Paul Simpson

Paul Simpson MCIPR

Paul is an independent lecturer and consultant, who embarked on an academic career after fifteen years working in PR, spanning both politics and entertainment.

He was at BBC Radio 1 for five years until 2001, representing DJs such as Chris Moyles, Jo Whiley and Tim Westwood as the station’s head of PR, as well as managing the corporate profile of one of the UK’s leading youth brands. In his final year at the BBC, he assumed additional responsibility, preparing for the launch of digital TV channel, BBC Three.

He went on to advise the Government on youth communications, supporting then Home Office Minister, John Denham MP, before setting up his own consultancy, with clients including London radio station Kiss 100, music technologist Shazam, and broadcaster Nicky Campbell.

In his early PR career, Paul was press officer for Paddy Ashdown’s Liberal Democrats, and an aide to high profile South London MP, Simon Hughes.

He began his academic career as an associate lecturer at Thames Valley University and the University of Greenwich, where he co-wrote the CIPR approved BA and MA degrees in Public Relations. He was Course Director for the BA (Hons) Public Relations at the University of the Arts London, based at London College of Communication between 2007 and 2009.

His PR subject interests include persuasion and influence, media relations, social media, political PR, rhetoric, and the broader subject of ‘story-telling’. He is currently researching a 30,000 word paper on the relationship between political marketing and PR, and has a BA (Hons) Politics from the University of Sussex.