Leading food and farming supply chain PR agency, Pinstone, has expanded its board with the promotion of Helen Maiden and Hannah Lloyd to Board Director (Operations) and Board Director (Marketing) respectively.

Long-term business mentor and former CEO of London-based, Lexis PR, Margot Raggett, is a third new addition to the leadership team, who officially joins the Pinstone board as Non-executive Director.

The trio join the founder and Managing Director Catherine Linch, and her fellow shareholder, husband and Finance Director Robin Linch, as board directors.

“The formation of the new board, that came into being on Pinstone’s seventeenth anniversary on 1 February 2022, is a real milestone particularly following a tremendous year for the business with 40% growth,” says Catherine.

“Helen, Hannah and Margot have been instrumental in Pinstone’s successful year-on-year growth spanning rural, agriculture, land-based, renewable and food and farming supply chain organisations.

“It’s been an extraordinary journey from humble beginnings,” she adds.

Helen Maiden is the longest serving member of Pinstone’s now 25-strong consultancy team; she joined as a Harper Adams graduate in 2010. Hannah has been with the business since 2012, coming from a marketing background in the agriculture sector. Margot has worked closely with Pinstone for over eight years and has brought a wealth of agency knowledge and business practices to the Pinstone business that is family-owned and independent.

Margot is a Fellow of the PRCA and her former career journey from graduate to CEO in a leading B2C PR agency of over 100 employees, positions her perfectly to continue to support Pinstone’s growth. In her former role, she oversaw a PR portfolio of major clients including Unilever, Boots, Coca-Cola and the Barclays Premier League.

Robin testifies to the instrumental role the new board members have already played in Pinstone’s growth, while also paying tribute to the wider team. “We’ve worked hard to continually raise our game at every level of the agency; from evolving our services to our investment in people and training; to the systems that form the backbone of our internal operations.

“And it’s paid off; in 2021 we ranked twentieth in the PR Week UK top 150 B2B comms rankings. Not bad for a specialist sector consultancy based in rural Herefordshire.”