Having left the University of Birmingham in 2021 with a degree in political science and international relations, it would be easy to assume that Tom Ziprin, senior communications executive at legal firm Walkers, had already found his PR niche.
“I come from a political background, but before going into PR I worked in the recruitment and financial services industry,” explains Ziprin.
“I found it really interesting how large banks and asset managers would use recruitment campaigns to PR themselves, alongside brand messaging to differentiate from competitors.”
In 2022, Ziprin who knew he enjoyed being in the city and immersed in a corporate comms environment, discovered the world of B2B PR. And, when looking for a graduate scheme to make his bones in the sector, he ignored larger agencies.
“You’d assume that I would be applying for all the grad schemes at large PR agencies…with my then slightly limited knowledge of PR my head turned to the names often seen in the media; Portland, Headland and Edelman, for example.
“Those big-name grad schemes feel like the crème de la crème and the ones you should want to aspire to [work for].
“[I thought] perhaps if I work for a smaller agency that it might have less prestigious clients or less high-value, important work. In reality, that isn’t the case.
“After speaking to mentors and peers, I found that a boutique agency would give me more on the ground exposure.”
While not being from a legal background, Ziprin noticed that a lot of his political knowledge overlapped with law. So, in 2022 he joined boutique PR agency, Byfield as an account executive.
Enshrined in law
“I joined a PR agency specialising in the legal sector, and I've become a bit of a nerd for it. I'm fascinated by the intricacies and, in some sense, the peculiarities of the legal sector. And because I've fallen in love with it, I'd like to think I've become a subject matter expert.
“I enjoy being aware of what's going on in the broader sector and how it can help shape and strategise our communications.”
On joining a smaller agency, he says that he was guilty of assuming that it may have “less prestigious clients” or less “high value, important work”. But Ziprin is pleased to report that, “in reality, that’s not the case”.
He adds: “You can see it's not all about the name of the company on the CV. It's about the on the ground experience that you get.
“You get a lot more hands-on experience at an early stage in your career. I was once sat in litigation for a tech conglomerate worth over £200m. That was an incredible experience I probably wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do elsewhere.
During his two-year stint at Byfield, Ziprin was promoted to senior account executive before leaving at the start of 2025 to join Walkers as its senior communications executive, global.
“I’m still settling into the new in-house role, but I've really come to value that hands-on experience, whether that's monitoring potential reputational issues or helping to drive a refreshed media relations strategy.”
Building a case for boutique
When asked what his advice would be to other fledgling PR professionals, unsure of whether to specialise or play the field, Ziprin says that being a commitment-phobe can pay dividends in PR.
“Don't be worried about stepping into a sector, because that’s not it [for the remainder of your career].Get the feeling for things before you fully commit, because that's part of the journey as a young professional now.
“Specialising in a certain sector or agency does not mean you are then going to be stuck in that sector. While working in legal, I've still worked on some topics across tech, finance and real estate.
“You may find purely because of the broad nature of PR that something incredibly specific that interests you.
“Don’t be worried about finding your niche.”
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