Hope&Glory, CCgroup, Harvard, secure The Blueprint;
Cowshed & Talker Tailor Trouble Maker secure The Blueprint Ally status
Hope&Glory, CCgroup, Harvard, secure The Blueprint;
Cowshed & Talker Tailor Trouble Maker secure The Blueprint Ally status
- Hope&Glory retain full Blueprint status
- CCgroup and Harvard promoted from Ally to full Blueprint status
- Cowshed retain Ally status
- Talker Tailor become Blueprinted and secure Ally status
Thursday 16 February 2023; London, UK: Hope&Glory has retained full Blueprint status, CCgroup and Harvard have been promoted to full Blueprint status, Cowshed has retained Blueprint Ally status and Talker Tailor Trouble Maker has become a Blueprinted agency securing Ally status following the latest round of applications.
Launched in 2020 The Blueprint diversity mark aims to promote racial diversity in PR and communications. Awarded agencies sign up to a series of commitments aimed at encouraging diversity from work experience to boardroom.
Hope&Glory, CCgroup, Cowshed and Harvard secured the marks after completing re-application forms detailing how they fulfilled The Blueprint commitments since being awarded in 2021. Talker Tailor Trouble Maker were awarded Ally status after completing a 40-question application form detailing their work to promote diversity and inclusion.
The applications were marked by an independent panel of judges: Henry Rowling (founder, Flying Cars innovation agency); Sasha Daly (advocacy and influencing consultant) and Nyree Connell (education policy manager and Blueprint strategy advisor).
Consumer brand and lifestyle agency Hope&Glory has become the third agency after Manifest and Stronger Stories to secure and retain full Blueprint status. The agency wowed the judges with their robust approach to inclusive recruitment, to creating an inclusive working culture, for creating a number of inclusive, creative campaigns with diversity at the core, and for the level of senior management accountability and staff engagement.
CCgroup and Harvard join Blurred and Cirkle to become the latest agencies promoted from Ally to full Blueprint status.
Since becoming Blueprinted in February 2021, B2B tech PR and marketing consultancy CCgroup has not only retained talent in a challenging environment, but has also seen a significant increase in BME representation. The B2B tech PR and marketing consultancy impressed the judges with its deep commitment to DEI including several progressive policies around parental leave and menopause. Despite its size, the agency has made big, bold DEI strides in all areas from recruitment to supply chain.
Similarly in the last two years tech marketing and PR agency Harvard has built a robust DEI framework steeped in data analysis and based on six pillars: disability; gender; race & ethnicity; socio-economic; LGBTQ+ and neurodiversity. Their work has led to an increase in Black, Asian, Mixed Race and Ethnic Minority (BME) staff at all levels including senior management.
Cardiff-based Cowshed remains the only Welsh organisation to secure an award and retains Blueprint Ally status. The integrated comms agency famed in the sector for its progressive approach has retained its commitment to DEI alongside significant growth. Aside from working to create a diverse and inclusive workforce, the agency scored big for its work promoting DEI in the sector and the country, and for gaining a well-deserved reputation as diversity leaders.
Talker Tailor Trouble Maker has become the latest agency to acquire Blueprinted status for the first time following their application in December 2022. Despite its relatively small size and young age, the creative comms shop has a deep commitment to DEI with a diverse workforce, an inclusive culture and a progressive approach to positive change including a two-year sponsorship and partnership deal with TRUK United FC.
Elizabeth Bananuka, Founder/CEO, Blueprinted/BME PR Pros, said: “Blueprinted agencies are fast becoming the greatest adverts for The Blueprint. When we launched the diversity mark nearly three years ago, we did not expect to see the results we’ve seen in re-applications nor the commitment we are seeing in new applications. From recruitment to suppliers, from client work to culture, from leadership to entry level, from leading industry change to client change, Blueprinted agencies are proving positive change can exist alongside successful business management even in the challenging environment many have operated in in the last few years.
It is an honour to award Hope&Glory PR, CCgroup and Harvard The Blueprint status, and Cowshed and Talker Tailor Trouble Maker The Blueprint Ally status. On behalf of The Blueprint judges, I cannot thank them enough for their inspiring commitment to DEI.”
Jo Carr, Co-founder & Chief Client Officer, Hope&Glory, said: “Since becoming Blueprinted in 2021, our agency has become more engaged and committed to ensuring what we do is equitable and inclusive. It has given us a framework to unite behind as well as a shared language and objectives. It’s created momentum not just within our agency but also with our Blueprinted peer group. We are proud at how we have embedded greater cultural appreciation and understanding into the fabric of the agency and also how we’ve pushed boundaries with clients to produce work tackling issues facing marginalised communities. We still have much work to do but being Blueprinted makes us publicly accountable to our team, to our clients and to the wider industry.”
Richard Fogg, CEO, CCgroup, said: “We simply could not be prouder of becoming a fully Blueprinted consultancy. The Blueprint is the gold standard for DE&I in the PR sector and, since gaining Ally status two years ago, the Blueprint training, community and commitments have made us an even better company and employer.”
Ben Roberts, Director, Harvard, said: “To be awarded full Blueprint status is something we are hugely proud of and underlines the progress we’ve made as an agency on our DE&I journey – a journey that we know will never be done and one we are committed to constantly pushing forward. DE&I sits at the very heart of our business, whether our policies and training initiatives, our relationships with clients and partners, through to the everyday behaviours that make Harvard what it is today. Alongside the other Blueprinted agencies, we can’t wait to keep pushing ourselves and the industry to do better and be better.”
Vicki Spencer-Francis, Managing Director, Cowshed, said: “We remain committed to the Blueprint agenda and championing diversity in all its forms. We continue to make progress in offering high quality jobs to a diverse workforce and have taken more steps to develop cowshed as a workplace of choice through our progressive, equitable benefits package and inclusive work practices.
We are passionate about sharing our successes and working with partners to create a fairer Wales. Most recently, we have expanded our placement to provide more paid industry experience to underrepresented groups through a partnership with Wales’ Future Generations Commissioner.
There are areas of the commitments where we have more room to grow and develop. Retaining Blueprint Ally status not only keeps us accountable but connects us with a like-minded network of support to assist us in our progression.
We are proud to be leading the way in Wales with our dedication to the transparency of our actions and the Blueprint is a testament to this.”
Steve Strickland, Co-founder, Talker Tailor Trouble Maker, said: “Talker Tailor Trouble Maker is living, it’s thriving, the creatives never declining! And now we’re accredited so that’s it, we’ve completed diversity and will probably try and be a B Corp next, or a C Corp; we just love logos. Being a Blueprint Ally is a symbol to those who work with us now, and those who’ve worked with us in the past that we’re doing the work needed to build a business of inclusion that learns from its success stories and understands it’s made some mistakes. Like Rihanna, we continue to build, grow, and work, work, work, work, work.”
The Blueprint diversity mark has four application rounds a year and applications are judged by an independent panel who have taken part in a Blueprint diversity workshop. The deadline for the next round of applications is midday on Thursday 2 March 2023. Applications can be requested via the website.
The Blueprint for In-house and The Blueprint for Comms Organisations was launched in May 2022.
