Eight things you didn’t know about Scriba

Friends of the business will have heard our managing director say that she never wanted to expand beyond being a freelancer. But fast-forward to June 2021 and she’s employed 12 other talented word nerds who make up our wonderful, award-winning Scriba PR collective! (Sorry Katie, it looks like you’re stuck with us!)

And, if there’s one thing you know about us as a group it’s that we live for a good birthday celebration – and we make them last! Therefore, what better way to carry on Scriba’s month-long celebrations than combining our love of words with the number of years we’ve been established? Seamless, right? So, here are eight things you might not know about us…

1. We convert 2 in 3 new business enquiries

Okay, so I’ve started off with a humble brag here, but it’s one we’re all immensely proud of – especially following the year everyone’s had.

During Covid-19, we made no secret of the fact that more than £284,500 worth of PR retainer work was paused just a fortnight after the first UK lockdown was introduced.

However, we never back down from a challenge and managed to recoup everything we lost (and record a profit), secure 20 new PR accounts – we’ve now got over 50 clients on our books – and maintain our two-in-three new business conversion rate.

2. 14% of our turnover goes back into learning and development (L&D)

With a culture based on peer-to-peer learning, we deliver PR hacks, and encourage one another to hold knowledge-sharing sessions during quarterly away days – to upskill staff, build confidence, and foster greater self-care.

From day one, we’ve put 14% of our turnover back into L&D and our personal and professional development plans have led to sessions on confidence, imposter syndrome, handling conflict, and message delivery. Plus, we continue to hold masterclasses for businesses in social media management, awards writing, webinar hosting, media training, and more.

3. Our clients are in niche sectors… all over the world!

Need a product guide for Austrian customers looking to buy a globally recognised industrial shredder or a newsletter specifically for your pharmaceutical audience in China? We can help!

We’ve got a few multi-lingual word nerds in our ranks, and work with external specialists to compile powerful prose that can be translated into whatever language you need – whether you’re an Anglo-French construction firm or a leading European waste and recyclables manufacturer!

4. The Scriba Star Scheme

As well as anniversaries and birthdays marked with special surprises, our word nerds secretly vote for the comrade who they think has truly gone above and beyond throughout the month. The winner is then announced at our end of month work-in-progress meeting complete with a trophy and a free breakfast at our on-site eatery.

5. We love to give back

Like a lot of amazing businesses out there, we want to help others out as much as we can. We recently donated a £35,000 PR contract to the Yorkshire Children’s Centre and supported a colleague to deliver pro bono support to 10-year-old Maisie Catt, a double amputee who walked 26 miles for LimbPower – raising £11,768 in the process.

We’ve also held comms workshops for young entrepreneurs and 2020 saw us pass on £180,000 worth of work to industry peers including digital agencies and videographers. Plus, we get paid time-off to volunteer for worthy causes.

6. Our team isn’t your typical PR team…

So, here’s a confession… very few of us have a formal PR qualification.

However, as a super talented bunch of former journalists, a legal eagle, lecturer, politics graduate – and more – you can be sure that when you speak to us, you get an array of specialist brains who can simplify your complex story with ease!

7. Discovering what makes us, us

When you begin life at Scriba, it’s a rite of passage that one of your first tasks is to complete the ‘StrengthsFinder’ online assessment. This helps to identify your individual skills and discuss how you can develop them with our brilliant business coach, Natasha McCreesh.

And, once you do discover what makes you, you, we also see who that person complements in terms of their individual skillset – which is perfect for ensuring our clients get the most tailored experience to their needs, and the happiest marriage of PR comms and account management expertise.

8. We’re not just PR, we can also provide marketing director support too!

Recognising that more companies require specific expertise to achieve their marketing goals, we coordinate result-driven elements of a business’s comms strategy to deliver on their objectives.

Whether that’s projecting an organisation’s voice, fuelling collaboration and discussion within their industry, or keeping the sales pipeline healthy, our fingers are firmly on the pulse to make sure we champion and safeguard brands in the public eye. Intrigued to find out more? Get in touch!