History

Chantal Swainston

PR Consultant, Startup Marketing Advisor

About

During my time in PR I’ve been responsible for directing strategy and execution across campaigns, reputation protection, as well as press office work.

I have worked across a range of start up, and fintech clients during my time in PR: from fundraising and profiling work for Personio, to reactive communications and reputation management for Klarna.

I have also delivered results for big global corporate brands including eBay and LinkedIn, managing both press office and campaigns for both.

I’m passionate about the role technology can play in changing our lives, and a huge advocate for how public perception can make or break a business.

Experience

Wise (Formerly TransferWise)

UK PR Lead

  • Managed UK related crisis and issues on a reactive basis, working closely with our legal teams and investor relations.
  • Led creative campaign planning to support new customer growth, using internal and external data.
  • Organised new product announcements, working closely with compliance, product marketing, and relevant departments.
  • Established our scam prevention communications strategy, helping to inform and educate customers on topical scams.
  • Supported various stakeholders across our corporate reporting cycle.
    • E.g quarterly results, Annual Report, and various RNS and major corporate media announcements.

FirstlightPR

Senior PR Manager

  • Klarna: I was the go-to person to brief and manage media inbounds around credit scores, debt, and stories around young people who couldn’t repay their loans. I also led partnership announcements and proactive campaigns working closely with the in-house PR team. 
  • Personio: I lead the team which managed Personio’s earliest introduction to UK media. This included CEO profiling (CNBC) fundraising announcements (TechCrunch) as well as ongoing research campaigns to drive new customer acquisition. 
  • OpenX: Secured 4 national media meets for the CEO within the first 6 months, as well as a regular range of coverage in their top tier trade titles. I also secured a feature on Radio 4’s Today program discussing the changing nature of Christmas Adverts. 

WithPR PR Manager

  • Cardtronics: Managed all media relations (in a team of 2) for Cardtronics (the cash machine company) during the launch of the new polymer £5 notes.
    • Secured widespread national and broadcast coverage, including a media day of 11 interviews across London.
  • Lendit Fintech: Led the European PR for the Lendit Fintech event in 2018, where I managed a team of four to arrange the vast majority of media meets, announcements, and pre-event interviews on the ground. This saw a huge range of stakeholder management, working with various fintech companies, journalists, and analysts.

Contact

I am particularly excited to help companies changing the way we handle finance tell their story to the media.

Got this far? email me for any further questions on ChantalSwainstonPR@gmail.com