But you can’t help but wonder…if we read some more positive, even advice-led media coverage, would there generally be a greater feeling of optimism amongst businessmen and women in varied industries?

We recently read an article which relayed results from a survey of PR agencies throughout the country. Many troubling statistics were highlighted – one in three respondents feel less optimistic for their consultancy’s future and 35% have seen a significant drop in client budgets in the last quarter for example.

But although the article led with these worrying facts, the further into the paragraphs we read, the more we found glimmers of positivity. Strong new business activity has been reported, the retainer/project balance is starting to settle and agencies appear to be getting busier. The piece concluded with some short advice that urged companies to remain committed to ongoing staff development and recruitment in order to get ahead of the game. It just seems a little disappointing that the optimism was left hiding under murky reports of fears and gloom.

When you actually talk to people, it seems there are some real sparks of excitement associated with the year ahead. One of our clients is about to launch an innovative new product, another is in the advanced stages of a new business acquisition, elsewhere one is set to take on 140 new staff, a fourth client is predicting that turnover will double over the next 12 months, and one of our longest-standing clients is in the running for three prestigious awards in the Spring.

We cannot pretend that the economic climate hasn’t had some devastating effects, and now is certainly not the time to become complacent. But having recently heard the phrase ‘cautious confidence’, we feel a little more of this might just do us all some good.

So what can we all learn from this, apart from “don’t always believe the myths you hear”?

Well, the completion of the Forth Bridge project shows that things can’t always happen overnight but with agreed objectives, a bit of patience and very hard work, you can achieve great successes.

Some PR objectives may initially seem impossible, especially if you are restricted by budget. But it’s important to share your goals with the experts who can provide specialist advice and insight into what is possible. You may just be pleasantly surprised as to what you can accomplish.

In fact so much so we’ve started already at home! We had our first Christmas dinner last weekend complete with stuffing, crackers and silly hats and our lights are twinkling.

Why? I’m not really sure, maybe it’s because my children are growing up so fast that I want to make the most of the season’s magic before opportunity slips away or maybe it’s a yearning to wear something red and eat lots of comfort food.

I’d like to ask for a few ‘gifts’ for Litmus if that’s OK? We’ve been really good and worked very hard…most of the time!

• Please could you see that the product launch project we’re in the midst of for a new client goes really really well because we like them a lot and would love to do some more work for them

• Please could you also sprinkle some ‘fairy dust’ on the 5 award entries we’ve just completed for a client because we’ve put a lot of effort into it them and we and the client deserve a good awards night knees up

• Please could you put a good word in for us with the new client we’ve just undertaken a 3 month test project for, we know there’s oodles of PR mileage in their exciting business model.

And because it’s not all about work for this girl, a pair of black leather, almond-toed, 4 inch heeled court shoes would be smashing, you know the ones I like.

Lucy xxxxx

Combining UNTHA’s pioneering technological capabilities with Riverside’s in-depth knowledge of the UK marketplace, UNTHA UK is set to lead innovation and change within the shredder industry and it is anticipated that turnover will double in the next 12 months.

Commenting on the new company, Riverside founder and the new UNTHA UK managing director Chris Oldfield says: “This is a very exciting time for us. Riverside has come a long way since its inception in 1997 and we’ve been able to work in some very complex markets. But as we spot more and more opportunities in the UK’s waste and recycling industry, it makes sense to collaborate our resources, technical knowledge and client expertise, so that we can offer an unparalleled level of product and service.”

The highly successful Riverside Waste Machinery brand – which now focuses solely upon waste balers – is being driven by the experienced Jonathan Oldfield.

Litmus will continue to support both companies in their ongoing PR and marketing activities.

We like the way they communicate with customers too – their corporate personality comes across in the messaging on every single bottle, which reinforces the fun and fresh feel that the brand is all about.

But this time the biggest praise doesn’t go to their delicious fruity flavours or their quirky smoothie packaging. It goes to their Big Knit campaign. For the past eight years their smoothie bottles have donned wooly hats during the month of November to raise awareness – and more importantly money – for Age UK.

And this year seems to be the biggest campaign yet, with more and more celebrities knitting their own miniature hats. So keep your eyes peeled for a wooly Heston Blumenthal, Sienna Miller or Betty Jackson design, and dig deep to help Innocent raise over £200,000 for this fantastic cause!

If you aren’t actually a smoothie fan, get your knitting needles out and make a little hat or two of your own. The Innocent team is hoping to receive 650,000 hats this year so every knit helps!

The Big Knit campaign ends on November 29^th. Read more about it at http://bit.ly/uLW6qC.

The new client is domiciliary care company, Ark Home Healthcare, who has appointed Litmus to undertake a multi-strand public relations programme. We will ensure that Ark’s innovative and ambitious growth strategy is effectively communicated to its customers, employees, commissioning bodies and investors.

Based in London, Ark currently employs 1,000 carers, 100 office staff and has over 3,000 private and local authority clients nationwide.

