ABOUT PLMR

SPORTS AND
LEISURE

OUR SERVICES

SPORTS &
LEISURE
CREDENTIALS

SECTOR
EXPERIENCE

WHAT OUR
CLIENTS SAY

PLMR
Church House
29 Great Smith Street
Westminster
SW1P 3BL
T. +44 (0) 207 622 9529
E. info@plmr.co.uk
W. www.plmr.co.uk

ABOUT PLMR
Launched in 2006, PLMR now has a thirty-strong team, whose members have worked as
journalists in papers and on television, in the Civil Service, the third sector, across political
parties, in campaigning NGOs, in Parliament and local government.
In 2014 we won PR Weeks prestigious best political campaign in the UK award. In 2013/ 2014
we were named the UKs top public affairs agency, having been voted Agency of the Year at
the Public Affairs News Awards. PLMR has been repeatedly recognised for the quality of our
work, and have won two Gold Lions for Public Affairs and Best Use of Media Relations at the
prestigious Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

SPORTS AND LEISURE

Whether it is winning planning permission for a new development, negotiating with treasury
officials about your tax regime or managing the reputation of your sport amongst the wider
public in the middle of a challenging crisis, PLMR understands the issues and challenges that
sports and leisure clients face every day. Our consultants have created and delivered
campaigns to secure tax changes delivering substantial bottom line benefits to the bingo
industry and the travel sector and that have changed attitudes to horse racing amongst
politicians and the general public. Our team includes former parliamentary candidates and
councillors and experts who have advised political party leaders and cabinet members and
we number in our midst one Olympic torch bearer, numerous triathletes and an author whose
work has been shortlisted for the British Sports Book awards.
We know that clients in the sports and leisure sector need to establish and maintain close,
effective relationships with stakeholders, policy makers, players, spectators and customers
that stand the test of time. Working closely with our clients, including an Olympic venue,
sports regulators, trade associations, and one of the worlds largest nightclub brands, our
experience has seen us assemble wide-ranging coalitions and position our clients at the
forefront of the debate, protecting then in times of crisis, raising their profile and helping
them to win new supporters and participants.
At PLMR we are proud of the quality and creativity of our corporate communications services
and we have supplied timely and effective support to clients on the most challenging and
sensitive of briefs. We have worked with clients of all sizes and working across a diverse range
of modes, providing them with high-level political and media counsel, public and media
relations, issues and crisis management, planning permission advice, social media and
integrated campaign strategy.

PLMRs skills, expertise and knowledge have helped ensure that our clients are able to
meet challenging commercial objectives whilst protecting and enhancing their
reputations.

OUR SERVICES
Public and Media Relations
Delivering the media coverage that our clients
want is one of our core services, whether it is
television or radio, national, regional or local
newspapers, trade or sectoral media, or the
ever important digital world.
PLMR achieves thousands of pieces of press
coverage for its clients every year, all the time never losing sight of our clients precise
strategic goals. By generating positive coverage and building organisational reputation we
can drive occupancy, strengthen recruitment efforts and bolster internal and external
stakeholder confidence in your brand.
We work tirelessly with clients to develop strategies that build the foundations for positive
engagement now and in the future.

We can handle your communications for you, so that you can get on with the
work that matters: running your organisation.

Crisis and Issues Management

Effective crisis management is an essential
part of protecting reputation for those in
the sports and leisure sector. With activities
that are already in the public eye there is no
second chance to get it right. Poorly
handled crises can have long term
implications for any sport or leisure activity.
Successful crisis management involves a rapid, thoughtful response to mitigate negative
press. At PLMR, we are equipped to provide immediate media relations assistance, offering a
24/7 service to our clients.

We will help you react to difficult situations with a range of practical and
proven support. Our experience allows us to successfully manage even the most
serious of reputational challenges.

Lobbying and Public Affairs

In our open and democratic political system,
political decision-making and the forming of
public policy can be influenced by
organisations and individuals. If you want to
engage with government policy that directly
impacts your organisation, we can help you
identify the key stakeholders and reach out to
them.
Whether Public or Private Bills, Public Acts, Statutory Instruments, Private Members Bills, Acts
from Scottish Parliament, Northern Ireland Assembly or Welsh Assembly, the
implementations of EU Directives and Regulations, Ministerial Orders, the actions of
QUANGOs, Government Departments or arms length bodies, we can help you get results.
We work closely with clients to refine their messaging into compelling cases which resonate
with decision-makers.

At PLMR, we will help you to maximise the potential benefits of, and minimise
the risk from, the political environment.

