“We Met at a Bachelorette Party, Set Up PRN, and We’re Still Here 20 Years Later! George Blizzard on Co-Founding the World’s First Virtual PR Agency in 2005, Job-Sharing the CEO Role Through Motherhood, and Building a PRWeek Top 100 Agency.”

When George Blizzard and Nicky Regazzoni launched The PR Network in 2005, they didn't set out to become pioneers. They just wanted to solve a problem they saw everywhere: brilliant, senior PR professionals leaving the industry because traditional agencies couldn't accommodate working parents or anyone who didn't want to live in London.

George was on maternity leave with her three-month-old daughter Sissy. Nicky was freelancing. They'd both worked at Bite, a tech PR specialist, and watched talented people walk away from careers they loved because the 9-5 office model didn't fit their lives. The freelance community was thriving. There had to be a different way.

So they built it.

Today, The PR Network is the world's first and largest virtual PR agency, with 1,400+ experts across 60+ countries working with brands like Dropbox, Toyota, Beyond Meat, and Workday. They're a PRWeek Top 100 UK agency, PRWeek Top 200 Global PR Agency, PRWeek Top 10 Tech agency, and achieved B Corp certification in 2023. The business has doubled in just five years.

George and Nicky have job-shared the co-CEO role for nearly 20 years. They were the first job share awarded a place on the FT Power Part Time list in 2013. They won the inaugural GWPR and ICCO Angela Oakes Award recognizing those who "smashed glass ceilings and changed the game for empowering female leadership." They're Fellows of the Public Relations Communications Association and feature in the PRWeek UK Power Book (2021-2024).

George leads culture at The PR Network and pioneered a "Family First" ethos that's resulted in an exceptional average retention rate of 10 years and nine 5-star Glassdoor ratings. The agency won Best Small Agency to Work For (2024) and has become proof that prioritizing flexibility doesn't weaken performance. It strengthens it.

Under Nicky's leadership, The PR Network achieved B Corp certification and committed £50,000 of profits to causes including CAMFED (helping 64 girls achieve four years of secondary school education in Sub-Saharan Africa) and Refuge, plus an Employee Giving Fund where all staff give £500 to charities of their choice. They've partnered with environmental consultancy Furthr to measure and offset their carbon footprint and commit financially to ethnic and social mobility initiatives including Socially Mobile.

The business model is ruthlessly simple: no office overhead means they can invest the majority of client fees in the best teams while generating high profits. Nine permanent employees manage 1,400+ associates worldwide. Senior experts only. No junior account executives padding billable hours.

Their job share works because they have a similar work ethic, a joint vision, and high trust, but they aren't carbon copies. As George puts it: "Our clients and team will say we're interchangeable, but we actually often have different views, which is why our relationship works so well. We have diversity of thought and different perspectives, so every decision is well-considered from all angles."

They co-host the "Just Curious..." podcast featuring personalities from broadcasting, media, PR, and sport. George wrote her Leadership Letter to Hillary Rodham Clinton. They've mentored for Women in PR, PRWeek, People Like Us, and Socially Mobile, and volunteered with mental health initiative State of Us.

In 20 years, they've never had a client complain about responsiveness despite their flexible working commitment. They've built teams of individuals bound together by a vision for flexible working. Everyone wants it to work. Everyone's working toward the same goal.

As George reflects: "We never thought we'd still be working together 20 years later, or that we would be a Top 100 agency. However, we always had a shared vision, ambition, and commitment to do our best. We knew what we didn't want to do, and we created the change we wanted that we couldn't see in our industry. I'm not sure if that's bravery, foresight, or luck—but it's served us very well."

Pioneering the Virtual Agency Model 15 Years Before COVID - Building The PR Network as a Job Share 

Q: You and co-founder Nicky Regazzoni launched The PR Network in 2005 as the world's first virtual PR agency, operating it via a groundbreaking job share long before remote work became mainstream. Today, you're a PRWeek Top 100 UK agency, PRWeek Top 200 Global PR Agency, and PRWeek Top 10 Tech agency and have 1,400+ experts across 60+ countries working with brands like Dropbox, Toyota, Beyond Meat, and Workday. For female founders building agencies or consulting businesses, what made you confident enough to launch a completely virtual model when the industry standard was London offices? How did you structure the job share co-CEO arrangement to work seamlessly for nearly 20 years? What advice would you give women considering co-founding businesses or pioneering non-traditional business models that others say won't work? 

A: Nicky and I conceived the idea whilst we were both working together at tech specialist Bite (part of Next15 Group). Nicky was freelancing and I was a permanent member of staff. We could see that the traditional model didn’t work for everyone - particularly working parents. We felt there could be a more flexible way of working that would also really benefit clients, in that they could have teams staffed only by senior, experienced people actually doing the account work. 

