LET’S TALK

“Octopus don't use agencies, for creative or media, as I believe efficiency and creativity come from within. I'm lucky enough to work with an incredibly gifted internal team, but somehow, James has always persuaded me that a PR agency should be my exception to the rule. And you’re not just sold a dream - he hires people who share his attitude. He’s worked with me to steer Octopus's PR from 50k customers to more than 10 million. He has been a pivotal comms lead in our global expansion.”

“As a fast-growing startup, it is vital that our partners work as quickly as we do. Harpswood started with us just ahead of the back-to-school season and they landed results within two weeks. Their media training sessions are excellent - and have made a real difference to us and our teachers.

They helped us generate national coverage for our Series A raise, adding a strong narrative to the story about our global expansion. The team are proactive, sharp and genuinely invested in what we are building. My only regret is that I did not start working with Harpswood sooner."

“UNDO faced an exciting communications challenge. We’d won a share of the $100million XPRIZE for carbon removal and wanted audiences in the UK, the US and Canada to know about it. We loved that Harpswood had the energy of a start-up and the international reach of an established and well-run agency.

With only three weeks to turn the campaign around, the team landed brilliant coverage in the UK – including a prominent piece in The Times and an interview with the Financial Times.”

“As a fast growing scale-up in a nascent sector, we needed a PR team prepared to immerse themselves in a rapidly evolving public EV charging market, and support us as we ourselves were evolving our own strategy and approach. Harpswood hit the ground running from day one and supported us across the board.

Harpswood has been instrumental in driving the success of Be.EV from its early days to where we are now. They’re a committed team who have challenged us when needed, and have been great fun to work with.”

“It’s hard to think about Harpswood as being anything other than part of our home team. They’ve been with us since we launched Subak and have worked tirelessly and patiently with us as colleagues and advisers to such an extent that it’s often easy to forget they have other clients!

The support they have given us during that time has been second to none, and their professionalism, guidance and industry network have been critical in helping us to establish and nurture relationships with press and media that frankly we should not have been able to as a small, early stage climate tech organisation. An excellent partner all round.”

“I’ve been surprised at how much more seriously people take a piece of news if it's in the press. A few weeks ago, I told a few friends about the Google.org funding and they were only mildly impressed, but when they saw it in the media those same people were suddenly like, "OMG, this is so amazing! Congratulations!” It's almost like it hasn't happened unless it's in the press.”

“Harpswood has helped New AutoMotive become an authoritative voice in the media about the transition to electric vehicles. We’ve become a trusted source on electric vehicles thanks to being quoted in the media on a weekly basis.”

“As a founder, you realise quickly that building a startup is not just about product. It is about the story behind it. Harpswood help to clarify our thinking, push us to be precise and articulate why what we are doing at Deep Medical is so important.

They've raised our profile and sharpened how we think internally. We've become bolder and more confident in how we talk about our impact and our ambition. As two co-founders with very different backgrounds and communication styles, we also found Harpswood’s media training and ongoing pre-interview preparation and post interview feedback to be invaluable.”

“This is a big year for our business - we needed the right PR agency to help the world hear about our mission. Our sales team received so many inquiries following a press release that they fulfilled in days what would usually take months to achieve. I can see why Harpswood has such impressive client retention.”

“We’ve never worked with anyone like Harpswood. They bring their infectious energy and positivity to everything they do. They kicked off with the Prince of Wales’ visit within days of us starting work together. Their media knowledge and ability to manage different stakeholders is invaluable.

They’ve landed everything from coverage in the FT and Forbes, to hyper targeted trade coverage supporting the different areas of our business. And it doesn’t just stop with media relations. They are always thinking about other ways to support us.”

“We’ve been delighted with Harpswood, they are a brilliant and creative ‘can-do’ partner. We wanted both regional and national news coverage, so articles in everything from the Loughborough Echo to the Guardian have met that brief. Coverage on ITV and various regional radio stations have been a huge bonus. Great work team!”

“Before we had even signed on the dotted line, Harpswood had secured us coverage in Sifted, a major publication in our sector. Since then, they’ve secured an additional 8 pieces of coverage across various outlets that have elevated Climate Connection’s visibility and helped shape our outreach strategy, including The Times, Maddyness, Business Green and more.

They’ve also extended that same commitment to our wider community. As our PR community partners, they show up at our monthly events to run free office hours for founders and offer practical, expert guidance. On top of that, they’ve built a sliding scale of PR services specifically for early-stage businesses, making high-quality PR genuinely accessible to startups who need it most.”

“Harpswood impressed us from the start. The team immediately took the wheel, guiding us to get the most out of our partnership and delivering quality coverage within weeks, including a stand-out feature in The Times business section. Harpswood clearly cares about their clients and that attention shines through.”

“Working with Harpswood was a real highlight of the year. We were concerned that our project was difficult to communicate – we were rebranding and evolving rather than launching as a completely new entity. They were honest about what could be achieved and thought through all the issues before coming up with a smart strategy. They then delivered well beyond what we could have hoped for. Getting six minutes on prime time BBC Breakfast to talk about issues of worker protection and job fraud put JobsAware on the map from day one.”

“Since day one, Harpswood has been an extension of our brand, bringing invaluable experience. Their support, expertise, and guidance are second to none, and they’ve been a key player in helping us build our brand in the US.

They’re proactive and obsessed with excellence, so we are always one step ahead. Whether it’s through strategy or execution, Harpswood is a vital part of our team. Whether it’s innovative thinking or meticulous delivery, Harpswood set the foundation of our success in a competitive market.”

“The Harpswood team have been excellent from the start. They helped shape our messaging and came up with a clear strategy to guide our communications. We’ve got real industry experts at Anderson Quigley and Harpswood have made great progress in building them into thought leaders in the executive search space. They have a can-do attitude and they get brilliant results.”

“Harpswood has done a fantastic job helping us build our brand and develop a reputation in the media. Their brilliance is in understanding how communications forms part of an organisation’s strategy and putting that into action every day in the media opportunities they work to create.

The team is flexible, hard-working and has a laser-like focus on results - they are a joy to work with.”

"Harpswood has given invaluable support to the Social Mobility Foundation. They helped us promote our Social Mobility Employer Index by generating media opportunities on BBC Radio 4’s flagship Today programme and business paper City AM among others. They also helped us land coverage on the Class Pay Gap in national newspaper titles. They have provided us with writing training, advice on how to develop the best case studies and prepared briefing notes for me/our CEO before media appearances. They have been a valuable media consultant to us and we couldn’t recommend them more highly."