Global public relations
At Carter Fleet, we believe that the old ways are the best. Named after the place our founder first worked as a journalist – Carter Lane off Fleet Street, the traditional heart of the British press – our connections with journalists remain our lifeblood.
It’s the reason reporters and editors at every major media outlet on the planet pick up the phone to us. It’s how we know how to tell your story.
And it's what makes us one of the best PR firms in the world.
Sectors
We are highly selective in the clients we choose to represent. We represent good people and good organisations who are doing good things, and we give them an unparalleled global platform to maximise their impact – and look good.
If you’re selling arms, harming people’s health, or burning down the planet, and you want to pay someone to clean up your image, we’re not the firm for you.
We specialise in these sectors:
Markets
The secret to our success is being on the ground and knowing everyone.
Our global team of nearly 50 best-in-their-class PR experts are based in every major media market on Earth, and they are in regular contact with every major journalist in their jurisdiction.
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UK, Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, Germany, Turkey, Switzerland, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Poland, Greece
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USA, Canada
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Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Panama, Puerto Rico, Paraguay, Bolivia
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UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco
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Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Ghana
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India, Hong Kong, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, Japan
Services
Comprehensive, journalist-informed PR strategies tailored to you
Press strategy
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We will swiftly analyse your organisation, programmes and initiatives across the markets in which you operate, determine the most newsworthy angles about them, and design a bespoke press strategy that gives us the best chance of gaining significant, positive coverage.
This might include offering exclusives to one of our trusted contacts, pursuing a big bang approach on a major announcement, or considering more long-tail activities. We will work with you to gain any facts, figures and additional details we think journalists will need to tell the story. We can advise you on what works, what to look for, what journalists will likely be interested in, and tell you honestly up front when we don’t think something is newsworthy.
Media monitoring and reporting
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We put in place media monitoring for all campaigns through our Meltwater account and will send you coverage reports as required.
Thought leadership
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Our dedicated copywriters, who have written op-eds for leading media outlets around the world, can identify suitable topics and news hooks, research with reference to authoritative sources and verifiable data, and write compelling, evidence-based articles in the names of your spokespeople that stand the best chance of placement.
Our team will then translate and pitch these op-eds in key local media around the world. Similarly, we can draft blogs both for your own website and LinkedIn, or for guest blog opportunities.
Marketing copy
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We have some of the best copywriters in the industry on our team who can swiftly produce engaging marketing copy that speaks to your key audience and messages. Nothing we write will ever have been touched by Chat GPT. We can spot it a mile off, and so can you.
Broadcast
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We are adept at pitching clients for broadcast interviews and working with you on talking points that will help get you noticed. We can help you with your key messages, prepare for potentially difficult questions, and give you the basic tips you need to approach broadcast interviews in most ordinary circumstances.
Film production
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We work with a professional filmmaker who can take our scripts and send teams to any location in the world to interview people and create powerful short films that tell inspirational stories.
International distribution
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We have a large team of PR experts in every major media market. They will take our press release, translate and distribute it, brief journalists, and sell-in the story.
Our team has a track record of delivering in their markets because they know all the key journalists in their markets. They will pick up the phone and do what’s necessary to get the story over the line.
Tailored press releases
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We draft press releases that stand the highest chance of success because – founded by a former journalist – we write the way they do, pre-empt their questions, and give reporters and editors all the information they need in the order they need it.
Our press releases show, they don’t tell, answering who, what, where, when, why and how. You’ll be surprised how many others don’t do this. They eschew bland corporate marketing messages because journalists are allergic to them. Instead, they tell stories journalists will want to know about because they are of interest to the public. We will advise you frankly on what will and won’t work and push back if we ever think you’re trying to shoehorn in something that might reduce chances of coverage.
Narrative and messaging
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We tell stories with purpose. For new product, campaign and business launches, we can work with you to craft a compelling narrative from scratch, including a set of key messages – starting with the why – that tie the project to the organisation’s purpose and to its wider work, and tell a story of impact.
This then serves as guidance for all press releases, thought leadership, interview Q&A and marketing copy.
Speech writing
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With the rise of Chat GPT, doesn’t everyone just sound the same these days? Bombastic, but also bland at the time time. Endless waffle peppered with platitudes and stock phrases. Frankly, it’s boring.
Ditch the AI and put the human heart back into your words, and you’ll already be ahead of most of your peers. Our copywriters have a long track record writing powerful speeches for senior figures at the highest levels of government, business and philanthropy, and we can help you connect with any audience, whether live or recorded.
Quantitative research
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We regularly work with reputable international polling agencies to design bespoke surveys. We come up with questions that will provide clients with valuable data for thought leadership and are designed to produce newsworthy headlines in key markets.
We then conduct detailed comparative data analysis on the results to identify the most newsworthy findings and tailor multi-country press campaigns. These have proved highly successful with widespread elite media coverage. While less newsworthy, we can also find angles and opportunities to gain coverage for qualitative research.
Media training
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Inexperienced interviewees facing potentially tricky situations will need more than basic pointers and should get full media training. We can provide an expert media trainer for these situations.
Reputation management
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We specialise in working with good organisations who are doing good things and making them look good. Taken together, it’s a strategic approach to projecting a consistently positive image of an organisation to shape public opinion.