In addition to all this we have a little news of our own – some of you may have already heard the latest Litmus gossip – TLK (the lovely Katie) has been promoted to Account Director. Katie’s outstanding contribution is very much appreciated by all; the Litmus board, management, staff, clients, media contacts and even advertising sales teams love the way she deftly batters them into price-submission. So we are treating her to champagne and posh patisseries in Harrogate next week. Rumour has it that she might have to help take another new project brief whilst we’re there!

Not only is it a very worthy cause indeed – providing practical help for homeless people – but hats off to them for coming up with a simple idea that has really captured the hearts and minds of the media.

Hope they get lots of donations and big money bids for their celebrity hat auction; we’re torn between the gorgeous Annie Lennox green fedora and Fearn Cotton’s cheeky trilby!

But always keen to stand out from the crowd, Cascade’s marketing experts do not rest on their laurels, which is why the Litmus team has been busy helping them prepare for a jam-packed month of events.

On October 4-5, Cascade’s most senior payroll experts headed north to attend the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals’ (CIPP) annual payroll conference in Glasgow. Meanwhile, a team of Cascade professionals exhibited at the HR Performance event at Olympia, London. They were on hand throughout the two-day show delivering one-to-one delegate consultations focusing upon the engagement, motivation and retention of companies’ talented employees.

The team then returned to London this week for the Softworld HR & Payroll Solutions event, to offer delegates another opportunity to see how the new mobile can improve company efficiencies. Plus the team enjoyed an evening out at the Software Satisfaction Awards last night because as they were shortlisted in the scheme’s Enterprise Human Resources & Human Capital Management, and SME Human Resources & Human Capital Management categories.

And it doesn’t stop there. Next month the team will head to Manchester to showcase an exciting new software functionality – Mosaic – at the CIPD’s insightful Annual Conference & Exhibition 2011. Visit Cascade’s website to find out more!

So it’s been a busy few weeks for Cascade HR, who are utilising every opportunity they can to speak to customers new and old. And it’s been a busy few weeks for Litmus PR helping to ensure they wring every drop from their involvement in these events.

Last week Cuddy’s remediation team scooped ‘Best Use of a Combination of Remediation Techniques’ at the highly-acclaimed Brownfield Briefing awards in London. This means that in less than two years, this new Cuddy department has not only become a successful remediation outfit, but it has cemented its status as the industry’s finest.

Litmus helped Cuddy to prepare an award submission in conjunction with QDS Environmental and Environmental Resource Management (ERM). The Cuddy, QDS and ERM consortium has been deployed to undertake a three year remediation programme on St. Modwen’s 1,050 Baglan Bay site, an area which once housed one of the largest petrochemical plants in Europe.

Commenting upon the award win, Cuddy’s managing director Mike Cuddy said: “You don’t get a more prestigious award scheme than this in the land remediation industry. To receive industry recognition, in the first year we’ve ever entered, feels like an outstanding achievement for our remediation professionals.

“We decided to set up a dedicated remediation division in 2010, having previously undertaken smaller remediation projects under the Cuddy umbrella of companies. As a result, the company is now able to offer a complete, seamless regeneration package, from asbestos removal and demolition through to remediation and civil engineering and groundworks.

“The remediation division alone reported turnover of £6.5m for the past 12 months.”

This award win comes hot on the heels of news that Cuddy has been shortlisted for four World Demolition Awards. Cuddy will find out if it has further reason to celebrate at the ceremony in Amsterdam on November 4.

With an office just outside the centre of Leeds, we certainly enjoy the buzz of the nearby city. But would our working ethos be different if we were based elsewhere? And does our Leeds location mean that we can only offer our PR expertise to Leeds-based organisations?

In all honesty, no!

We have an established nationwide client base and are continually praised for our dedication to customer service, wherever these companies may be found. Furthermore, one of our clients is based in Austria and we have successfully worked with companies all over the world during our 16 years in business including Malta, Turkmenistan, Portugal, and the UAE, to name a few.

Our commitment to offering clients a tenacious, creative and value-for-money service does not waver according to where they are located. Good quality PR professionals will proactively sniff out a good PR opportunity whether they’re based in Leeds, London, Llandudno or Lossiemouth.

Plus, we are determined to develop meaningful relationships and two-way dialogue with clients regardless of their address, size, industry or marketing spend – we are communications professionals after all.

Thanks to evermore impressive advancements in technology, service providers are no longer restricted by geographical boundaries. One of the main groups of people that we talk to on a daily basis is journalists, who much prefer email contact anyway when they are working to tight deadlines.

Some city-based organisations prefer to use PR consultancies from the same area, a trend perhaps apparent more-so in London than other areas. Yet when one of our clients moved to a London-based agency for 12 months following a management restructure, they came straight back to us the following year having been unimpressed with the value for money they had received. Plus with big city agencies, come big city overheads, and we all know who pays for those!

Perhaps the thing that we can say with the most certainty is that there isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ approach to looking after clients. A good PR company will truly get to grips with their clients’ business, customers and goals regardless of location, and will tailor the PR strategy accordingly. But this is something that we’ve been aware of all along…