Make it matter is more than just a slogan
Since our foundation in 1997, we’ve grown from a PR agency established in South Wales, to a full-service agency working with clients right across the UK. We’ve partnered with more than 2,000 organisations, from start-ups to some of the UK’s biggest names – and everything in between. And we’re proud to have implemented thousands of impactful campaigns and delivered results that matter to clients.
While so much has changed, our core beliefs haven’t. We’ve stayed true to our values of acting ethically and with integrity; we’ve partnered with clients who share our values; we’ve supported causes we believe in – and we’ve been proud to use communications as a force for good.
Our Make it Matter promise is at the heart of everything we do. It has been our north star, guiding us for more than 25 years, and is the reason why many of our clients, and a third of our colleagues, have been with us for more than a decade.
We’re proud to Make it Matter.
Making it Matter to our clients
We care about our clients’ aims. What they do matters to us, and we work hard to deliver results that matter to them. It’s about going the extra mile, delivering above and beyond and always bringing our best to the table in every recommendation that we make. More than this, however, it also influences who we choose to work with. We prefer to work with clients who share our values and who consider the interests of people and the planet as much as profit.
Making it Matter to our team
We prioritise positive mental health and staff wellbeing and have signed Mind’s Time to Talk pledge and the Mindful Business Charter. We have trained mental health champions and a dedicated wellbeing policy, where staff are encouraged to bring their ‘whole self to work’. These efforts have earned us awards including Employer of Choice and Best Response to Covid-19 at the Wales HR Awards, and multiple PRCA Dare Awards including Best Employee Engagement during COVID-19 for two years running (2021 and 2022) and for Team Culture and Community (2022).
Our FW Flex Policy gives colleagues flexibility in where and how they work, balancing business needs with personal choice. We also support continuous learning through tailored training, ‘Inspiration Hour’ knowledge-sharing, and ‘Lunch & Learn’ sessions with internal and external experts.
We are proud of our inclusive and diverse culture and internal policies, including Pronouns and Menopause Policies, alongside our partnerships with organisations such as Show Racism the Red Card and the Taylor Bennett Foundation. As a Living Wage Employer and Disability Confident organisation, we are committed to best practice in recruitment, training and equality.
Finally, we have pledged a zero-tolerance approach to racism in Wales, promoting equal opportunities and a more inclusive society for all.
Making it Matter to future generations
We are proud that Freshwater has always opposed unpaid internships and was among the founding signatories of the PRCA’s campaign to end the practice. It was also one of the UK’s first Accredited Living Wage Employers in 2015. Today, our internship programme, Freshwater Futures, provides opportunities for talented professionals to become part of the team, while ensuring that they are able to financially support themselves in the early stages of their career.
We’ve also launched two very special internship placements in memory of two much loved former colleagues who are sadly no longer with us: Bart Haines, a former Freshwater chair, and Lisa Durston, a cherished team member.
As part of our wider commitment to supporting the next generation of marketers, we also launched a partnership with Cardiff University in June 2023, offering internship placements to students as part of its Career Confident programme. The scheme provides a fantastic opportunity for Cardiff University students to get hands-on industry experience while enabling our team to learn from new and upcoming marketers and hone their skills in mentoring.
Making it Matter to the community
This is about our responsibility to those around us. It encompasses not just our partnerships with charities and local organisations but also our Corporate Social Responsibility and how we work with suppliers and stakeholders. Since our foundation, we’ve ensured all our suppliers meet a strict supplier checklist, which covers promoting employment and economic sustainability, equity and fairness, and raising the living standards of residents.
We are supporters of The Bevan Foundation, which aims to end poverty and inequality. We run quarterly charity initiatives, supporting charities chosen by our colleagues, from British Heart Foundation, Maggie’s Centres and St David’s Hospice Care to The Wallich Homelessness Charity, The Red Cross in support of Ukraine Refugees and Fareshare, fighting hunger in the UK.
And we open our offices to other organisations and community-led activities, such as hosting business mentoring for The King’s Trust or for the community team at Specsavers.
Making it Matter to the environment
We have been awarded a Green Dragon Environmental Accreditation, and our policies – Social Value and Community Benefits Policy and Environmental Policy – highlight our commitment to climate change.
We are fortunate to partner with clients who align with our values too. For four consecutive years, we facilitated and promoted the Welsh Government’s annual Wales Climate Week virtual event – aimed at national and global policy makers, innovators, and businesses – to raise awareness and encourage action around climate change. We have organised the Circular Economy Hotspot and worked with environmentally focused clients including Natural Resources Wales, IEPAW and WRAP.