A PR agency which was set up in a cowshed on a family farm near Raglan has been named as the UK’s PR Consultancy of the Year at an awards ceremony in London.

The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) has honoured the industry’s finest campaigns, teams, and professionals at its 41st annual Excellence Awards, with Cowshed securing the biggest award of the evening, UK PR Consultancy of the year.

Up against some of the UK’s largest and most well-known agencies, Cowshed came out on top for what judges described as its “consistent growth, progressive benefits, impressive client list and commitment to DEI.”

The CIPR judges said: “Clearly, work with meaning runs through this consultancy. The strategy and actions of this agency are exemplary, and its commitment to DEI and autism awareness sets a high benchmark for the industry. A worthy winner.”

The founder of Cowshed, Vicki Spencer Francis, said that the agency’s victory has broken the traditional mould of the industry.

“In the first years of the agency, I would sit at home and watch the winners announced on Twitter, wondering if we would ever get there - and here we are,” she said.

“We don’t have the benefit of strong London agency connections and aren’t in the bubble of the London industry buzz, so it seemed unlikely we would ever win an award like this, but I’m so pleased that the work we do, the clients we support and the team we have surrounded ourselves with have been recognised. They are all exceptional.”

“Personally, I’m delighted that a female owned, independent agency from Cardiff has made it - representing Wales on the biggest stage in our industry.”

In the last six months Cowshed has also won five national awards for its BOG STANDARD campaign for phs Group and Prostate Cancer UK and a campaign for South Wales Police to encourage people to report anti-social behaviour.

Other clients include Vattenfall UK’s Pen-y-Cymeodd Wind Farm and Cerebra the national charity supporting children with brain conditions.

Monmouthshire Council Chief Executive Paul Matthews, and a long-term friend of Cowshed founder Vicki, praised the agency’s work and said the business’s success story should be celebrated.

“To be recognised as being the very best at what you do in the whole of the UK is amazing. We should all be very proud of this Raglan based businesswoman,” he said.

“She has built an amazing company that is becoming everything she ever dreamed of and more.”

“Monmouthshire is rich with highly successful entrepreneurs. We have role models for others to follow, and I don’t think for a minute that Vicki has finished her own personal dream just yet. I have watched with interest from the beginning, I can’t wait to see what she and her growing team does next.”