Published by Sue Johns-Chapman
Published Date 10.09.2025 
2025 is the first year that City Road Communications (CRC) has entered awards of any kind, so you can imagine how thrilled we are to make the shortlist in the PR Agency of the Year (small) category of the UK Agency Awards. Put simply, we’ve always known that our team are exceptionally good at what they do, but to have that validated within such a wide and varied field of competitors is incredibly rewarding.
Our clients range from start-ups to corporates and include a variety of sectors from financial services to hospitality to space tech (yes, really!). Regardless of size or industry, they’ve been telling us for years of their reasons for working with us: our openness and honesty, our diligent planning and consistent communication and, of course, our fantastic team. These elements underpin our stellar results achieved through our exceptional journalist contacts and precise execution. It’s for these reasons that 70% of our retained clients have been working with CRC for more than two years. Indeed, our longest client relationship is 8 years (since we launched), and this is why they view CRC as an extension of their own team:
“CRC are always on our side, and we know that we can turn to them for help and advice over and above our individual deliverables.” – Leah Brunskill, Deputy Chief of Marketing, MFS
Through our work, we ensure clients’ messages consistently reach the right audiences so they can lead the conversations that matter to their customers – this builds brand awareness and trust, allowing them to drive change in their industry.
We achieve this through research, data and expertly crafted content (including press releases, reports, thought leadership articles, blogs, and social media posts). Integrated comms strategies link all this content effectively across multiple channels to engage the right audiences at the right time.
Quantitative research and reactive PR (newsjacking) are two aspects where we excel. Over the years, we have written literally hundreds of quantitative research surveys and have honed our skills to not only deliver surveys that result in punchy, headline-grabbing news but are also structured to squeeze every ounce of value out for our clients.
Likewise, reactive PR is a tactic that we have sharpened over years of practice. Our team are adept at jumping on news developments, developing carefully crafted responses on behalf of our clients that will grab journalists’ attention, even when their inboxes are crowded.
2024-2025 has been a period of change for the agency. We launched a new website and reframed how we talk about ourselves to be bolder and louder about what we achieve for our clients. We’re upfront that we work a little differently to most PR agencies, and we are proud that those differences are key to our success. For example, our team structure is genuinely flat. Our directors remain involved in day-to-day client work and regularly pitch journalists and join client calls. We also don’t charge by the hour, or even count hours worked per client, instead planning, executing and measuring our work based on outcomes instead. We also have a truly flexible approach to work, enabling our team to adjust their work around their lives without bureaucracy or judgement.
All of this adds up to relentless results for our clients: In 2024, we secured 350 pieces of media coverage, on average, for each of our retained clients. This high-quality media coverage ensures that our clients’ brands and spokespeople are recognised and trusted in their fields:
“CRC’s work means that when prospects research Avili, they are met with a raft of high-quality media coverage. This not only builds trust in our offering but improves visibility.” – Philippe Masson, CEO, Avilio
We’re delighted to be able to celebrate the hard work of our team at the UK Agency Awards. Our nomination is a testament to their expertise, hard work and dedication.
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