With financial services firms seeking rapid expansion and increased media profiles to engage new investors, TechBullion caught up with Steven George-Hilley, founder of financial services PR agency Centropy PR to discuss comms trends and latest developments.
“The financial services industry is an incredibly fast-paced and competitive environment, and PR campaigns can play a crucial role in the extent to which new firms succeed with fundraising rounds and attracting new investors to their cause,” says George-Hilley.
Since its launch in 2017, Centropy PR has quickly established itself as a leading financial services PR agency offering clients specialist services for crisis comms, fundraising, profile-raising and investor relations. The company now employees over 10 fulltime specialist fintech and financial services PR experts, who are tasked with getting clients into key titles such as the FT, Forbes and City AM.
“Our first client back then was a crypto and blockchain provider, from there we added wealth management providers and capital markets specialists and our portfolio continued to grow.” Centropy PR’s financial services clients also include accountancy firms, personal financial and payments specialists as well as international credit providers. The company works with a mix of clients from startups to established global brands.
“Many of the company’s we work with are startups, launching a new product or service. They want to get their brand out there, create a Google footprint and make extra noise via social media,” says George-Hilley. “To achieve this, our team works to develop eye-catching research and insights as well as ensuring our clients have a key voice on the big issues facing the industry. We pride ourselves on delivering eye-catching results that drive traffic, customers and engagement to the brands we represent,” he says.
As a financial services PR agency, Centropy PR is representing a very exciting marketplace. As the global financial services market continues to rise, with independent economic forecasts suggesting a rise from $20.4 trillion in 2020 to $22.5 trillion in 2021 this year, according to current rates. Additionally, the market on a global scale is expected to rise to over $28.5 trillion by 2025 as the economy recovers and market conditions improve.
Recent research published suggested that in 2019, the financial services sector contributed £132 billion to the UK economy, 6.9% of total economic output. The sector was largest in London, where half of the industry’s output was generated. The UK financial services sector was the ninth largest in the OECD in 2019 by its proportion of national economic output.
Research shows that the financial services sector has been more resilient to the economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic compared to other sectors of the economy, in part because workers find it easier to work from home.
Yet times can be tough, In November 2020, economic output in the sector was 3% below pre-pandemic levels. As of November, 25,000 financial services employee jobs were on furlough (2% of eligible jobs) compared to 13% across the whole economy. 24% of financial services employers were furloughing staff. The financial services sector claimed around £447 million under the furlough scheme up to 31 December, according to official data.
“For financial services firms, the time is right to invest in PR services, for growth, particularly following the chaos of the Covid-19 pandemic,” says George-Hilley. “Getting the right kind of headlines and press coverage is absolutely critical for how customers will view and interact with your products, so it’s an essential step towards positive growth.”
Centropy PR is a leading financial services PR agency, working with startup companies and established global brands
