WHEN Caroline Kinsey founded her PR company 14 years ago, working from the garage of her Beaconsfield home, little did she know that by 2013 it would be winning major industry accolades and emerging as one of the most dynamic players in the field.

Cirkle, still based in Beaconsfield’s Old Town, now employs 30 people and has a turnover of £3.6m, whilst boasting double digit growth every year despite the tricky economic times.

Caroline, now chairman of the business, said: “I never had a vision of this at the start. You can’t imagine it - it would have been way too daunting a prospect, the thought of having the responsibility of 30 people back then.”

In November the consumer brand PR consultancy was recognized by the fiercely competitive PR industry by winning two of its most prestigious awards in the space of two weeks.

At the PRCA (Public Relations Consultants Association) Awards Cirkle was crowned ‘Medium Consultancy of the Year’ and a fortnight earlier the firm retained its crown as ‘Trade PR Agency of the Year’ for the second consecutive year at The Grocer MAP awards.

Caroline said of the wins: “I’m bursting with pride at my best-in-class team and am honored to boost and continue to support employment in the local area. More than 9 per cent of the UK’s public relations agencies are based in central London and Cirkle has bucked the trend."

She paid tribute to both her staff and her client base for cementing the achievements, adding: “It was a great reward for us. The vast majority of PR companies are medium sized so this was one of the best accolades for the business you can enjoy.”

And just this week Caroline has been invited to become a Fellow of the PRCA.

The firm’s client base currently includes Energizer, Premier Foods, Ferrero, Cuticura, Pepsico , GSK Remington, Russell Hobbs, Jack Daniels and Bendicks. A key part of the firm’s success comes from the quality of her staff, says Caroline: “I have a genuinely fabulous team – they are real ambassadors for the agency. I consider myself to be incredibly fortunate in that regard.”

Her workers operate on ‘hot desks’ when in the office, instead of having their permanent workspace and even have the option of working from home on Fridays – a trust in her staff which she says has been ably rewarded by their contribution to the business’ success.

Caroline said her late father, investment director at the Scottish Development Agency, who she said “gave me all my perspective on business”, has helped inform her approach to staffing.

She said: “He was in the corporate finance world but he believed in the strength of human capital in terms of ‘did he trust in the people he invested in?’ Not just the balance sheet but did he believe in the people behind the business and their sense of drive and ambition?

“I think Cirkle recruits people in the same way. We recruit people for their drive, ambition and desire to succeed.”

Two members of staff have celebrated 10 years with the firm, which has boasted 85 per cent retention over the last two years and has never had to make any redundancies.

Caroline, who is also a Bucks Ambassador, has also recently embraced a fledgling PR apprenticeship scheme, with 19 year old Jessica Kirby. Established by the PRCA there are currently 10 apprentices at firms around the UK.

Impressed by the initiative Jessica showed during an unconnected chance encounter, Caroline suggested she apply for the role and ultimately picked her out from the other apprenticeship candidates.

Caroline says she is also passionate about helping others find their way into the industry – particularly with university tuition fees and a brutally competitive job market making career paths so hard to navigate.

Caroline also lectures at the University of Bournemouth, the University of Bedfordshire and at Dragon’s Den star Peter Jones’ National Enterprise Academy, which she relished. She said: “It’s about investment in the grass roots of the industry, helping open doors and creating opportunities to enter the industry.”

An industry, she says which is busy getting to grips with the ‘transformative’ impact social media has had.

Caroline said that more than ever brands must be “social, honest, authentic and aware of wider society’s social agenda,” thanks to the likes of Twitter. She says they must consider what it is that motivates people while taking into account the power of third party endorsement and personal recommendation, pointing to websites such as Trip Advisor.com as an example of the power this has.

She said: “I think it (social networking) is very rewarding. It plays to our strengths.

“There’s a wider spectrum of influence, persuasion and understanding. It’s more dynamic than ever before. PR is ‘always on’ now, which is very exciting.”

Measurement of the way PR can change behavior, she says, is a key consideration facing her firm now, to maximise the impact of its work.

But despite her success Caroline says there is no room for complacency at the moment.

She said: “We’ve navigated a very clear path through, sometimes, quite turbulent seas.

“The economy is very tough around us and PR is promiscuous. Clients have become more demanding. We’re more under the microscope than ever for value for money.”

Looking ahead to 2013 Caroline remains hopeful, but cautious. She said: “We can’t afford to be overly optimistic but we have always been an agency that’s got a fantastic track record.

“We’ve had the perfect balance between taking risks and recognising when you’ve got to proceed with caution.

“Any smart business has to go through good housekeeping.

“But I’m excited by the future of the industry and the role the PRTC are playing in it, both in the UK and on an international level.”