About me
Not quite an X Factor back story...

My background

Hands-on experience

My first communications job was in the 1990s for a small PR and marketing consultancy working with B2B clients. One of the benefits of working for a small business is that you’re thrown in at the deep end. You have to learn everything, so it was a good grounding for the future.

I then went on to work in-house for an international training college and then briefly for a larger marketing agency in an account management role. I left the agency after a few months as the work wasn’t particularly challenging – I was used to being much more hands-on, creative and involved. Pushing bits of paper around a desk (yes, this was in the pre-internet era) wasn’t really for me.

Kam Mistry with hands together

Self-employed. Happy clients.

I then went self-employed as a PR freelancer with a specific focus – I wanted to help smaller businesses and give them the same marketing and communications clout as their larger competitors, without a large financial commitment. The results spoke for themselves as they achieved blanket coverage in their key media which far exceeded that of their multi-national competitors. I had a varied portfolio of clients, including several in engineering, a trade body, a college, an international removals company and even a small independent bookmaker.

I particularly enjoyed working with my engineering and manufacturing clients as they were dedicated to producing excellent products and providing a high standard of service. They had ethics and integrity, and their products made a difference. If you have similar values, we could be a good match.

Anyway, that’s enough reminiscing, the important thing was that my clients were good people and great to work with… and they even encouraged me to raise my prices, which isn’t something that happens that often, I’m sure you’ll agree.

Overlapping Post-it notes with positive messages about good work

Public sector, not-for-profits and charities

At the turn of the millennium, I felt it was time for a change. I wanted to give something more back to society, so I worked in communications for a housing association and then for a council, where I stayed for 11 years. This involved all aspects of communications – PR, crisis management, advertising, web design, publications, direct mail, filming, emergency management and much more.

The skills that I had picked up in my earlier career, and my straightforward approach, held me in good stead. Most people aren’t aware that councils do not have huge communications teams or budgets. For much of my tenure, I had a one-person team; me. I was fortunate to have excellent directors who trusted my judgement and respected my decision-making – strategic, tactical and operational. In an overstretched environment, they trusted me to triage appropriately, ensuring that limited resources were used to maximum effect. I was consequently able to raise the council’s satisfaction ratings year-on-year to their highest level ever over that period. Hopefully I can make a similar contribution for you. 

I won’t go into much detail about other recent roles, but I was also able to make swift and significant improvements in all of them. My LinkedIn profile shows how, at one organisation I improved my team’s performance three-fold while simultaneously improving the quality of output and making them happier. It also highlights my most recent role in which I recruited a web design company to transform the charity’s website in nine weeks – something that would normally take six months.

So, can I help you?

If you have limited resources, you need to ensure that you deploy them appropriately for maximum impact. This is where I can help. Communications and marketing aren’t superficial add-ons; they require a full understanding of a business or organisation to ensure it is focused on the correct operational activities.

Having worked in environments predominantly without the luxury of big budgets and large teams, I have, in the words of Liam Neeson, ‘…a very particular set of skills’ and can roll up my sleeves to get things done, quickly. (Oddly enough, Mr Neeson and I share the same birthday.)

front page of newspaper
newsletter cover

What am I like to work with?

A few comments from people I’ve worked for and, just as importantly, people I’ve worked with…

newsletter cover
newsletter cover

Blogging - in a different way

I’ve just started writing a blog too, with more to come. The aim is to make a difference to society by suggesting proper fixes to problems, rather than just talking about them. Sadly, most blogging and news sites are just about the clicks.

I’ll cover ideas to improve the public sector and environmental, social and political issues. I’ll also cover business management and provide advice.

It will be objective and straight-talking; occasionally, I’ll point out bad behaviours. My philosophy is simple – if you want to fix something, first you need to acknowledge that it’s broken and then develop objective, rather than dogmatic, solutions that work for the long term.

blogger with hands on head at desk