They will work directly with key trade and consumer press, as well as with local and national newspapers, to support them editorially.
The move has come about because Roman feels it would be more beneficial to work directly with the press rather than via a PR company as they can offer a more in-depth overview of the industry and its trends and also offer more detailed information to key publications on Roman’s products and services.
Roman’s PR team are looking forward to having a more personal and direct relationship with the press. By bringing the function in-house Roman will be able to respond quicker to the needs of the press, as well as releasing current stories about company developments and new product launches much earlier.
The two members of staff looking after the function are Shelley McCormack, who will become the senior PR executive, and Alison Green, who will be the PR coordinator. Both have worked at Roman for a number of years and between them they have over 6 years experience of the bathroom industry.
Roman is renowned within the industry for ‘in-sourcing’ rather than outsourcing their functions. Amongst their ‘in-sourced’ functions, they boast an in-house; design team, transport fleet, joinery team, customer service team, a national team of technical engineers and most recently they moved their tray manufacturing facility in-house which represented an investment of over £250,000. The success of all these departments has been a driving force behind the decision to bring their PR in-house.
Roman’s Marketing Director Loraine Gamblin comments on the move; “Roman are very excited about bringing the PR function in-house. It is an excellent opportunity for us and everybody involved. We are looking forward to building new and more personal relationships with the press and supporting them in any way we can. The feedback about the move has so far been extremely positive and we anticipate that the move will be good both for Roman, and the publications we will be working with.”