Pomona info and company history

Historically sound

Pomona is the UK's largest and longest-established specialist regional press company.

It was set up in 1993 by Mark Hodkinson who, at the time, was a pop writer on a provincial evening paper. Dissatisfied with the service he received from record companies, which was often condescending or indifferent - and sometimes both - he saw a niche for a company that concentrated solely on regional press and treated writers in the provinces respectfully and professionally.

An alliance lasting several years was formed with Coalition PR whereby Pomona represented its acts to the regions. This was a major leg-up and eventually led to stand-alone deals for Pomona with major labels such as RCA and Polydor.

Made in Yorkshire - regional PR from the regions

Pomona was purposely located outside the capital to make a statement and develop kinship with regional publications that often take a sceptical view of London-centred PR. Keighley in West Yorkshire is an ideal location, half way between Manchester and Leeds and roughly in the centre of the UK.

From the outset Pomona has been well staffed and resourced. The office is a first-floor suite in the commercial zone of Keighley town centre - yes, it has one!

Pomona has a staff of four, drawn from formal journalistic backgrounds. As well as a deep love and knowledge of music, it was essential they each had empathy for the publications they served, to talk the same language.

There has been little change of personnel at Pomona over the years and this has enabled us to preserve continuity.

Throughout our history the target publications have remained: mainstream daily and weekly newspapers; style and listings magazines; websites and student magazines. Basically, we aim to take our artists into any publication or website initiated outside London.

We have fostered especially good relations with publications in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. Quite rightly, they consider themselves 'national' entities and we respect this distinction and also understand the highly competitive nature of the Scottish press in particular, where there is a constant clamour for exclusive access to artists.

Mix tape

We resolved not to specialise in a particular music genre because we saw that most regional publications required a cross-range of acts to fill their pages. We wanted to make Pomona a one-stop call for everything they'd need. This has meant we have unrivalled experience in representing label rosters (and partial rosters). We have had such deals with Warners, Arista, Polydor, RCA, Mute, Heavenly, Sony, Skint and EMI - many over long periods of time.

Legends all

We have worked many acts from their earliest records to household name status and handled press campaigns for legends such as Elvis Presley, David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Kylie Minogue, Robbie Williams, Boyzone, Kate Bush, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Iron Maiden and Neil Young. This means we have the know-how to orchestrate any campaign, whether a slow-build via fanzines and web sites to brokering internationally famous artists with very limited availability.

Although our roster is wide and eclectic we never take on work merely for its own sake - we ensure we can deliver on each and every act. To this end, we concentrate solely on regional press, all day, every day. There are no distractions - no management companies or record labels run from the office or time-consuming side projects. We recognise that regional press is mainly about hard graft - constant warm and friendly contact with journalists, getting the music out on time, liaising with record company staff, dealing with the small but vital things.

The real deal

We have the best mailing list in the UK. We know the real-deal from the time wasters; where to place the big names and the new ones; which web sites actually count; who likes what music and who doesn't; who does interviews and who doesn't; who responds to gentle coercion and who works to their own agenda; circulation figures; the competition prize-value of individual publications.

Over the years we have met most of our major contacts, often at gigs in the city where these journalists are based. While we always make a point of returning emails and phone calls quickly, having personal relationships with journalists brings best results.

We know how the music industry works - that some managers are more sensitive than others!; that acts can shift in priority; the inner working and hierarchy of different record company departments etc. In short, we know our business inside out.

On the road

We have seen the growth in importance of regional press as many national music magazines have folded and the live scene has burgeoned. We know how to maximise press for touring bands, both in terms of previews before the concerts and getting journalists along on the night: touring is our ultimate currency.