Turning start-ups
and SMEs into SUPER BRANDS

Our extensive media experience and unrivalled contacts (all our senior management team are former journalists) have helped us build some of the leading brands in the UK through consistent and positive publicity. We can do the same for you.

a brief history...

Journalists 'doing' PR the right way.

Rhizome Media started life in 2007 as a PR agency run by two senior ex-journalists, Dominic Hiatt and Jonathan Stevens, who thought the entire PR industry was a bit of a joke.

Everywhere they looked, they saw vacuous 'Henrys' and 'Henriettas' with no real idea of how the media work, zero commercial nous and the creative ability of warm roadkill. So they decided to set out on a journey and reinvent PR.

Roughly 30 minutes after the company launched, the Global Financial Crisis struck and the journey for our two heroes looked set to be somewhat short-lived. But it wasn't. In fact, the dark days of the GFC proved to be the making of the Rhizome brand.

In those times of radical uncertainty, start-ups and SMEs loved the fact that Rhizome were happy to work with them on a no-contract basis for the first three months: this gave them the peace of mind that they weren't signing up to an agency that talked the talk but couldn't walk the walk.

To this day, and all the more so due to the Covid-19 pandemic, our willingness to commence work without a contract remains a major USP and is something, as far as we're aware, no other PR agency does.

Why? We always back ourselves to deliver and earn a company's trust through results.

1m+

'Hits'
Generated

600+

Satisfied
Customers

12

Experienced
Journalists

'MArmite' AGENCY

Straight-talking, not sycophantic.

It’s worth saying right now that we’re a bit of a Marmite agency, so if you want a sycophantic firm that’s going to blow smoke up your proverbial all day, we categorically will not be for you. It's the journalists in us — and not how we roll. But if you like honest feedback, zero fluff and results by the bucketload, get on the blower.

We've worked with many of our clients for a decade and have fantastic, genuine relationships with them. Rather than be seen as a supplier, they look at us as a valued and loyal partner on their growth journeys, a firm of like-minded entrepreneurs who are genuinely invested in their success. Often we'll overservice our clients up the wazoo for the simple reason we love to see them succeed and grow. It's what we enjoy most.

our WONDERFUL clients

Our clients range from major household brands like the AA, uSwitch and Indeed to high-growth VC-backed companies such as Dashly, Paycircle and Phil Spencer's latest property venture, Move IQ. We love helping the smallest start-ups achieve their big ambitions.

Indeed

2016 – Present

More people find jobs on Indeed than anywhere else. It's the world's biggest jobs site, with more than 250 million unique visitors a month. No wonder... around the world, 9.8 new jobs are listed on Indeed every second, and every day it connects millions of people to new opportunities.Rhizome Media works closely with the internal comms team at Indeed to help build its brand in the UK, delivering national media coverage that showcases the difference Indeed makes - both by helping people get jobs and by helping employers find the right talent.

More people find jobs on Indeed than anywhere else. It's the world's biggest jobs site, with more than 250 million unique visitors a month. No wonder... around the world, 9.8 new jobs are listed on Indeed every second, and every day it connects millions of people to new opportunities.

Rhizome Media works closely with the internal comms team at Indeed to help build its brand in the UK, delivering national media coverage that showcases the difference Indeed makes - both by helping people get jobs and by helping employers find the right talent.

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the AA

2015 – Present

Since 2015, we’ve worked with the AA to raise the profile of its exciting subsidiary brands, such as AA Cars, the used car buying portal. One of our key goals has been to dispel the jaded, and frankly anachronistic image that car dealers are all Arthur Daley types with forecourts chock full of bangers and lemons.Through a combination of authoritative industry pieces, speedy responses to important monthly sector data and features and opinion pieces in the national and consumer media, our job is to distinguish and elevate the importance of the AA Cars brand in its own right.Recent proactive campaigns have swung between the heavy-hitting (the bearing of car finance deals on the longevity of ownership) and lighter (fastest selling used cars of 2020) ends of the scale, all the while placing AA Cars at the centre of the conversation around car buying and selling.

Since 2015, we’ve worked with the AA to raise the profile of its exciting subsidiary brands, such as AA Cars, the used car buying portal. One of our key goals has been to dispel the jaded, and frankly anachronistic image that car dealers are all Arthur Daley types with forecourts chock full of bangers and lemons.

Through a combination of authoritative industry pieces, speedy responses to important monthly sector data and features and opinion pieces in the national and consumer media, our job is to distinguish and elevate the importance of the AA Cars brand in its own right.

Recent proactive campaigns have swung between the heavy-hitting (the bearing of car finance deals on the longevity of ownership) and lighter (fastest selling used cars of 2020) ends of the scale, all the while placing AA Cars at the centre of the conversation around car buying and selling.

