He also shares how when providing training, he is often met with challenging conversations. People questioning the role of a health and safety advisor, often seen as someone barking orders and dictating decisions. However, Andrew sees his role as more about making people aware of the risks of their decisions and advising them on next steps.  With some harrowing case studies discussed, Fiona and Andrew discuss the importance of personal responsibility and discussions of liability many businesses need to be aware of. That a lot of business owners get the brunt of it when often, middle management and managers have significant personal responsibility. Ultimately, Andrew shares his role in making sure people know their liability within health and safety in the workplace. Andrew doesn’t see himself as a businessman, much to Fiona’s surprise. Andrew shares how he fell into the trap of following his passion and realising other factors of owning business were taking over. That he’s striving for that balance of passion and business acumen.  Andrew goes personal and talks about the triumphs and challenges of working and family life, discussing how his wife, Kim, joining the business was life-changing but how they also make an effort not to become ships in the night and balance work responsibility with being a father and husband. Fiona doesn’t miss out on the important questions and asks Andrew about his relationship with marketing and PR. Andrew shares the importance of in-person networking and the impact it had on his business when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.  He also shares the journey of meeting Fi and realising PR is a good option for him. Before social media and targeting on LI and broad content in-person networking. How Andrew met Fi, he saw the value in PT and in-person networking and has always done it and relationship building – especially in the pandemic. “I was seeing other people’s coverage and started thinking ‘I can do that!’”  2026-27 looks fruitful for Andrew and Kim, with their first charity of the year collaboration with local Swindon charity, Wiltshire Treehouse. Additionally, their plans for the future include looking for businesses wanting to grow, businesses who care and are not seeking health and safety support reactively. Listeners can tune in to hear all about Andrew’s world of health and safety, not the BS! To contact Andrew at Secure Safety Solutions, visit: LinkedIn at Secure Safety Solutions Email: info@securesafetysolutions.co.uk  Website: https://securesafetysolutions.co.uk/ To get in touch with Fiona and the Scott Media team, visit www.scottmedia.uk Join our free Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe

    30 min

  2. 2 Jun

    Not Just Numbers: Sally Holland on Accountancy, Community and PR

    Hosted by Lauren Roberts, today’s podcast welcomes Sally Holland, partner at PPS Chartered Accountancy as she discusses all things accountancy and PR. Sally joins Lauren to share with PR Not BS listeners the ins and outs of running an accountancy firm in their town of Swindon, Wiltshire. Plus, she dispels the myths and fables around what people think accountants to and shares the reality. “People often think it’s this grey-haired old man telling them what to do with their business. It’s not that!” says Sally. Lauren kicks off her chat with Sally by diving into her journey to becoming a partner at PPS and what it means to have worked for an organisation for 25 years. Sally shares with Lauren how her business has changed in the last 25 years and how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the accountancy firm. She discusses the integration of hybrid working and their unique business-focused mindset. She also discusses how working with owner-managed businesses means creating important and personable connections with clients. “Often owner-managed businesses work alone,” she says. “[By visiting businesses] it gives them someone to bounce ideas off of.” Community is at the heart of everything PPS does, Sally discusses how supporting local charities is essential to their ethos and shares the ins and outs of their tri-annual ‘PPS Charity Breakfasts’ which highlights networking, speakers and a local charity which deserves a spotlight. When it comes to networking, Sally is a professional! Being the president of the BNI White Horse, she has been facilitating networking and business connections in her local area for years. Sally speaks candidly about the nerve-wrecking experience of starting networking and her journey to becoming president of a networking event. As many business owners know, particularly women, the work-life balance between family and work can be challenging. Lauren and Sally speak about motherhood and how Sally approaches this and how she balances work, parenthood, and her own wellbeing. Sally talks about her involvement in the world of PR, and how she honestly doesn’t know much about it. She shares how through PR professional support, she’s been able to take steps she wouldn’t have known to take and are hopefully taking leaps in the right direction to sharing PPS with more people.  Sally discusses what the future holds for her and PPS Chartered Accountancy and reaching more clients across the South West and the UK. She also shares that their next charity breakfast is coming up this June 2026. As Sally dispels the rumours around accountancy, listeners can expect to hear the reality of being an accountant, not the BS! Tune in now to hear all the details. To contact Sally at PPS Chartered Accountants, visit their website: https://www.ppsacc.co.uk/ To get in touch with Fiona and the Scott Media team, visit www.scottmedia.uk Join our free Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe

