An award-winning PR boss has taken the bold move of relocating her business to Castle Donington – to grow in more ways than one.
Tina Clough’s Poppy PR will move to the prestigious DE74 postcode as the firm gets set to enter its 10th year.
After four years in Ilkeston, the company is moving into the prestigious DBS Centre managed offices, on Market Street.
Since setting up home in the market town and starting a family two years ago, Poppy PR owner Tina, 34, says she “fell in love” with the place – and it was a “no-brainer” to start a new chapter there business-wise as well as on a personal level.
Tina said: “I’m in love with the place. I love the community, and the opportunities that are there. As well as the community feel, there’s a lot of enterprise going on in Castle Donington.
“We are surrounded by the airport, there are lots of distribution centres there, there’s the Pegasus Business Park – there are a lot of businesses there that are quite serious about growth and making money.
“I’ve found from living there, it’s a very friendly place to be. A lot of people asked ‘why don’t you move your business to Castle Donington?’ I was running out of reasons not to.”
Poppy PR’s new home is on the site of a former vicarage in the centre of Castle Donington, with state-of-the-art meeting rooms, period features alongside mod cons, chill-out areas, contemporary offices overlooking the stunning gardens, reception facilities and parking.
With a location between Derby and Leicester, and fantastic links to Nottingham, it is ideal for the flourishing company, which has four staff who write up to 20 stories a week, for distribution to a host of local and national media, as well as trade publications.
It is a far cry from where Tina, a Nottingham Trent University journalism masters graduate who previously worked at the Nottingham Post and for two other public relations firms, first started out.
She first set up her business in the back bedroom of her former home in Ilkeston, before a short spell sharing the offices of a photographer friend in Alfreton.
The opening of the Poppy PR office in Ilkeston in August 2015 was an emotional affair for Tina, who says she couldn’t get through her speech for crying.
She said she has been happy in Ilkeston, in a space rented to her by client ALB Investments, but she added: “I took the decision because we have outgrown the space here. It is the next phase of our journey.
“Already, before we have set foot through the door, we have signed our first Castle Donington client – Donington CCTV.
“It’s about developing a wider network in Leicestershire but also keeping ties with the clients and contacts we have in Nottingham and Derby.
“I’m really excited about our clients coming to see us in our new home, and preparing for our 10th anniversary.”
Tina will continue to teach her PR module on Nottingham Trent University’s BA Journalism degree.
Speaking of her 2020 aspirations in her new base, she said: “I would love to see us attracting even bigger clients, and winning some more awards. I would like to carry on with my teaching and to cement more foundations in the Castle Donington area, as well as continuing the fantastic client relationships we already have.”
Business centre co-ordinator Rebecca Barton said: “We are excited to welcome Poppy PR as our first new client of 2020. Of course, they have made the best decision by being here, set in beautiful landscaped gardens, our offices are a hidden gem.
“We cater to all needs with meeting rooms available to hire and seven fantastic accommodations available, for short and long term lets.
“We look forward to seeing Poppy PR develop from strength to strength in their new location.”
