About Ballyhoo PR Corby | Let Us Help Your Business Get Noticed

Based in Lamport, Northamptonshire, Ballyhoo PR was founded by Emma Speirs in 2016.

After working in PR and magazine editing roles for almost 20 years, Emma decided to set up Ballyhoo PR to offer small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) cost-effective PR and copywriting services that can help them to share their story and raise their profile.

The name Ballyhoo seemed to encapsulate the ethos of the business, which is to generate a buzz or publicise something. It is also the name of a fish!

Growing the team

Since taking on our first employee in 2018, the team has grown and now boasts decades of experience in PR, journalism, social media management and copywriting between them and really love helping our clients to raise their profile, create a buzz and share their stories.

Emma Speirs

Emma Speirs set up Ballyhoo PR in April 2016. By that point she had worked as in-house press officer; an editor on several business, trade and membership magazines; and for PR and advertising agencies, serving clients in a wide range of industries. With a desire to help small to medium-sized businesses (SMEs) to share their story and raise their profile, Emma got to work and has helped many clients across the UK to get noticed and grow their businesses. She now works on a wide range of projects from top-level comms plans, crisis management and PR strategies, to writing award entries and acting as a press officer and PR consultant for clients.

Laura Smith

Laura joined the Ballyhoo Crew in February 2021, straight from a role as Digital Marketing Consultant at a Buckinghamshire digital marketing agency. Prior to this she worked in in-house PR roles for an education organisation and Milton Keynes Chamber of Commerce. Laura is also a trained journalist and spent six years working as the Chief Reporter at Luton News and Dunstable Gazette. She now works with clients on their blogs, press releases and articles and edits a bi-monthly membership magazine.

Emma Speirs

Catherine Bontoft

Catherine Bontoft joined the team in April 2020. She joined the company from Northamptonshire Chamber of Commerce, where she managed the organisation’s press office and edited its bi-monthly magazine inbusiness. Prior to that she worked for a PR agency which specialised in the education sector, and was Assistant News Editor at the Northamptonshire Telegraph. At Ballyhoo, Catherine specialises in press release, article and blog writing and also edits a membership magazine for one of our clients.

Katie Macdonald

Katie Macdonald, our Social Media Executive, has recently celebrated her third anniversary with Ballyhoo PR. She is passionate about staying on top of the latest social media trends and manages the social media accounts of several clients. Katie joined the company after managing the PR for an art gallery. Before getting into this field, Katie studied fashion and had a career designing swimwear and lingerie for some top brands. Her creative thinking and eye for great design has been completely transferable to what she does today.

Clare Brennan

Clare Brennan joined the team in June 2022. She joined the company from the MND Association, where she spent nine years as editor of its magazine Thumbprint and working in the communications department, writing case studies, reports, award entries and other valuable content. Prior to that she worked as a journalist for almost 15 years on various regional newspapers in Leicestershire and Buckinghamshire, working her way up from reporter to editor.