The communication landscape is constantly evolving, which is why it’s more important than ever for public relations specialists to be seeking meaningful, engaging and impactful ways to connect with clients and immerse themselves in company sectors and cultures. A simple way to guarantee this engagement is by having your PR team in attendance at events, exhibitions and conferences.

According to the UK Events Report 2025, latest figures reveal that the UK events industry is now worth an estimated £68.7 billion, reinforcing its position as a cornerstone of the UK economy and driver of innovation.

Strengthening client relationships

Constantly working to deepen our understanding of the recruitment landscape and strengthen face-to-face client relations, our Head of New Business and Director Emily Winsor-Russell recently attended Gi Group’s annual conference. Gi Group, one of the UK’s leading HR and recruitment specialists, brought all areas of its business together, from senior leaders and HR teams to specialist recruiters and business development partners at its conference in the Cotswolds. The event provided us with a unique insight into the business’ progress, recruitment industry predictions, HR initiatives, first-hand customer feedback and its ambitious plans for the year ahead.

Emily said: “We work across a number of innovative and specialist sectors with our customers, so having real-life insight and on-the-pulse narrative offers us the opportunity to immerse ourselves and better tell their story. When you gather a whole business together, especially when the business is UK-wide with a global presence like Gi Group, you get the chance to see the scale, purpose and energy you write about every week in person – and there’s no replica for that.”

Managing reputation

Emily continued: “Events often bring stakeholders, employees and senior leaders together under one roof, which can be rare. With this in mind, having your PR team in attendance can ensure reputational management at all times. We’re not just flies on the wall; we’re there to be involved and support the smooth execution of client events. While they offer the chance for us to build relationships, they also ensure we can be there to keep brand messaging on track and help our client to get maximum content value from the event – be that a press release, video, staged photography for a specific campaign or vox pop snippets for social.”

Not only does this cover stakeholder engagements, but PR teams can be uniquely positioned to support leadership visibility throughout events. Especially if media is invited, PR teams can ensure the right contacts are speaking with the right senior individuals.

Extending the Value Beyond the Event

Showing the value of opening events up to key media personnel and leading sector publications, long-time client and leading European road freight specialist, Europa Worldwide Group, recently held a rebrand PR event at their HQ in Dartford.

Kathryn Greenwood, Managing Director, and Polly Donaldson, Junior Account Manager,  were both in attendance. Bringing together leading journalists from across the logistics and road freight trade media, the PR rebrand offered a unique opportunity to share a company milestone in-person.

From interviews with BBC South East and important sector networking on the day, to media coverage and feature requests after the rebrand – it was a great reminder of why meeting people face-to-face really matters.

Polly commented: “Interactions with journalists and senior team members are dominated by Teams, Zoom and emails, so there is something so refreshing about meeting clients and key industry journalists in-person. Getting embedded with our clients really helps us to connect with their work and shows the power of having your PR team on hand to develop ideas and create value beyond the event.”

Elevating the Overall Client Experience

Events aren’t all about catching up with clients. They’re also a unique opportunity to connect your clients with leading industry voices. From setting up in-person interviews on the spot to forging long-term sector relationships, events provide the perfect platform to unite both sides of the storytelling process. Not only this, but it offers a PR team the chance to hear directly from senior leaders and learn about market shifts and see where client work can fit into broader industry narrative.

Having your PR team by your side during company events not only provides them with greater insights into your business, but it also offers businesses the peace of mind that reputation management and media co-ordination is on hand at all times.

With a constant agenda to showcase the very best of client innovations and services, PR teams are perfectly positioned to support brand messaging, interview coordination and journalist management on the day.

Polly confirms: “Client events aren’t just about in-person connections, they’re about gaining key insights, understanding client sectors with first-hand experiences and conversations, connecting clients with key media outlets, broadening your clients’ visibility and enhancing brand messaging and communication.  In short, the next time you’re hosting a company event, ensuring your PR team is in attendance will elevate opportunities and increase the value of time invested.”