Tracy North, owner/managing director
Tracy was born and brought up in Morecambe, Lancashire. A third-generation journalist, she qualified and worked as a staff reporter, sub-editor and page designer in daily and weekly newspapers in the North West and North Wales before founding Outwrite PR in 1994.She worked initially as a freelancer, then formed a limited company in 2000 and recruited employees.
She now uses her knowledge and skills in brand and reputation building and protection to define and run PR strategy and campaigns for Outwrite’s clients.
She has amassed a great deal of experience in giving strategic advice at the highest level within organisations, in working with confidential information and in handling issues and crises on behalf of clients.
Tracy continues to enjoy operational work and maintains a hands-on element to her work, for example by keeping in touch with media contacts and writing press releases.
Examples are: issues management for an industrial site where TV were regularly turning up to broadcast residents’ complaints; crisis management eg turning out to liaise with the media at a major fire in the middle of the night; and managing a company’s response after discovering that a 30-minute expose-style radio documentary was being prepared about a client.
She has achieved coverage for clients across national network TV and radio, as well as in regional print and broadcast media.
As the business owner, Tracy is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day running of Outwrite PR, along with Belgravia House, which Outwrite owns. Outwrite occupies some of the offices, with the remainder being let out to small businesses.
Tracy has a degree in European Studies and Spanish and holds the National Council for the Training of Journalists’ (NCTJ) Proficiency Certificate.
She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR), Institute of Directors (IoD) and National Union of Journalists (NUJ).
Tracy enjoys following current affairs avidly, both for work and personal interest. