Chris Walker, who was named Yorkshire News Reporter of the Year in 2007, has worked at agencies across the north

Former journalist and PR agency veteran Chris Walker has launched a new communications agency.

Be The Best Communications is using a new model to bring PR, public affairs, business development and marketing closer together to empower clients to better harness market intelligence to drive sales.

Walker, 39, said: “Sales are the lifeblood of any business. However, communications agencies and most clients treat PR, public affairs, and new business development as different disciplines, sat siloed in different departments.

“Britain spends £13.8bn on PR and communications each year.

“Having a siloed approach means many organisations are not intelligently spending money on activity which drives sales.

“We are doing things differently in terms of how we engage with government, how we engage with the marketplace and mobilise our intelligence to drive sales.

“Information is power – it’s time to make communications work smarter to deliver better results, more quickly.”

While officially launched this week, Be The Best Communications, has already secured briefs to work with clients in the tech, housing and development sectors across the Northern Powerhouse region.

Highly experienced marketeer Angela May, has also joined Be The Best Communications as head of strategy.

Over the past 20 years Angela has worked on behalf of some of the world’s largest and best-known tech companies including: Sony, IBM, Intel, Hitachi, Cisco, BT, Oracle, and Accenture.

Walker, who was named Yorkshire News Reporter of the Year in 2007, has worked at agencies across the north including stints at Weber Shandwick and IPB in Manchester, and The BIG Partnership in Liverpool.

At Social he worked on behalf of clients including Mace, Viewpoint, United Living, Places for People and Your Housing Group.

He added: “We have thought through or business model and name very carefully and are taking a long-term perspective to building Be The Best.

“Our strategy is to create an industry leading place to work in order to attract the best staff and to nurture that talent to help them grow and advance their careers.”

This piece appeared in the Manchester Evening News’ business pages and Reach Plc’s regional business news website.
https://www.business-live.co.uk/enterprise/former-journalist-pr-man-launches-17369453