Media Training and Facilitation

A confident interview performance, whether
for a proactive positive story or in response to
a reputational challenge, takes preparation
and skill so that you can guide the discussion
in the right way. At PLMR we have the
experience to teach you how its done.
Former BBC journalist Mike Ramsden will lead you through your bespoke training plan, full of
hands-on practice, real-world techniques and illustrative examples. Mike is interviewed
thousands of people on radio and television in his twenty year career, and can show you the
tricks journalists use to get the result they want. Our training team will explain how to avoid
those pitfalls, and deliver the messages you want to convey. Practical sessions, featuring
different interview scenarios, will make your media performances polished. Through PLMRs
media training we can build the national profile of your organisation by helping you become
a leading spokesperson for your sector. We also provide 24 hour on-going support to ensure
you are prepared day or night.

We will prepare you to deliver your message in a

clear, concise and compelling way.

Digital auditing
Digital channels of communication, from
Twitter and Facebook to Vimeo and Vine, can
help amplify the messaging of traditional
forms of media. PLMR will assess your online
presence and propose and carry out an online
media strategy to ensure that the digital world
works for you.
As customers, monitoring bodies and other key stakeholders take social media into their own
hands, the effective use of, and engagement with, social media is now more important than
ever for those involved in sports and leisure. Our services cover websites, social media
presence and SEO (search engine optimisation). We can assess, create and implement a plan
for your digital strategy.

We will ensure that online channels support, rather that distract from, your
goals.

Planning Permission Advice

If you need planning permission to enable
you to grow your organisation, we can help
you get it. If you are challenging a planning
application, we can help you oppose it. The
PLMR team has many years experience of
the UKs planning system and a track record
of success for our clients in both winning, and
opposing planning applications.
We know how the decision-making process works, and can help identify your key local
opinion-formers and decision-makers.

We will navigate you through the system and ensure the right messages reach
the right people.

Campaign Strategy
Our staff possess invaluable political
experience, having worked in Westminster,
the Civil Service, and as researchers and PR
consultants. These experiences have allowed
our team to develop an understanding of the
centres of power in British politics.
From day one, PLMR has been a fully integrated agency, meaning that we are perfectly placed
to approach projects like campaigns by bringing together political and media expertise to shift
public and political opinion.

We help develop effective campaigns.

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OUR SECTOR EXPERIENCE

THE HORSE COMES FIRST

A Sporting Alliance Campaign
Situation
Horse racing in Britain is run by people with a deep passion for horses who deliver the highest
levels of care for the animals involved. However, the sport has come under a concerted attack
from animal rights groups who would like to see the horse racing banned.

Solution
PLMR proposed forming a welfare campaign alliance, bringing together the British
Horseracing Authority, the Jockey Club, racecourses, owners, trainers, stable staff and
jockeys. The aim of the campaign was to equip racing with messages and information to
enable them to defend the sport with a confident and consistent line.
After a comprehensive review of equine
welfare research, PLMR developed new,
stronger, confident welfare messaging.
Drawing on our consultants experience
working on party political campaigns in the
UK and USA, we produced videos, posters,
leaflets, print and online advertising
promoting the proud welfare record of the
sport. We used the alliance to ensure that
the messaging was widely shared around
the sport.
PLMR organised campaign events at
racecourses including Aintree, Epsom,
Sandown, Hamilton and Perth and stands at
open days at training centres. The campaign video A Duty of Care played on giant screens
at racecourses and in betting shops all around the country. It was also featured on Channel 4
racing. A network of advocates were recruited and briefed to provide rapid responses to the
local and regional media. Members of Parliament were invited to visit to see training and
veterinary facilities at Epsom and given a behind the scenes tour to see the high welfare
standards being maintained on race days.

Success
Racing has united to get itself onto the front foot on welfare issues. The campaign messaging
is now being consistently used across the sport by all the different participants who now
respond rapidly and confidently to any attacks. Private polling conducted for the campaign by
ComRes has shown a positive shift in public support for racing.
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Boost Bingo Campaign

THE BINGO ASSOCIATION

An integrated lobbying campaign
Situation
Bingo is played in 400 clubs across Britain by 3.5 million active members. While most other
gambling activities were taxed at 15% or less, the bingo industry paid bingo duty at 20%.
Investment in the industry was being stifled, clubs were closing and jobs were being lost.

Solution
PLMR devised the Boost Bingo campaign aimed at achieving a 5% tax reduction in the 2014
Budget. The campaign positioned bingo as the solution to how politicians could engage with
this key electorate. To do this, the campaign sought to increase public support for bingo through national, local, regional and sectoral media as well as social media - with a total of
340,000 people signing a petition calling for a tax cut, which was delivered to the Chancellor
ahead of the Budget. PLMR worked with design partner Perfect Day to create colourful
campaign materials and then arranged the delivery of all materials to almost 400 bingo clubs
in the UK. PLMR also drafted an operational manual for each bingo club to ensure the whole
industry was on board with the campaign. MPs supported the campaign because they saw
bingo as a channel to engage with a large, hard-to-reach section of the voting public.