We saw so many talented, senior people leaving the profession either because they didn’t want to live in London, or with caring responsibilities that didn’t fit with a 9-5 office-based job. The freelance community was thriving, and we saw an opportunity. We loved Bite and we didn’t want to build a copycat agency, but to find a different way of working that harnessed the talent of brilliant senior freelance consultants. The PR Network was born! 

We job-shared the CEO role from day one. We launched when I was on maternity leave and my eldest daughter Sissy was three months old. I needed the flexibility to care for her and build our business, so Nicky and I agreed to work three days a week each. Soon after, Nicky had her first son Sam - and before we knew it we had young families and a burgeoning global business! 

At first our job share was built around our childcare. We had a nanny or a nursery commitment on certain days, so we worked around that with at least one anchor day. That pattern has changed over the years as our children’s needs have changed, but we’ve always kept that anchor day where we could share ideas, problem solve and brainstorm new innovations. Now, as our children are largely independent, we tend to work across the week as required, but we split our business responsibilities. 

Our job share has worked so well as we both have such a good understanding of how each other works and how we can support each other best. We have a similar work ethic, a joint vision and a high level of trust, but we aren’t carbon copies of each other. Our clients and team will say that we are interchangeable, but we actually often have different views which is why our relationship works so well. We have a diversity of thought and different perspectives, so every decision we make is well-considered from all angles.

In terms of advice, we never thought we’d still be working together 20 years later - or that we would be a Top 100 agency! However, we always had a shared vision, ambition and commitment to do our best. We knew what we didn’t want to do, and we created the change we wanted that we couldn’t see in our industry. I’m not sure if that’s bravery, foresight or luck - but it’s served us very well during this long phase of our careers in PR. 

"Family First" Culture and Building for Retention - How The PR Network Keeps Talent for 10+ Years 

Q: You lead culture at The PR Network and pioneered a "Family First" ethos where staff can work flexibly, resulting in an exceptional average retention rate of 10 years and nine 5-star Glassdoor ratings. You've won Best Small Agency to Work For (2024) and championed flexible working to retain incredible talent that typically leaves PR due to lack of flexibility. For female founders building companies while navigating their own work-life challenges, how do you create genuinely flexible cultures that deliver results without burning people out? What's the business case for prioritizing family and flexibility when clients demand responsiveness and the industry glorifies overwork? How should founders structure teams and workflows to make "family first" actually operational rather than just aspirational? 

A: This is something we’re really passionate about. Our model ensures our team and our freelance associates worldwide have the flexibility to have an ambitious career and enjoy family time. It’s not always easy - we’d be lying if we said it is. However, if someone on our team wants to be at school for an important occasion, we’re happy as we trust they’ll make up the time. When a team is happy and fulfilled, they are super motivated, and that underpins our culture. 

Everything depends on trust and transparency, and as our team is senior-only we are able to have those grown up conversations about how to work flexibly for them, for us and the client. In 20 years we’ve never had a client complain we’re not responsive because of our flexible working commitment. I believe that is because we’ve built teams of individuals who have a similar work ethic, and are bound together by a vision for flexible working. Everyone wants it to work, and we’re all working towards the same goal. We have all the tech available to ensure that we can be transparent so clients are comfortable about what is being delivered and when. 

B Corp, DEI Commitments, and Using Business as a Force for Good - Beyond Profit 

Q: Under Nicky's leadership, The PR Network achieved B Corp certification in 2023 and committed £50,000 of profits to causes including CAMFED and Refuge, plus an Employee Giving Fund where all staff give £500 to charities of their choice. You've also partnered with Furthr to measure and offset your carbon footprint. You're passionate about DEI and commit financially to ethnic and social mobility initiatives including Socially Mobile. For female entrepreneurs building profitable agencies, how do you balance purpose and profit? What's your framework for deciding which social and environmental commitments are authentic versus performative? How do you convince clients and team members that investing in B Corp certification, carbon offsetting, and charitable giving strengthens rather than weakens the business?

A: This is one of things I’m most proud of and the biggest benefit of setting up your own business: having the ability to support causes you care about. 

We believe in the importance of giving back and have always tried to give our support in both time and monetary terms to causes that further our industry and our community. We have run the mentoring scheme for Women in PR and PRWeek for three years, mentored for People Like Us and Socially Mobile as well as volunteering with new mental health initiative State of Us. 

We chose CAMFED, the campaign for female education, as our corporate charity partner, and we’re proud that we’ve helped 64 girls achieve four years of secondary school education in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

Nicky has been instrumental in driving forward our B Corp certification which as anyone knows is no mean feat. This was the cherry on top for us as it recognised our accomplishments to date, but signposted areas which needed more work. 

All of these initiatives keep us laser-focused on our vision and building a business with heart. We think this makes us a better partner for our clients and a better employer for our team. It’s not performative. There is a real business benefit for continually assessing how you can innovate and improve, and our clients love to know they’re working with an ethical business.

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