GingerMay, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, United Kingdom: GingerMay

Written answers to the questions

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Total 192 words used.

GingerMay is a multi-award winning B2B and technology PR consultancy known for our best-in-class integrated communications delivery, exceptional client service, and talented team. We uphold supportive, people-centric values in an industry known for long hours, stress, and discrimination against working mothers. 

Victoria Usher, Founder and CEO of GingerMay, established the consultancy following her first-hand experience of discrimination in her previous senior leadership positions. Two different companies handed her untenable decisions after the birth of her daughters; one demanded she be based overseas from her new-born baby five days a week, the other threatened her with dismissal if she didn’t return after only six weeks. Both times, Victoria was forced to sacrifice her roles to prioritise her family. 

With true flexibility woven into GingerMay’s DNA, the consultancy combines a brilliant business approach with a sensitive outlook to work-life balance, empowering women to thrive and driving greater commercial success. Prior to Covid-19, 68% of our team worked part-time, flexi-hours, or from home, and GingerMay was crowned PRWeek’s Best Places to Work and Real Business’s Top 25 SME Culture Leaders, among other accolades. Since 2020, we’ve deepened our commitment to flexibility while boosting business growth.

Total 250 words used.

Personalised flexibility – Every team member has hybrid, flexi-hour, and part-time working options, and are fully set up to work remotely. We enable individuals to adjust their work hours to accommodate childcare, home-schooling, and mental health needs. 

During the pandemic, our ethical practices allowed team members to be with their families in other countries while contributing to GingerMay’s success. By offering genuine flexibility, we ensure women can prioritise family and personal commitments without compromising on their careers. Consequently, we were awarded Management Today’s Flexible Working Initiative of the Year 2021. 

Mental & physical health – GingerMay has invested in training multiple Mental Health First Aiders (MHFAs), who recognise the early signs of stress and are available for one-to-one support. From feeling isolated to blurring the work-life boundary, hybrid working can impact individuals differently and the MHFAs support staff directly and work with the management team to ensure everyone has their optimal hybrid mix now offices are fully open. 

The MHFAs organise company-wide fitness challenges and the Summer Fridays initiative, which allows the team to getaway early and enjoy the longer evenings from July. GingerMay’s 2021 staff survey showed 90% of team members feel they can seek support from the MHFA team, who also arrange talks from experts on topics such as the importance of sleep. Education is key to GingerMay’s support for mental and physical health, which is why we’ve  assigned a menopause ambassador to inform the whole team on how the menopause can seriously affect those going through it.

Total 249 words used.

Due to GingerMay’s dedication to flexibility and staff wellbeing, we hold an impressive 90% staff retention rate compared to the industry average of 77%(1). This means the consultancy can work at 100% capacity for longer [REDACTED FOR PUBLICATION]. Furthermore, in an industry where men occupy nearly 7 in 10(2) leadership positions globally, 85% of our senior leadership team are women, while two-thirds of the whole team are working mothers.

According to a PRCA study(3), 9 in 10 PR professionals also struggle with their mental wellbeing. Overwhelming workloads are cited as a key source of workplace stress by 67% of PR staff and the top reason for 54% not taking time off work for their mental health. GingerMay is smashing the industry’s reputation for long hours and stress, as over 90% of team members believe GingerMay supports their efforts to balance work and personal life, while 9 in 10 would recommend GingerMay as an employer. 

We listen to our team’s needs, adapt our ethical practices to keep staff happy and productive, and continuously dismantle barriers faced by professional women, which has led to strong business growth. [REDACTED FOR PUBLICATION].

Total 237 words used.

To support our nomination and illustrate the status quo of the PR industry, we have referenced figures from the following studies:

1. https://www.agilitypr.com/pr-news/public-relations/pr-agency-health-in-jeopardy-with-staff-and-client-turnover-rates-alarmingly-high-in-2019/
2. https://globalwpr.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/GWPR-Annual-Index-2021.pdf
3. https://news.prca.org.uk/pr-professionals-25-more-likely-to-suffer-from-poor-mental-health-compared-to-other-uk-workers/

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Further responses from our most recent staff survey and testimonials from our team members also demonstrate our commitment to sustaining a healthy work-life balance: 

Kirsty Langan, Associate Director at GingerMay and mother of two shared, “having GingerMay as an employer has enabled me to follow my career ambitions while being a hands-on parent. I have the flexibility to work around my family, which was never an option in my previous roles, as do my colleagues across all levels and departments. We’re proof that Victoria’s flexible and supportive approach to business works.”

As part of the staff survey, respondents included: “I can manage work across clients whilst still learning and feel I can discuss this if it changes” and “I have been given a lot of flexibility, especially more recently, to allow me to continue to work while balancing family commitments.” GingerMay offers team members the “opportunity to stretch without being overwhelmed”, an “amazing work-life balance”, and is “very understanding when it comes to being flexible around individual staffing needs.”