Founded in 1991, and based in Croydon, Premier Marketing Services has been providing clients with effective public relations strategies that fit their business objectives, to help unlock the full potential of PR. Whether your need is for a one-off marketing communications audit or media launch, or a comprehensive PR campaign, we can help. Unlike the traditional agency structure, at Premier, all P.R. work is handled by director-level P.R. professionals. There are no 'new business teams' who disappear the moment the account is won, leaving the day-to-day work to juniors.

Gerard Blay. Account Director, Founder - Gerard has over 25 years' experience in the PR industry, and has worked for two of the world's leading PR agencies, Shandwick and Hill & Knowlton, with one year spent in the Middle East working on a mix of IT and consumer accounts. He also spent two years working in-house for PA Consulting Group in its banking, insurance and finance division. He also worked as a freelance journalist, for two of the Financial Times Newsletters, Business Computing Brief and Electronic Office and on the editorial team of Connexion (a leading Datacomms publication of its time). Gerard has undertaken direct and sub-contract work on a variety of accounts, including IBM, Ford Motor Company, Microsoft, British Airways, Pepsi, Standard Chartered Bank, BT, Learning Tree International, and the Government-funded Y2K national media awareness campaign. He also ran the PR campaign to launch US-based Voicelink (call management systems supplier) in the UK in the early nineties. Microsoft awarded Gerard MHP status for his work on their EMEA messaging project. He is also an instructor on media relations, internal communications and crisis communications for MIH.

Sue Stride. Account Director - Sue has research experience gained from the BBC and News International's UK Development Group. Sue worked for many years as a freelance journalist and has written for the Times. Sue has worked in PR for over 25 years in-house and for several consultancies, including Shandwick, principally on business-to-business accounts. Her experience covers the water industry, training, education, corporate and accountancy. Clients past and present include Price Waterhouse, Information Technology Group, Oracle, Osbourne Computers Ltd, QMS (UK and EMEA) Ltd, Sapphire Systematics Ltd and The Times Network Network Systems Ltd.

Althea Taylor-Salmon MCIPR, MPRCA. Account Director - Althea has 20 years' experience as a director at UK and international public relations consultancies including Shandwick Communications and Golley Slater PR, where she led successful campaigns for blue-chip brands and entrepreneurial businesses. Her sector experience includes leisure, food, property, healthcare, retail, business finance, non-profit and recruitment. Client experience includes The Army, Dove, Busch Gardens and Sea World USA, Betty Crocker, CALA Homes, Abbeyfield, DHL, Plan International, Spenhill Regeneration (Tesco's property division), Sainsbury Management Fellows' Society, Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance, The Choral Foundation, Chapel Royal Hampton Court Palace and Bishop's Stortford North Consortium (housebuilders).

Keith Salvidge, Creative Director - Keith has 28 years' experience building and developing brands for clients across a wide range of sectors. He spent 12 years as Creative Director of a London-based design consultancy, working for clients such as Diageo and Chivas Regal, where he created and implemented new global spirits brands, and The Tussauds Group where he worked on their branding. Working at other design agencies, projects included the branding and launch of Excel Airways, the creation of new international brands for India's largest brewing and distilling group The UB Group, and trade communications campaigns in the UK for Icelandic bank, Kaupthing. Current clients include the US based start-up airline, Astrajet Airways, where he created the name, branding and implementation, and Swedish based ASSA ABLOY, the world's largest lock and security solutions group - product brand name generation, brand design, marketing collateral and packaging.