Success
The Treasury listened. Responding directly to the
momentum created, Chancellor George Osborne
praised a robust campaign in his Budget speech.
He said; They want the rate cut to 15%. I can go
further. Bingo duty will be halved to 10% to protect
jobs and protect communities.
The tax reduction was front page of the UKs mostread newspaper, The Sun, and unlocked
investment of at least 30 million a year for the
industry, providing a stimulus for new clubs to
open, others to be refurbished, and jobs to be
created. The 2014 Budget became known as The
Bingo Budget.

BRITISH HORSE SOCIETY

A lobbying campaign engaging the societys membership
Situation
The British Horse Society is a large membership organisation representing leisure riders and
those who care for horses. Members of the BHS were increasingly concerned about the
prevalence of ragwort in and around land that is used by horses. Ragwort is a wild flower that
can poison horses and in some cases lead to their death.

Solution
PLMR devised a strategy to engage
the membership of the BHS in a
campaign to tackle ragwort and
protect horses.
The first step was to organise a
detailed survey, supported by
Defra, which would assess, for the
first time, the level of awareness
and concern about ragwort in the
horse
riding
fraternity.
By
promoting the survey through social media, email, national, local and sectoral media and
producing a short video, PLMR generated a massive response to the survey with over 14,000
people completing the on-line questionnaire.
PLMR secured a ministerial summit with Defra and 50 representatives of major stakeholders
in the sector to announce the results of the survey and agree a strategy for tackling ragwort
in the future.

Success
As a direct result of the campaign, the BHS has been commissioned by Defra to create a toolkit
for local groups to deal with ragwort in their areas. BHS also won high level backing for its
proposal to set up Ragwort Action Partnerships with local authorities in rural areas to ensure
that ragwort is properly and appropriately controlled and horses are protected from the risk
of poisoning. BHS secured coverage for its campaign in local, national and specialist media.
Importantly, the BHSs members saw the organisation established to speak up on their behalf
campaigning forcefully on an issue that directly affects the health and welfare of the horses
that they care about so deeply.

MINISTRY OF SOUND
A planning campaign to save the club
Situation
When proposals for a 41-storey residential building next door to The Ministry of Sound posed
a direct threat to the future of the nightclub, PLMR delivered an integrated campaign to
mobilise decision-makers, club-goers, DJs, artists, and the general public to save the club.

Solution
PLMR worked closely with The Ministry of Sound to create the Save our Club campaign and
raise awareness of Ministry as an integral part of the UKs cultural fabric. The campaign
emphasised the valuable role Ministry plays as a business that contributes millions to the local
community, employs hundreds of people and has a positive impact on the community.
Deploying a focused strategy, the Save our Club campaign targeted key audiences including
the London politicians who would decide the fate of the club as well as high-profile advocates
and the wider public.

Success
Over the course of a six month campaign more than 25,000 people signed a petition to protest
the developers plans, celebrities such as UK number one recording artists Example and
Wretch 32 spoke out publicly in defence of the club and the Ministry gained significant
coverage across local, national and
international media. The Save our
Club campaign generated a huge
amount of web traffic, and to date the
campaign website has received 760,000
visits and over 680,000 social
networking interactions.
Londons Southwark Councils Planning
Committee voted 5-1 to save the
worlds most famous nightclub, against
the explicit recommendations of
Planning Officers.
When the application was called in by the Mayor of London the developer finally agreed to
measures that would guarantee Ministry of Sounds future.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY ABOUT US

"Working with PLMR is one of the best decisions Ive made since
becoming Chief Executive. Their energy, commitment and creativity
is fantastic - I cant say enough about them!"
The Bingo Association 2014

The Horse Comes First campaign, now in its third year, has greatly
benefited from the comprehensive communications and lobbying
support offered by PLMR. British Racings reputation on equine
welfare is of critical importance to the future of our industry, and
PLMRs work on The Horse Comes First has assisted in conveying,
clearly and concisely, the importance which our industry places on
providing first class care and attention every day to our equine
athletes.
British Horseracing Authority 2014

PLMR are first class strategic thinkers with highly-tuned political

antennae. They will always go above and beyond the call of duty for
clients.
Cancer Research UK 2014

Your work
work.

has been transformational in making our campaign

Ministry of Sound 2013

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