Merry Christmas Everyone!

December has been a busy month with the lead up to Christmas, arranging events for clients. Last week we attended Xmas drinks at a lovely bar in Soho with clients and members of the press. It was a great evening getting to know people better and we were delighted that so many people made the effort at such a busy time of year.
When I started working at Mitchell Moneypenny just a few months ago, Nic mentioned to me that she can be ‘a little Devil wears Prada’ from time to time! Anyone who has seen the film will know I was slightly unnerved by the comment. Shortly afterwards she told me I needed to make a file with all of the names, titles and publications of the journalists attending the client press xmas drinks. The list quickly became known around the office as ‘Meryl’ so in the spirit of Christmas, here’s a picture of Nic and I at our Christmas party!
Prada Christmas
Okay, maybe not really, but it did make us laugh.
That’s all from me for 2012, except to say that Nic, Myself and the Mitchell Moneypenny team wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy 2013!

Finding My Feet

November has added a few more balls to the juggling/unicycle combo of the Mitchell Moneypenny PR world. We have been extremely busy working with a great new client, which means all the projects we are doing are starting from scratch rather than the maintenance flow of existing clients. This has been good for me as it has forced me to step up my game even more than in month one. Sometimes, it would seem, being thrown in the deep end is the best course of action as it prevents you from sitting in the shallows worrying about what you can’t do.

Towards the end of the month I went on my first Mitchell Moneypenny road trip! Nic and I were driven up to Leeds in the glorious sunshine, by a very accomplished ex-army chauffeur, to make a social media presentation to an adviser firm. It was the first time since joining the company that I had to make a presentation, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit nervous on the journey up! It was also the first big project I had started working on in my first week, so I was anxious about how well it would be received. I actually surprised myself by how confident I became as the presentation got under way. It felt like it was going extremely well, with everybody interacting with some really great questions. We are now looking at developing a working relationship with the firm, so I think it’s fair to say it was a success.

It has also been great this month to finally put some names to faces with a few client meetings. No matter how many emails or phone calls go back and forth, there is no substitute for face to face contact to get to know people properly and find out about their personalities. I find that once you have spent time with clients, although the formality of business is still at the forefront of contact, communication becomes a little softer around the edges. I am looking forward to testing this theory at a client Christmas drinks do in London we have also been busily arranging for December. This will also give me the opportunity to get to know many of the journalists that we deal with regularly a bit better.

And so December is upon us already. The plan to have all of my Christmas shopping done and wrapped early has fallen by the way side and so far the decorations are still up in the attic. But with December being a quiet month in the financial industry I am sure I will somehow pull it all together as usual. I am looking forward to spending a cosy Christmas with my family, laughing lots, eating far too much and sampling some fine wine. I think it will be a much needed break as it looks like 2013 is going to be an extremely busy and exciting year at Mitchell Moneypenny.

In At The Deep End

Starting work here at Mitchell Moneypenny at the beginning of October I felt a mixture of excitement and anticipation. Taking on a brand new role is always daunting and I must confess that I was feeling more than your average share of ‘new girl nerves.’  There is always so much to learn when starting a new role and getting your head around the basics (let alone finding them) can be a challenge. Add to that the ‘haven’t got a clue, but don’t want to sound like a complete idiot’ panic that rises every time you are set a new task and don’t want to make a hash of it, and I think you have a clear picture of most people’s first day. But those first day worries soon melted into insignificance as I picked up the pace with the help of friendly and encouraging colleagues.

It is with that help that I have managed to plunge straight into the deep end with reasonable confidence, which is very good indeed as it has been an especially busy month at MMHQ.  We have been working on several presentations, launching a client’s new product and trying to conquer the world of WordPress by getting our new website up and running. I think it’s fair to say that we have had a few tentative moments when both Nic and I thought we had ‘broken’ it! But thankfully we seem to have come out as the victors (for the time being).  Facing these challenges whilst learning the basic day to day functionality of Mitchell Moneypenny life has meant that October seems to have whizzed by in the blink of an eye, leaving me wondering how on earth a whole month can have passed in such a short space of time?

I also managed to put in an appearance on our local radio show (BBC radio Glos) this month.  I have been a panellist for them for a few years now, popping in from time to time to comment on topical issues and engage in discussions. As I leave the studio I often try to reflect on the comments I have made, wondering what about myself if anything I have revealed, and how much trouble I might be in when I get home as a result of them! On this particular occasion I had no need for reflection as a quick check of Twitter told me that I had inadvertently ‘outed myself’ as a book sniffer!  A reference to comments made about the disappearance of the common book in favour of e-books in a modern age, and my new boss had tweeted,  ‘New MM recruit @tanithharding on BBC Radio Glos ‘I love the smell of them’ ..books that is – tad worried will catch her sniffing trade mags’.

The fast pace of PR and social media can at times be a bit like juggling five balls whilst riding a unicycle, but it’s certainly an education that I’m looking forward to experiencing at Mitchell Moneypenny! Hopefully you will continue to keep an eye on progress and follow the continuing drama via our twitter account @moneypennyPR.

Tanith Harding

Personal Touch Annual Results

Personal Touch Financial Services (‘PTFS’), one of the UK’s largest adviser networks, has today published its 2011 annual results showing a growth in productivity on marginally reduced turnover. Gross profit for the year stood at £9.8m with profit after tax of £1.6m. The company’s net assets grew 13.7% in 2011 to reach £14.1m with cash reserves of £2.3m. Annual turnover for the year was £56.1m (2010: £59.9m)                                                                       down just over 6%.

PTFS results

Voyant launches fact-find technology

Financial planning technology specialist Voyant UK today announced the launch of its new ‘fillable’ fact-find technology, which allows seamless transfer of client-specific data from a .PDF file into the Voyant Adviser solution.

The new .PDF (Adobe Acrobat) version of the Voyant fact find can be easily and quickly completed by the client or the adviser, including any extra data needed by advisers for                                                                  compliance purposes.

factfindtech

Voyant in touch with its users

Financial planning technology specialist Voyant UK today announced the launch of its new ‘touch-friendly’ optimised user interface. With rapid growth in the tablet and ‘touch-based systems’ market, Voyant UK has worked with its 500+ user firms to develop a whole new user experience which delivers enhanced presentational capabilities and performance.

touchtech