In case you hadn’t noticed Skout is 5 years old! And I’m the latest ‘victim’ of the 5 things you didn’t know about me blog, just one of the things we’re doing to celebrate this momentous milestone. So without further ado, here are my five…
- I am the only member of my immediate family (wife/kids) that isn’t colour blind. So it looks like none of my offspring are going to make it as fighter pilots…
- I have my hair (or lack of it) to thank for my career in PR! Being a bit of ‘90s indie type I went along to my first job interview with fine shoulder length hair, not even ponytailed much to my mum’s horror. The big boss said “if you want the job, the hair has to go,” so it very quickly did and then subsequently started to fall out. I’ve never looked back!
- I was one of the first people in Britain to study PR, in the first ever intake at Leeds Metropolitan Uni (Leeds Poly at the time). There were 40 of us, mainly there through clearing or as a second choice. Today PR degree places are hotly sought and the CIPR website lists close to 60 bachelors and masters PR courses at over 30 colleges and universities. Times have changed!
- I live and work in Macclesfield, Cheshire (also Skout’s HQ location). Despite having a population of around just 50,000, Macclesfield has many PR and media claims to fame. For one it’s long been home to a world-leading global communications and branding company. Famous ‘maxonians’ include the journalist and broadcaster Brian Redhead, BBC political editor Nick Robinson, as well as Peter Crouch, half of Joy Division/New Order, David Dickinson, Ben Ainslie and of course The Macc Lads.
- Five years ago I set up a PR and content company called Skout. Struggling to think what to call this new venture I started looking at words which encapsulated my surname and stumbled across Scout which then changed to ‘Skout.’ Then the idea of Skouting for stories and helping clients find their natural PR value stuck – the rest is history!
Enjoy – more to follow later this week!
Rob Skinner is Skout’s founder and MD
