Former journalist and editor Martin Shaw has joined Yorkshire-based PR and Marketing Consultancy Leuly PPR as a freelance PR consultant.
The news comes just days after he announced he’d taken voluntary redundancy from Reach PLC’s Huddersfield Daily Examiner and Yorkshire Live.
Having acquired a host of transferable skills throughout his 34 years in journalism, the Huddersfield journalist has now made the decision to move into public relations and marketing.
He will join Leuly PPR founder Gemma Birbeck to support the implementation and evaluation of public relations campaigns, as well as contributing ideas to new client strategies.
Martin said: “I’m a passionate and committed journalist and I love telling people’s stories and hopefully, in some small way, making a difference.
“I’ve had an unusual career in many ways and know all about the highs and lows of running your own business - and I wouldn’t swap it for the world.
“I’ve built up a huge amount of experience in the media and seen massive changes since I started work on a typewriter as a trainee reporter. Now I want to put what I’ve learned into helping clients tell their stories and grow their businesses.”
During his eight-year stay at the Examiner, Martin held several senior positions including news editor and print content editor.
Prior to that he ran his own newspaper, The Press in Dewsbury and freelance press agency, West Riding News Service in Huddersfield.
Having worked with founder Gemma Birbeck professionally in recent years, he relished the chance to be part of the growing Yorkshire Consultancy.
Martin added: “Gemma is a fabulous person to work with and has offered to help me develop and grow into my new role.
“She has an honesty, a passion and a genuine desire to help others. Leuly PPR has strong brand values which match mine and I’m looking forward to getting started and meeting clients, old and new.”
Gemma added: “I first met Martin during the early stages of my career when I naively asked him whether he wanted to keep a story exclusive – silly, I know, but he was so understanding and supportive.
“When I learnt of his redundancy, I jumped at the chance to show that same level of support as I knew he would be a valuable addition to the team.
“Martin’s not from a traditional PR background, but creativity and individuality are characteristics we desire, and I’m confident the different perspective which he can offer will support us with our continued growth.”
In October 2020, Gemma and Martin will welcome an additional full-time employee to focus on strategy and business development.
