By Samuel Marriott-Dowding, Marriott Communications.
It’s easy to forget that some of the most powerful industry stories don’t just belong to clients, campaigns, or even brands – they also belong to the partnerships behind them.
MC PR, my joint venture with the incomparable Chrissie Pringle, was never meant to be “just another collaboration.”
It was an answer to a gap both of us kept tripping over in our own corners of the PR world: the need for a hybrid agency model rooted in strategy, fast action, and a level of emotional intelligence most businesses only dream of.
Why MC PR? Because we both do PR differently – and better together
When Chrissie and I first sat down to talk shop, the conversation wasn’t about services, retainers, or processes. It was about standards, ambition, frustration, and a shared belief that organisations deserve PR partners who are embedded, invested, and strategic enough to steer reputation.
Together, we built MC PR to be something rare: a partnership model where clients don’t get one expert, they get two brains, two networks, and two very different but beautifully complementary styles of thinking.
It works because we don’t try to be the same, we try to be better.
Clients don’t need another agency – they need advocates
Clients don’t need another agency – they need partners who stand in their corner. That takes more than campaigns or a comms plan, it takes conviction.
That’s the premise behind MC PR, the collaboration between Marriott Communications and cgPR. Chrissie and I still run our agencies independently, serving our long-standing clients with the same care, creativity, and commitment we always have. However, when the brief is bigger – when it demands deeper strategy, broader capability, or more senior thinking in the room – we come together.
From wading deep into the detail, shaping the nuances, working directly with leadership teams, steering reputation strategy or building momentum ahead of major launches. We’re always looking around the next corner, because modern PR leaves no room for complacency.
MC PR isn’t a supplier, we’re a strategic ally.
What we’ve built so far
In a short space of time, MC PR has delivered real cultural and community impact. Work that lives beyond the news cycle, and work that shifts behaviour and leaves legacies we can both be proud of.
We’ve helped organisations lean into bolder storytelling, we’ve elevated voices that deserve platforms, we’ve shaped campaigns that reached audiences traditionally ignored.
Where we’re going next
The demand for strategic, emotionally intelligent PR is growing – especially in sectors where stakes are high and reputations are fragile. MC PR was built for that; for the nuance, for the human complexity, for the organisations who need more than visibility – they need vision.
2026 will see us expanding this model further: deeper partnerships, bigger projects, and a commitment to proving that Northern PR can stand toe-to-toe with any agency in London or beyond.
The best work isn’t born from one vision – it’s born from two people who look at the same landscape and see what’s missing.
sam@marriottcommunications.com
chrissie@cgpr.uk