Worker Bee: meet Scott Thomas, the influencer and founder of Social PR

Written by Dianne Bourne
Last updated 12 months ago
Business, Community, Cornerstone, People, Showbiz, Stockport

Many will know Scott Thomas from his stint on hit ITV show Love Island, or as part of Manchester’s showbiz dynasty of Thomas brothers.

But Scott is now forging ahead in the business world as the director of his own company Social PR.

Scott, 31, from Cheadle, has seen his PR firm go from strength to strength over the past four years, with current clients including fashion giant PrettyLittleThing, hotel group Edwardian Hotels and a raft of popular restaurants and bars.

Here, Scott tells us about his business inspirations, how he made it to where he is today, and why he’ll never leave Manchester.

What first got you started in your field of work?

My background is in events and parties in the city – I did that for around seven years in and around Manchester. From that I built up really strong contacts, with a good base of celebrities and influencers. I wanted to move away from the parties but still use those contacts – and that’s how Social PR was born about four years ago.

I had the agency before I went on Love Island (in 2016) and I am lucky to have an amazing business partner in Francesca Britton who kept things ticking over while I was in there, and it’s in the past two years that things have really taken off for us.

Now we’ve just gone from strength to strength and we have some amazing clients, the likes of the Edwardian Hotels, we work with Foot Asylum and have just signed PrettyLittleThing, as well as a lot of the top restaurants and bars in the city like Rosso, Peter Street Kitchen and Impossible night-club. This year we’ve moved into management as well having signed Molly-Mae Hague after her appearance on Love Island.

Who have been your biggest influences?

I definitely think my brothers [Scott’s twin brother is former Emmerdale star Adam Thomas, and older brother is former Coronation Street star Ryan Thomas]. We are really tight and they have always supported me. Growing up, I was always around the TV thing with what they were doing, but they have always, always supported me with my businesses or anything else going on in my life.

What is your proudest achievement?

It’s got to be setting up my own business and the growth we’ve seen over the last year, and the clients we’ve secured it’s been amazing.

Nothing is easy, me and Fran have been close to giving things up, but we always had a vision and that’s got us to where we are now.

What does a typical day involve?

Absolute madness! It can vary. We try to have as many office days as possible, so I touch base with the team in the morning, and then I’m very much in charge of liaison and driving new business, I’m back and forth to London, and then it could be attending a launch event. We are constantly on the move.

I’m big into the gym just for clearing my mind, so when I wake up at 7am I go in the gym to start the day off then straight off to the office from there. I do try to get back to the gym again in the evening – my only time to chill out is when I go into the spa with steam and sauna because you can’t take your phone in there. I actually have a bad neck from being on my phone all the time.

How do you relax on your days off?

This shows how old I’m getting, because now I really look forward to a Friday night in! I get a load of healthy food out of the fridge and chill.

I like to go out with my family, but I go out to events a lot less these days. I like to make the most of chilling out.

What is the best advice you’ve ever been given?

Don’t be a technician in your own business – if you’re working on the day-to-day stuff too much you’re doing a job, not running a business. It’s something I learnt recently. You’ve got to learn to delegate so that you’re free to look at the business from an objective point of view.

If things hadn’t worked out, what could you have seen yourself doing?

Something to do with people and networking – maybe I would have kept on with the events, or maybe festivals. But I didn’t like the lifestyle that comes with that. You’re in party mood all the time and that’s not good for the soul. For me now, it’s all about having more of a balanced life.

Tell us one thing about yourself that people might be surprised to hear.

I’m actually quite shy! There’s the Social PR Scott who is out and about, but I’m starting to learn I like to have a bit of me time a bit of quiet time and a bit more of the reserved Scott.

Red or blue?

Red all day long! We do a lot of work with Jesse Lingard as well these days. Definitely a red.

Name your three favourite places in Manchester

Peter Street Kitchen and Rosso are my favourite restaurants and no, I’m not just saying that because they are clients – they both have a great vibe and their food is ridiculously good.

I also love the new Dakota Hotel as I think it’s a great addition to the city centre. And Old Trafford of course. I don’t get to go to the matches very often but when I do go it’s always so exciting for me as a fan.

If you could change one thing about Manchester, what would it be?

It’s got to be the weather hasn’t it? Everyone says the same thing. But I’d never leave Manchester. I travel a lot but I always come back here, I just love it. Everyone is like a little family here, you don’t get the same warmth anywhere else.

What do you love most about Manchester?

It’s the people, the Mancunians. We all look after each other, we support each other, even on a social level, we all get along. I’m just really proud about being from Manchester.

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