Case study: CreateFuture

Running a one-person press office for a fast-growing digital consultancy

Overview

CreateFuture needed a media presence that reflected their ambition — placements in the publications their prospects actually read, executive voices that sounded credible on the topics that mattered, and a press operation that could move fast enough to capitalise on breaking news. I built that from scratch.

🧰 Role: Press office, media relations and newsjacking — managing executive profiles, press releases and journalist relationships across national, trade and international titles.

The challenge

Senior leaders at a fast-growing consultancy have fifteen minutes to spare, not two hours. Getting their expertise into the press required a process that put almost no burden on them while still producing commentary sharp enough for Forbes and Computer Weekly to publish.

What I delivered

Press releases

I wrote and managed between five and seven press releases a year covering major strategic announcements. These included the partnership with MONY Group (MoneySuperMarket), positioning CreateFuture as the company operationalising AI across the organisation — covered by FinTech Futures. I also drafted the announcement of CreateFuture as Skyscanner’s sole technology partner, coordinating a six-executive press shoot across two companies at the Edinburgh office. Additional releases covered C-suite hires including Chief Growth Officer Sam K Penny and Head of Talent Liz Radcliffe.

Newsjacking engine

The bulk of coverage — averaging five to ten pieces a month — came from monitoring Response Source for live journalist requests and turning them around fast. I built a custom AI workflow using NotebookLM and custom GPTs, uploading banks of previous executive writing to generate accurate first drafts in minutes. The executive reviewed and tweaked. I pitched. The target was a fifteen to thirty minute turnaround from request to submission.

Executive profiles managed

I managed the external profiles of the CTO, AI Lead, CFO and Director of Financial Services across distinct topic areas — AI and cybersecurity, tech culture, boardroom dynamics and FCA regulatory developments respectively. Each required a different voice, different publications and different journalist relationships.

Publications secured

Forbes (four placements in one year), Computer Weekly, IT Pro, Raconteur, The Grocer, Lead Dev, The Scotsman, Digit, Business Cloud and Future Scot. A Portuguese journalist from Observador — 2.5 million monthly readers — made an inbound request after seeing existing coverage.

Outcome

📈 Impact

• Five to ten pieces of coverage secured per month across national and trade press
• Four Forbes placements in a single year
• PR coverage directly cited by a Skyscanner stakeholder as warming up a £1.6 million deal
• Media relations work identified by SEO agency as the primary driver of high-quality backlinks
• AI-focused content and PR tracked in HubSpot as driving at least £4 million worth of revenue activity