Sarah Waddington

Managing director Sarah Waddington (formerly Hall) is an experienced PR and management consultant helping organisations to articulate their purpose and optimise performance.

A pioneer of best practice, she was awarded the CIPR’s Sir Stephen Tallents Medal for exceptional achievement in public relations and is the winner of the PRCA’s Outstanding Contribution in Digital Award.

Having built a reputation as an ethics tsar and diversity and inclusivity champion, she is a strong advocate of accountable leadership and women in business and believes in helping young talent break through.

Sarah is a Past President of the CIPR, a PRCA Fellow, an IoD Ambassador, a member of the Northern Power Women Power List, features in the PRWeek UK Power Book and is a regular speaker at industry events. Her PR-related blog is one of the top ten in the UK according to Vuelio.

Sarah is proud to be on the Athena40 Global Committee, an initiative launched by the Global Thinkers Forum to discover and acknowledge the work of the 40 most dynamic, active and fearless female thought leaders, columnists, commentators and activists across all industries and from all over the world.

She was the first North East practitioner to become Chartered, a status that recognises the highest standard of knowledge, expertise and ethical practice within the PR industry and is a benchmark of professional excellence and integrity.

The founder and editor of #FuturePRoof, a series of books and community aimed at reasserting the role of public relations as a management function, Sarah co-edited a white paper with Stephen Waddington characterising the public relations agency business and another exploring the mental wellbeing of the profession. Through #FuturePRoof she has also published papers on disinformation and influencer marketing.

She spearheaded and led the CIPR's gender policy work from 2014 onwards and in 2018 launched a joint initiative between the CIPR, PRCA and Career Ready to improve social mobility within the industry.

Sarah was a Trustee of the Sunshine Fund for four years, during which she worked with the Board to set a new strategic direction for the charity, leading to a 40% uplift in income through Trust grants and donations. She is currently a non executive director for technology marketing and PR agency Resonance and a member of the NHS’s Organ Donation Advisory Panel, which secured Royal Assent for a change in the law in April 2020. She is on the Advisory Panel for The Blueprint, a groundbreaking industry initiative to help organisations attract, retain and nurture diverse talent.

Sarah is a graduate of Oxford Saïd’s Executive Leadership programme, has completed Non Executive Director training with NEDA at the London Stock Exchange and holds a certificate in Organisational Leadership from the Institute of Leadership and Management. She has an MA in Marketing from Northumbria University, a BA (Hons) in French and Media from Leeds University and is a Google Squared digital marketing alumna.

When she’s not at work you’ll find her busy being Mum to two boys and walking her cocker spaniel Madge. You can also catch her being rather noisy on Twitter @Mrs_Wadds.