PRmoment Awards Shortlist 2024 PRmoment Leaders PA Mediapoint PRCA

Jason Gale, managing director of integrated PR and marketing consultancy Handmade UK

Jason Gale, managing director of integrated PR and marketing consultancy Handmade UK, has the best excuse for not exercising ever. Unfortunately, he doesn’t tell us what it is …

My day

6.30am: The alarm goes off and I reach for my BlackBerry and do one-eye scanning of any urgent emails that may have come through during the night. By the end of this process the other eye has opened and I get out of bed. I wander to the kitchen for coffee, first newspaper of the day and think about exercising. After I have come up with the best excuse not to exercise it’s shower and suit on.

7.00am: I now commute about 30 minutes to the office in which time I listen to audio books or newspapers two and three. I usually make a couple of notes for ideas of existing clients or spot someone, potential new clients, I would like to work with.

7.30am: I love the office at this time of day. I make a list of what to talk about when the team come in. Turn on the radio to listen to talkSPORT or Radio 5 for the first hour or so. I will also login to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or see where the team has been over the weekend or the previous night by having a quick look at Foursquare.

8.00am: The team starts to arrive and I make quick notes about the most important client news in preparation for a 9.30am meeting.

9.30am: We have a team meeting most days after the papers have been digested. We will discuss what the papers are saying and have updates on the status of each client and maybe a discussion about potential clients.

10.30am: Usually at this time I will have a one-to-one with one of the account managers to talk about particular projects or clients. Recently this has largely been for the London Lifestyle Awards which we created and launch this year. One on ones are great focused time and often move projects on quickly.

11.00am: I usually call a couple of clients at this point, check in with them and ensure that they are fully informed of progress. I have to admit that often my thoughts now turn to food. At 6ft 5in I need a lot of fuel!

12:30pm: I go through the company figures focusing on actual cash flow and checking with Sally in accounts that everyone is paying on time.

1:00pm: Lunch at my desk I am afraid. It is bad, but we have all got into the habit of this, a habit one day I would like to change.

1.10pm: I will have a phone around of my personal press and business contacts. Much of the press calling is now handled by my excellent account managers, but I like to hear what some of my old friends and colleagues are up to, so I still really enjoy this bit.

2.00pm: Quite often we have brainstorming early afternoon to come up with creative ideas either for pitches but more often than not for existing clients. We have managed to generate great publicity with one or two whacky and quirky ideas, and found this is usually a great team-building time of the day.

3.30pm: Email, email, email. The quantity seems to increase each day. I answer the best I can or if longer responses are needed I leave until the evening.

4.00pm: Three times a week I have client meetings around this time. Despite the development in conference calls, emails and sharing information online, face-to-face meetings with clients is always fantastic for results.

6.00pm: Dinner or event. I try to do this at least three times a week, spending social time with colleagues is a good way to really understand what people need in their line of work and how we as a company can help deliver that. Journalists can be more frank and clients accepting of creative ideas when a glass of Chardonnay is being enjoyed.

9.30pm: Back home to write those one or two emails I left from earlier. It has given me time to consider my response and also the calmness and freedom of time to respond properly.

10.30pm: Catch up with daily news and sports updates before 30 minutes of junk TV.

11.30pm: Bed with a book…currently The Fame Formula by Mark Borkowski.

12.00am: Sleep and the whole process starts again …  

If you enjoyed this article, sign up for free to our twice weekly editorial alert.

We have six email alerts in total - covering ESG, internal comms, PR jobs and events. Enter your email address below to find out more: