Ella Gascoigne - Startup PR (From York Press)
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Ella Gascoigne - Startup PR
11:03am Friday 29th July 2011 in Profiles
Ella Gascoigne
IT was a clear gap in the market for public relations and Ella Gascoigne spotted it: A start-up company that looked after the promotional welfare of other new ventures.
Thus Startup PR was born at her home in Hilton Lane, Knaresborough. Within its first year it was in profit. By year two turnover had doubled and she now has high hopes for year three.
Now, linking arms with a team of PR freelancers to cope with demand both from start-ups and established small businesses, as well as working to promote dozens of women in business, Ella is gunning for two titles in The Press Business Awards.
At 29, Ella is targeting the Young Entrepreneur Of The Year (last year she won that title at the Forward Ladies Women In Business Awards – and she is entering the Women In Enterprise category.
Ella used to head up the public relations for London’s Crimson Publishing, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Dragon’s Den star Rachel Elnaugh, author of Business Nightmares.
She also promoted start-up awards for Crimson Business, a sister company.
But then she was made redundant and moved to Yorkshire, where her family lived, she launched Startup PR.
Her offering? Affordable, flexible PR for small ventures.
She said: “We don’t ask for a retainer fee – start-ups don’t always want or can afford PR every month.
My theory was that if I am good enough, I will have enough clients that keep coming back when they need it.”
The fact that she and her freelance team work remotely means that she can pass the benefits of lower overheads on to the customer.
This year she launched The Startup PR Christmas list – a service to enable startups with great products to get pre-Christmas publicity at an affordable price.
Ella, in her bid to promote women in enterprise, co-founded with Rachel Auty the successful networking organisation, Business Ladies around Harrogate (BlaH) on the strength of which she gave numerous newspaper and broadcasting interviews.
