About the role
PR Executive
Permanent
Up to £32,000 + Pension + BUPA + ShareSave + 6.6 weeks holiday + Hybrid Working (1 Day per week in Southampton SSO)
Southampton, Store Support Office
We believe anyone can improve their home to make life better. From our Southampton Store Support office (SSO) we equip our stores, our people, and our whole business with everything it takes to help our millions of customers create a home they’ll love. Join us as a PR Executive and you’ll be a big part of this.
Key responsibilities
This exciting role offers the opportunity to be part of our PR team’s mission to ensure B&Q is seen as the no1 place for home improvement by consistently generating fresh ideas that drive fame and advocacy. We want to champion B&Q hero products and services in the most engaging way possible through smart thinking and curated opportunities.
The role is responsible for supporting B&Qs consumer PR campaigns and reputation management to promote and protect B&Qs offer and value (products/services) and our B&Q brand values, by helping to influence editorial content in earned media: news and consumer, traditional and digital; to drive footfall and traffic, brand loyalty & preference.
As a member of the Content, Social & PR Team, this role will support B&Q’s consumer facing, earned communications output, on time and to budget.
Key Accountabilities / Responsibilities:
Supports in the day-to-day running of press office:
- Collaborate with PR Managers and agencies to identify PR opportunities that promote brand reputation and consumer preference, leveraging topical and cultural moments with relatable, engaging content.
- Support the Corporate and Consumer press office to address issues as needed.
- Manage Press Office budget overview, ensuring all internal financial protocols are followed – including raising POs, goods receipting, tracking expenses etc.
- Oversee Press Loft: upload images, draft and publish media alerts, and raise awareness of new B&Q offerings to drive priority category consideration.
- Maintain the B&Q newsroom (Epresspack): manage press releases, product details, image libraries, and media queries, ensuring seamless inbound and outbound communication.
- Handle image and product requests from the PR agency.
- Share relevant articles and coverage updates with internal stakeholders.
- Compile weekly and monthly internal coverage reports.
- Support regional PR for store openings, including briefing and managing execution and budgets, as well as a regional PR agency if being used (reporting to the Corporate PR Manager).
- Build and maintain relationships with target media through direct outreach, sell-in media alerts, and gather insights on their upcoming features.
- Coordinate and manage media/influencer gifting campaigns (often collaborating with social teams and PR agency)
Supporting on PR campaign execution, including Content for wider channels
- Support the agency in producing and delivering PR activity across earned media channels (broadcast, print, digital), ensuring tactics align with campaign objectives.
- Brief and manage the PR agency to create and deliver on-message campaign content that aligns with B&Q’s brand guidelines (tone and personality), meeting deadlines, and achieving pre-agreed KPIs.
- Collaborate with other marketing channels via Content Planning and Content Production meetings to integrate PR content and ensure timely delivery for cross-channel use.
- Provide additional campaign support, including planning and attending shoots, press shows, briefings, and other events.
Manages measurement of effectiveness of PR activity:
- Support on campaign data/insight for all outputs generated by PR assets (including results from using in other channels) to inform future campaign development.
- Manages B&Qs media monitoring agency (Cision)
Collaborates with internal stakeholders to ensure alignment of Consumer & Corp-sumer PR activity
- Works alongside social & digital colleagues to align to the influencer strategy and leverage opportunities for media to deliver against campaign objectives; leads on delivery in earned, and works with other channels as appropriate
- Supports the drafting of statements and Q&As for issues (product, store, service related), for use by broader channels (contact centre, store colleagues, internal briefings etc), ensuring alignment with key external and internal stakeholders
Required skills & experience
Required Skills & Experience:
- At least 2+ years of PR or Journalism experience – consumer and corporate
- Strong knowledge of the UK media landscape
- Previous press office or newsroom and event management experience
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with critical eye for detail.
- The ability to create strong working relationships with both internal and external stakeholders (including buying teams, agencies, journalists, influencers, talent agents)
- Keen eye for trends in the news agenda, social media and cultural zeitgeist
- Degree or equivalent education or Communications, Journalism, Advertising or Marketing Qualifications preferred but not essential
- Ability to solve problems and find solutions - especially on deadlines.
- Highly organised and detail-oriented individual who can manage multiple priorities at once.
- Soft skills: curious & creative, flexible & agile/adaptable, positive, driven, self-sufficient
Career progression
What's in it for me?
As part of a great team, you’ll be valued for who you are.We’re committed to making B&Q more diverse and representative of the communities we serve, where everyone can feel they belong and have equal opportunities. You will have access to a range of networks that represent our colleagues and allies and help us to continue to put diversity and inclusion at the heart of our business.
We also recognise that wellness means different things to different people, and we want to help colleagues be at their best and feel well by offering a range of benefits to help you. As well as a competitive salary, our benefits package includes an award-winning pension scheme, bonus, ShareSave options, 6.6 weeks holiday, payroll giving, an Employee Assistance Programme, shopping discounts, colleague wellbeing benefits and lots more!
So we can support you during the application or interview process, please contact recruitment@b-and-q.co.uk for any recruitment adjustments.
We want to ensure that all employees, future employees and applicants to all Kingfisher companies are treated equally regardless of age, gender, marital or civil partnership status, colour, ethnic or national origin, culture, religious belief, philosophical belief, political opinion, disability, gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation.
If you require any additional support or adjustments to help you make an application, please contact us at recruitment@b-and-q.co.uk.