    22 min

  3. 26 May

    Sean Harper, shares how PR took his business to the next level

    Hosted by Fiona Scott, today’s podcast welcomes Sean Harper, co-founder of Just For Fun Holiday Club which provides childcare services through their clubs across the Swindon, Wiltshire area. Sean joins Fiona to share with PR Not BS listeners on the ins and outs of running a holiday club business and shines a light on how he fell into becoming a business owner. Fiona kicks off her chat with Sean by asking about Just For Fun and his experience of co-founding a business for 9 years. “Year on year we’ve just got bigger and, hopefully, better,” Sean said. Sean begins his conversation with Fiona by talking about his career history and experience working in the education and childcare sector and how Just For Fun emerged as a business venture in his late 20s/early 30s. Sean looks fondly back at the first ever Just For Fun holiday club. “I always say that summer was the best summer since we started because we were naïve to what was to come. It was easy and free flowing.” Knowing their first club was a success, Just For Fun ventured into wrap-around care and more holiday clubs at multiple sites across Swindon. Sean chats about the day-to-day life of managing a holiday club and how Swindon’s Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme has changed how he approaches inclusion at his clubs.  Sean delves into how his passion for working with children and young people developed over time, discussing how his upbringing and personality informed his choice to enter into this field. “Being a role model felt like a natural step for me and I moved into education at 20 or 21.” Sean speaks about always working in this sector and having a full-time job alongside his business. He speaks candidly about his realisation that running both was having a detrimental impact on his life. Therefore, Sean details leaving his job to focus on Just For Fun full time, but he felt stuck. “There was no clear direction [for the business] for how to market and who we needed to reach out to,” he said. “We just got through every month but we didn’t really know what we were doing and we reached out to you.” After noticing where he needed help, Sean contacted Scott Media for support and advice. Sean shares the importance of PR and being active on social media. He also speaks about how his focus on PR has fuelled him to keep developing. “It enabled me to look at people to connect with I had never thought of. I always thought it would be parents, but I didn’t think to reach out to companies,” he said “PR opened my eyes to opportunities of where we could take the business and expand relationships.” Sean comments on how he thrives on ‘the chase’ in business, as he’s got a hunger to develop which pushes him forward.  “I am not a good businessman! The decisions I make are more emotionally led than financially led.” “I think you absolutely are,” said Fiona. “Good businesspeople always know that they have something to learn, once you think you’ve become perfect, that’s the day you stop.” Sean discusses what the future holds for him and his business. That his next steps towards merchandising and commitment to PR will be his focus. “If you see someone with your logo on, you’re not just a quick one or two year business, you’ve been around for a while and seeing kids with a t-shirt, jumper, or bottle - they’ve bought into our brand.” Whilst Sean divulges how he doesn’t know what the future holds, listeners can expect to her the reality of running a holiday club, not the BS! Tune in now to hear all the details. To contact Just For Fun, visit their website: www.justforfunholidayclub.co.uk Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/justforfunholidayclub.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justforfunholidayclub.com To get in touch with Fiona and the Scott Media team, visit www.scottmedia.uk Join our free Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe

    29 min

  4. 12 May

    Rachel Bedgood talks about building a business in a changing world

    Hosted by Lauren Roberts, today’s podcast welcomes Rachel Bedgood, founder of CBS, trusted screening experts who help organisations stay compliant and reduce risks through screening processes. Rachel joins Lauren to share with PR Not BS listeners the ins and outs of running a background screening business and shines a light on this, often presumed boring, industry. Lauren kicks off her chat with Rachel by asking her about the journey to become a business owner and the story behind how background screening came into her life. “It was luck more than judgement,” said Rachel. “My partner said at the time that it’s a myth that working for someone else provides job security.” Rachel shares how her business came from her paying £50 a week for a little office in her village in the South Wales Valleys, to becoming a successful UK and international business in Mountain Ash. Listeners will get to hear from Rachel about the range of businesses she works with and how the appetite for background screening has expanded over the past two decades CBS has been operating. She guides Lauren through the details of how and why businesses across the UK are raving about CBS’s services. Rachel shares how the background screening landscape has changed since she started and how her business has taken on challenges and changes with gusto. From the slower and paper-based systems of the 2000s to the faster and digital world of now. Rachel discusses the pivotal role of technology in her business. Rachel also delves into the emotional complexities her business encounters on a daily basis and how there is a lot of shame, hiding, and embarrassment around background screening checks. She speaks about her experience of working with people to reduce stigma and provide support when it comes to sensitive information. Rachel discusses the importance of her staff and how the impact her industry has on people’s lives is never lost on her or her employees. “There are people behind our service who really care,” she said. “In our DBS department, there are people who know that the faster they process a document, a foster carer will be able to take a child into their home.” Rachel dives into what 2026 is going to look like for CBS and reflects on the employment expansions in the past year and the upcoming months, commenting: “Oh, we’re very ambitious!” She also chats about her ethos of ‘giving back’ and the charitable focus of her staff and herself by sharing the details of her charity events and the impact it has on her outlook as a business owner and the people in her local area. “Businesses that are doing well should be giving back!” As always with PR Not BS, Lauren asks the important question of why visibility is important to Rachel and CBS. “Our industry is so white collar and lots don’t want to talk about it,” she said. “They err on the side of caution as if it’s a subject that shouldn’t be discussed in a promotional context.” “We want to talk about CBS. One, because we think we’re brilliant and our customer service is brilliant and two because we love what we do and our teams are brilliant.” Tune in now to get all the details of Rachel’s professional journey and see the reality of building a background checks company, not the BS! To contact Rachel Bedgood at CBS, visit: https://cbscreening.co.uk/ To get in touch with Lauren and the Scott Media team, visit www.scottmedia.uk Join our free Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe

    22 min

  5. 28 Apr

    Kevin Griffiths shares why care is more than just care homes!

    Hosted by Fiona Scott, today’s podcast welcomes Kevin Griffiths, co-director of The Care Show. Having met Kevin 7 to 8 years ago, Fiona found he was enthusiastic about business, networking and food. Fiona then introduced him to her VA, Hannah and now, together, Kevin and Hannah run The Care Show. The event is Swindon’s Health & Social Care Expo where care industry professionals, suppliers, and service providers gather to share their insights and expertise bringing information and knowledge to businesses and members of the public. “The Care Show is about helping people who provide care, need care, want care and are interested in it, no matter what part of the business world you hold,” Kevin said. Kevin dives into the journey of stepping into this new role of co-director of The Care Show with Hannah, and what this new business venture means for himself and the local community. He shares the past success and future hopes for The Care Show and how they’re stepping into networking and charity events. Kevin shares their ethos of giving back and how the focus is accessibility. “Care is a very loose term and it covers a plethora of things,” he says. “It’s not just dumping an old person in a care home because that’s the first thing that comes to people’s minds.” Kevin discusses the need for a collation of information around care and it not being on the internet and how having one place that a person can come to and ask about care options is essential. The Care Show’s expo attracts businesses which specialise in a variety of care aspects for example: care homes, mental health, fostering, adoption, self-care, wills and probate, financial services, nutrition, and youth support. Fiona shares how she underestimated the wide range of businesses which could attend The Care Show. Kevin and Hannah are both systematically underestimated and in January 2026 they successfully pull their first show together and did it extremely well. Kevin reflects on his personal relationship with care provision both for himself and family members, sharing how different care is now than it was decades ago. He reflects on how people need to take responsibility to protect themselves and plan their future. “If you haven’t got the plans in place you will have, what they used to call in the old days, ‘a pauper’s funeral’, because you aren’t going to get anything from the state,” he said. “We need to make a difference now.” He speaks about people’s reluctance to ask for advice around care and how if he can bring one person who is worried or embarrassed of coming to the expo, and they get to ask questions, they have done what they set out to do. The pair talk about the future of social care in this current political climate and how care isn’t discussed and undervalued in society. Kevin discusses how The Care Show aims to change that narrative and takes care and those who provide care more seriously and sets to bring care into people’s lives and makes it more successful and cohesive to support them as early as possible. “Sometimes you have to stop and say, ‘hang on, why is this happening?’… and step outside of the bubble and see things with a new pair of eyes. That’s when you can come to the care show and ask people for advice,” he said. Kevin concludes by chatting about how the conversations at The Care Show bring peace of mind to many and businesses are not there to gain clients but ease their worries. The Care Show’s next event is on Saturday 10th October 2026, 9:30am to 2pm at DoubleTree by Hilton in Swindon. To contact The Care Show, visit www.thecareshow.co.uk To get in touch with Fiona visit www.scottmedia.uk Join our free Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe

    23 min

  6. 14 Apr

    Ashlea Fisher shares how being personable in recruitment changes the game

    Hosted by Lauren Roberts, today’s podcast welcomes Ashlea Fisher, founder of iRecruit4. Recruitment business based in Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire, iRecruit4 supplies businesses with their recruitment needs all across the M4 corridor servicing Basingstoke, Andover, Swindon, all the way down to Bath and Bristol. Specialising in the blue collar industry and temp contracts, Ashlea dives listeners into the world of recruitment. Firstly, Ashlea shares her journey into the industry. From starting as a fledgling recruitment officer provided with no training to a thriving, successful and envied recruitment manager. Commenting on how recruitment is such a diverse industry, where you work with a variety of people and you get to work with all types of people in the business, from business owners all the way to the factory workers. Ashlea tells all about the trials of tribulations of working for other companies, sharing the people who’ve inspired her along the way. She also delves into the circumstances which led her to start up her own business. Going from strength to strength as she climbed the corporate ladder of recruitment, Ashlea found herself in a situation where she had to start her own business and has thrived ever since. Particularly crediting Megan, her ‘right arm’, for supporting her from the very start.  “It was a case of now or never,” said Ashlea. “[I said to her] I’m just going to jump into my own business.” Ashlea discusses her personal and professional growth whilst starting IRecruit4 and the heavy job of supporting people into employment. Divulging how the ethos of her business centres around putting people first as she highlights the importance of building relationships with businesses caveating that whilst iRecruit4’s fees are higher; they provide loyalty and quality to clients. “A lot of these people are living paycheck to paycheck Lauren,” she says. “These are people’s livelihoods.” Ashlea touches on her need to work within a community and how her active decision to engage with charities has been a priority from the start. She shares her goal to collaborate with her community, calling iRecruit4’s charity work “We Share Because We Care” where a percentage of their invoice value goes to a charity of the client’s choice. She stresses how this initiative is about working together to support those in need. In her conversation with Lauren, Ashlea expresses the role and importance of PR in her business. Sharing how she doesn’t have the relationships in the local area and getting to know people and their community stories makes a massive difference, how going to networking events and sharing your stories and your business is essential, especially when you don’t have the longevity in the area. People feel like they know you when you walk through the door. “One of the things we’ve learnt in recruitment is that ‘people buy from people’ and it’s important to let our personalities shine and you want to be trusted and working on your PR is great for that,” she said. Ashlea also plunges into the world of AI in recruitment and how it’s impacting the sector along with iRecruit4’s responses to try and put people first. Supporting clients through interview and CV skills. “You have to be very careful in our industry because our industry is very people focused and what you don’t want is to lose that personal touch,” she said. To contact Ashlea Fisher, visit IRecruit4’s website: www.irecruit4.co.uk or email her ashlea@irecruit4.co.uk  To get in touch with Lauren and the Scott Media team, visit www.scottmedia.uk Join our free Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe

    35 min

  7. 7 Apr

    Rod Hebden talks mixing up science and art

    My guest today is Rod Hebden, and you’re in for a real journey of discovery! In our conversation we cover everything from science, art, creativity and surprisingly, politics. Rod runs his own business Consulting New Elements and as part of that he runs the Festival Tomorrow and has also set up the Swindon Culture Collective.   The Swindon Culture Collective is a two year project set up to support arts and the cultural sector in Swindon. It’s not about setting up something completely new, but more about pulling together the organisations and people who are already in Swindon. The collective will be just that – it’s about helping the different people and groups to collaborate, communicate and coordinate what they’re doing in a far better way. We talk about how Swindon sometimes has a perception as being somewhere ‘ordinary’ whereas in fact it’s a place where we have a lot of things going on but often people, including Swindonians don’t know about them. You may be surprised when you hear about all of the nationally significant things that are based in Swindon. Rod has a passion for bringing together science and art. He did a science degree, an engineering PhD, a master’s degree in science communication  and then worked in museums where he was doing education in science. But as he says, he was working in a museum – the arts and cultural sector and this is where his interest in the interaction between science and arts grew. As you’ll hear, he is adamant that both arts and science are creative - unlike what you are often told in school.  He believes that children need to be exposed to arts and sciences to become interested in them and at present without access to higher education, Swindon young people are not always exposed to those opportunities, which is why he is working with the Festival Tomorrow and the Swindon Culture collective. To contact Rod: LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/roderickhebden/ LinkedIn Swindon Culture Collective:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/swindon-culture-collective/posts/?feedView=all Website: https://www.festivaloftomorrow.com/ If you would like to contact me, you can visit www.Scottmedia.uk or join my free Facebook group here https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe

    46 min

  8. 24 Mar

    Anita Jaynes talks about building a magazine in a changing world

    Hosted by Lauren Roberts, today’s podcast welcomes Anita Jaynes, founder of The Business Exchange magazines which distributes its two editions, Swindon and Wiltshire and Bath and Somerset. Anita joins Lauren to catch up PR Not BS listeners on her business since her last appearance in 2021.  Five years on Anita shares how her businesses have developed over half a decade and kicks off this episode by sharing about the expansion of her online magazine, networking events and the introduction of The Business Exchange Awards. Anita shares how the media landscape has changed in the last 5 years and how content marketing is king and stresses the importance of having your business move through the times to stay profitable and relevant. Anita exemplifies this with her introduction of The Business Exchange VIP membership and how the subscription changed the game for the magazine, enabling her to tell the stories which are integral to the business community.  Anita discusses her growth and journey of starting The Business Exchange Show and Magazines and her focus of supporting SMEs in the region. She talks about what it takes to create two quarterly magazines and how she juggles the world of everyday life with this mammoth job. “I don’t think people realise how labour intensive a media business is,” said Anita. “You’re only as good as your last magazine.” 2026 marks 13 years of ‘The Business Exchange: Swindon and Wiltshire’ and 10 years of ‘The Business Exchange: Bath and Somerset’. Anita dives into her relationship with the charity sector in the South West and shares South West has a vast wealth of charities and has heard how businesses are struggling to connect with the sector in an affordable way. Therefore, she created free and cheap events to do just that. What started off as listening, became a thriving annual event which draws over 700 people to the region. She shares her tips for business leaders and how her successful media business lies with her attention to detail, by listening and looking after people and their stories, something Anita believes has somewhat been lost. “We’re Bath, Somerset, Swindon, and Wiltshire’s only dedicated business to business magazine and online outlet,” she said. “It’s sad.” Her goal is to bring eyes to these counties and bring them together. To bring sustainable business and collaboration within the South West, particularly with the vastness of Wiltshire and its many small businesses.  Anita discusses how the relationship with the media has changed through time and how the personal, not the artificial, wins out for businesses who want coverage. In their third year, The Business Exchange Awards for Bath, Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire are launching on 13th April 2026. Ready for businesses across these regions to be in the running for this award which puts community and collaboration first.  Tune in now to get all the details of Anita’s professional media journey and see the reality of building a magazine company, not the BS! To contact Anita Jaynes at The Business Exchange: Email: anita@tbesw.co.uk To get in touch with Lauren and the Scott Media team, visit www.scottmedia.uk Join our free Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe

    31 min
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About

Fiona Scott is a straight talking PR professional, a former TV journalist who has run a successful PR company for 14 years. Fiona dispels the smoke and mirrors around the world of public relations and instead presents you with practical advice, hints, tips and inspiration.

Information

  • Creator
    Fiona Scott
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    130
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 PR Not BS
  • Show Website
    PR Not BS