‍

Uswitch

2011 – Present

We've worked with Uswitch for nigh on a decade and dovetail effortlessly with their internal comms team. Initially starting with their mobile and broadband division, we now take care of their utilities comparison service, too. For both of these flagship divisions, we set the news agenda with proactive analysis and research, and also comment reactively to breaking news.It's a rapid and intense news sector and so we're often up at 7am drafting comment on industry stories. While the news changes daily, our role remains the same: to break everything down into digestible, comprehensive and compelling copy that always seeks to answer the question: “What does this mean for consumers?”

We've worked with Uswitch for nigh on a decade and dovetail effortlessly with their in-house comms team. Initially starting with their mobile and broadband division, we now take care of their utilities comparison service, too. For both of these flagship divisions, we set the news agenda with proactive analysis and research, and also comment reactively to breaking news.

It's a rapid and intense news sector and so we're often up at 7am drafting comment on industry stories. While the news changes daily, our role remains the same: to break everything down into digestible, comprehensive and compelling copy that always seeks to answer the question: “What does this mean for consumers?”

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Gatehouse Bank

2017 – Present

We love to peer forensically into the detail of every financial services space and Gatehouse, a Shariah-compliant ethical bank is a great example of Rhizome getting to grips with a niche area and turning it mainstream.‍Gatehouse’s senior management team set us the challenge of explaining to everyday British banking customers why Shariah-compliant savings accounts and home finance are a great alternative to the High Street. The result? Mountains of national media coverage and frequent appearances in the savings stories that personal finance journalists love to write, week in, week out. ‍From media training, journalist briefings and interviews to proactive data-led stories driven by our own research and reaction to breaking news, Gatehouse Bank’s profile has positively rocketed since we started working with them.

We love to peer forensically into the detail of every financial services space and Gatehouse, a Shariah-compliant ethical bank is a great example of Rhizome getting to grips with a niche area and turning it mainstream.

‍
Gatehouse’s senior management team set us the challenge of explaining to everyday British banking customers why Shariah-compliant savings accounts and home finance are a great alternative to the High Street. The result? Mountains of national media coverage and frequent appearances in the savings stories that personal finance journalists love to write, week in, week out.
‍

From media training, journalist briefings and interviews to proactive data-led stories driven by our own research and reaction to breaking news, Gatehouse Bank’s profile has positively rocketed since we started working with them.

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Garrington

2012 – Present

For more than two decades, Garrington has sourced, negotiated and secured properties on behalf of its clients — and is one of the leading buying agents in the UK today.Its national network of associates have unparalleled knowledge of their local property markets, and serve as trusted advisers for an array of high profile and successful clients, helping them acquire private residences, second homes or properties for rental or investment.Rhizome has played a key role in the growth of the Garrington brand, using the national media to demonstrate the unmatched expertise and market intelligence Garrington offers to its clients.

For more than two decades, Garrington has sourced, negotiated and secured properties on behalf of its clients — and is one of the leading buying agents in the UK today.

Its national network of associates have unparalleled knowledge of their local property markets, and serve as trusted advisers for an array of high profile and successful clients, helping them acquire private residences, second homes or properties for rental or investment.

Rhizome has played a key role in the growth of the Garrington brand, using the national media to demonstrate the unmatched expertise and market intelligence Garrington offers to its clients.

‍

Atelier Capital Partners

2019 – Present

Atelier Capital Partners provides development finance to sustainable SME house builders — those who put the environment on an equal footing with profit. Part-owned by the institutional investment giant, M&G, it offers something no specialist lender does: institutional firepower and blue chip peace of mind.Its senior management team are firm believers that SME property developers are not just key to getting the required number of homes built but can do so in a way that creates minimum environmental impact and maximum aesthetic — and always with the interests of the local community at heart.Rhizome launched Atelier in early 2020 and continues to use its exceptional contacts in the property and financial services media to generate brand awareness for this rapidly growing lender and underlining its commitment to ESG principles through thought leadership pieces in key media.

Atelier Capital Partners provides development finance to sustainable SME house builders — those who put the environment on an equal footing with profit. Part-owned by the institutional investment giant, M&G, it offers something no specialist lender does: institutional firepower and blue chip peace of mind.

Its senior management team are firm believers that SME property developers are not just key to getting the required number of homes built but can do so in a way that creates minimum environmental impact and maximum aesthetic — and always with the interests of the local community at heart.

Rhizome launched Atelier in early 2020 and continues to use its exceptional contacts in the property and financial services media to generate brand awareness for this rapidly growing lender and underlining its commitment to ESG principles through thought leadership pieces in key media.