Freshwater’s July Highlights

As another month draws to a close, here are some of our favourite moments from July.

Spreading the news about a new compensation fund for Paterson victims

News that a new fund has opened to award damages to additional victims of rogue breast surgeon, Ian Paterson, hit the headlines in July.

Paterson was jailed for wounding patients with intent in 2017, when our client, Thompsons Solicitors acted as the lead litigator. The firm has now been asked by Spire Healthcare to manage the new fund and represent additional victims of Paterson’s crimes.

We worked with the firm to raise awareness of the fund and encourage potential victims to come forward. Together with managing the press and media, we updated the firm’s website, shared content across social media channels and rolled out a pay per click campaign.

As well as securing a feature on BBC Radio Four’s Woman’s Hour, we also achieved coverage in the Independent, The Times, Daily Mail, Evening Standard, Daily Telegraph and Daily Express – as well as across more than 130 regional titles.

We hope that many more of Paterson’s victims are now able to receive compensation for the physical and psychological trauma that they have suffered at his hands.

You can find out more about Ian Paterson and the role Thompsons has played in representing his victims in the video above.

Setting our sights on Specsavers

We have worked with Specsavers since 2004, helping to build trust in, and drive footfall to, 41 stores across south and mid Wales. In July, we were asked to extend our remit and look after an additional 11 stores across north Wales. This means we now handle the PR for every Specsavers store in Wales.

Delivering events in the transport sector

The ERTMS & ETCS 2021: The Future of Railway Signalling event was held over the course of four mornings and included experts sharing critical developments in rail signalling, including a focus on new technology, the progress to ERTMS Level 3 and obsolescence management.

The UK Ports Conference also ran across four mornings in July and provided attendees with updates on the most pertinent issues facing the ports industry, including the introduction of freeports and achieving decarbonisation.

Our sister company Waterfront also ran a webinar on rail decarbonisation and launched another on transport development in north England – taking place on 4 August.

Watch the Rail Decarbonisation Update here, and register for the Transport development in the North of England – how can we ensure transport infrastructure is delivered and ‘levels up’ the North? webinar here.

Award-winning for a second month in a row

This month, we beat off stiff competition to win the PRCA Best Internship Programme Award.

The Freshwater recruitment strategy includes recruiting interns to give the younger generation the chance to enter the world of communications with a view to securing a long-term role with the company. All interns are paid above the Living Wage and receive clear job descriptions and guidance on the role. They are also given increasing responsibilities as they progress in terms of their skills, knowledge and experience.

Commenting on the win, Freshwater’s founder, Steve Howell, said: “For nearly 20 years, we have developed our internships to make sure that people who join us get a rewarding experience, a fair deal as well as plenty of support and training. This is at the heart of our values, and I’m delighted it’s been recognised once again.”

The six interns we’ve recruited since March 2020 have all moved into permanent roles at Freshwater.

This award comes hot on the heels of the PRCA Dare’s Covid-19 Employee Engagement Award, which we picked up last month.