Halpern PR

We emerge, after about half an hour, in what appears to be a completely different world: the elegant and refined environs of Sloane Square.

An hour's shopping is the order of the day (I discover), but as we split up to roam up and down the busy King's Road, I'm the only one to spot a celebrity of note: permatanned football pundit Gary Lineker, emerging confidently from Eat with his take away lunch.

We've entered the rarified atmosphere of London's poshest postcode to take a peek inside one of London's best-known and best-loved PR agencies, Halpern.

Owned and managed by PR guru Jennie Halpern, the 45-strong agency focuses almost entirely on lifestyle brands, counting Molton Brown, Miss Sixty, Energie and Saab among an impressive client list.

The prodigiously talented Divisional Director Fiona Hughes talks to us about the agency and shows us around the packed sample room - an Aladdin's Cave of clothing, sunglasses and other lifestyle accessories. She's later joined by one of Halpern's most recent hires, all the way from the North East who joined Halpern after realising that she wanted nothing to do with solicitors' offices and everything to do with the glitz, glamour and hard work embodied by a lifestyle PR agency.


We're also treated to a leaving gift: make-up for the girls and more manly bath products for the boys. Amazingly, Fiona invites all the students to approach her if they are interested in undertaking unpaid work placements during the holidays. Everyone is extremely interested although Luke appears a little concerned about being the only bloke among so many young ladies.