As the third round of The PR League draws to a close, teams have been taking part in the creative consumer pitch: responding to a consumer-focused brief with a live 20-minute pitch.

The PR League was launched to celebrate young talent in the PR industry and provide an antidote to the "doomsayers" regarding the potential of the sector.

The title race is heating up as we enter the final straight. TFD has surged to the summit of the leaderboard, jumping five percentage points to claim the top spot with a clinical performance. However, breathing down its neck is Third City, which remains hot on its heels after a strong showing in the consumer round. Fanclub PR rounds out the podium spots, staying within striking distance as the competition enters its most critical phase.

A spokesperson from TFD said: “The PR League has been so much fun. It’s not often you get a ‘PR sandbox’ of challenges that allows you to stretch your creativity and work in areas you don’t typically get to in your day-to-day, all while keeping up a competitive spirit.

“For example, who knew we’d be fighting social media ‘fires’ (literally) for a consumer mobile phone company in a crisis comms simulator, when we signed up for a career in B2B comms!

“We’re so excited, but also slightly nervous for the final stage. We know, or know of, all the other agencies, and they really are the best of the best. So while that makes us extremely proud to currently be leading the table, it’s clearly all still to play for! Best of luck, everyone!”

Ben Smith, founder, PRmoment, said: “So, that was fun. Just finished chairing the first day of the consumer pitch responses for The PR League teams.

“Congrats to all the teams today, really enjoyed it. We launched The PR League partly to celebrate the amazing young talent in PR atm, and partly as an antidote to the doomsayers who don’t understand the extraordinary potential of PR right now. Thanks to my fellow jury members. The second day of judging is on Thursday. New jury, new teams, same chair!”

The jury's view

"I was so impressed with the thinking, energy and presentation swagger. Some ideas were simply smart, others challenged all judges' poker-face intents. They should all be proud," said Natasha Hill, MD and co-owner, Bottle.

Mike Robb, CEO, Boldspace, said: “The future of the PR industry relies on this brilliant talent coming through, with the confidence to showcase the best they can do and keep the rest of us on our toes. If today was anything to go by, that future is very bright indeed.”

Natalie Luke, founder and MD, Aduro Communications, said: “The wealth of young talent in our industry is truly inspiring and it was great to be stopped in our tracks with such brave and bold thinking. Feeling safe in the knowledge the future is very bright and brilliant!"

"The energy, creativity and professionalism of the teams today blew my mind. The industry is in safe hands! The team at Releasd are really proud to be sponsoring this important initiative," said Richard Benson, CEO, Releasd.

Adrian Ma, founder and partner, Fanclub PR, said: "Being a judge in The PR League was a great experience. It was so encouraging to have this platform to see the future talent of our industry in action. Don’t worry folks, with these guys coming up through the ranks, the PR is in safe hands".

Key dates for stage four

• Coaching 1:1s: With PR expert Will Hart will take place between 20th and 24th Feb

• B2B pitches: Take place on 3rd and 4th March.

• The finale: The initiative culminates in a finale on 12 Mar 2026.