But it’s not smoke and mirrors. Good PR can go a long way, but organisations need to practice what they preach and embed it throughout their work and culture. As Robert De Niro said in Stardust: “Reputations, you know. A lifetime to build, seconds to destroy.” We can help you manage your reputation by not only putting out the positives you’re doing, but advising you on your practices to avoid any potential harms to your reputation. Reputation management is much better than crisis management. By the time you’re in a crisis, it’s about damage limitation and you will need a firm that specialises in crisis communications, which we don’t offer.
Coverage
Founders
Salman Shaheen
Founder and CEO
Salman Shaheen is among the most successful global PR experts working in the industry today, regularly gaining clients widespread coverage in the biggest and most influential media outlets on the planet. With two decades’ experience in the media, Salman previously served as Chief Communications Officer of T4 Education, building its brand from the ground up to becoming one of the world’s most widely covered education companies.
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He has held senior roles in global PR agencies where he’s advised NYSE-listed companies on M&A deals and Silicon Valley tech start-ups on nine figure investments. He’s formulated and promoted international policy for UNESCO and the World Bank, promoted the launch of a COVID vaccine, worked with billionaire philanthropists as well as Oxford and Cambridge universities, and gained coverage for companies from Google, HP, Microsoft, and Intel, to Accenture, American Express, Owl Ventures and AIA.
Before turning to the dark side, Salman forged a decade-long career as an award-winning journalist. He served as editor-in-chief on two international magazines in the current affairs and business spaces, has written for the Guardian, New Statesman, Huffington Post, Byline Times, and Times of India, and is a regular commentator on TV and radio.
Salman also sits on the Cabinet of Hounslow London Borough Council, where he launched the UK’s first-ever policy to transform wasteland into educational food growing spaces for urban kids, supported by Downton Abbey’s Jim Carter; partnered with Jamie Oliver on a unique new food education programme; and saved a century-old wildlife haven from being bulldozed by the Duke of Northumberland.
A writer by trade, Salman is author of the bestselling novel Freebourne.
Salman graduated with a Double First in Social & Political Sciences from Jesus College, Cambridge and an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Vikas Pota
Co-founder
Vikas Pota is an entrepreneur, advocate and community builder. In addition to Carter Fleet, he is the Founder and CEO of T4 Education, a global platform bringing together a community of over 200,000 teachers from more than 100 countries to transform education, Executive Chair of the Education Leaders Forum, a leading intelligence platform for high-growth companies, and co-founder of executive search firm Inicio Partners.
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He has spent nearly two decades founding, advising and investing in organisations across the education and technology sectors, building up a global network of leading figures.
He has been recognised as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and as one of London’s 1,000 most influential persons by the Evening Standard. Vikas was named European regional honouree for the YPO Global Impact Award.
Kagendo Salisbury,
Director of Marketing and Communications, Partnership for Education, Cambridge University Press & Assessment
"Carter Fleet knows what works. They adapted our global story to resonate with national audiences and delivered coverage that exceeded expectations. Their collaborative approach and ability to simplify complex ideas, combined with strong knowledge of global markets, made the process smooth and effective."
Mayank Dhingra,
Director & Global Head - Education Business and Strategy, HP
“Salman stands out as a true powerhouse and maverick in the field of communications and public relations. What makes him exceptional is his remarkable ability to navigate the complexities of long-standing organisations, deeply understanding their inherent dynamics and core strengths. He then masterfully translates this knowledge into modern, innovative, and highly effective communications strategies that resonate in today's fast-paced media landscape. Beyond his strategic prowess, Salman possesses an unparalleled network and expansive reach. This allows him to consistently deliver outstanding results, often achieving what seems impossible. He has a knack for pulling a ‘rabbit out of the hat’ with impressive regularity, always finding creative solutions and opening doors that others might miss.”
Stuart Woollford,
Director of Group Brand, AIA Group
“Salman Shaheen and his global team took coverage of one of our flagship initiatives to the next level, with stories in some of the world’s biggest media outlets. Working hand in hand with us throughout, their experience, advice, and wide network of international contacts delivered results way beyond our original expectations”
Mike Fisher,
Chief Operating Officer, T4 Education
“Carter Fleet is the best PR firm in the industry, without exception. With deep knowledge, strategic insight, and a contact book of leading journalists in every major media market, they built our World’s Best School Prizes from a nice idea no one had heard of into the world’s most widely covered education awards. In 2024 alone, the global team secured coverage for T4 Education in nearly 4,000 articles in the world’s biggest news outlets, with a combined readership reach of 11.6 billion. If Carter Fleet takes you on as a client, you can expect a global platform like never before.”
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“Carter Fleet always gives me great stories. Salman Shaheen and his team understand what journalists actually need because he’s been one. They know the angles that will cut through, even on a busy news day, and you can tell they genuinely care about the initiatives they represent.”
Aristos Georgiou, science and health reporter, Newsweek
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“Salman Shaheen is an extremely effective PR, whose determination and tenacity on behalf of his clients ensures he achieves the best possible results.”
Mary-Louise Clews, former News Editor, TES
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“I will always take a call from Carter Fleet. They target stories intelligently, understand the demands of a 24/7 news cycle, and really know their stuff.”
Judith Woods, The Telegraph
Let’s talk about telling your story to the world.
If you would like us to consider representing you, and would like a quote or more information, please get in touch.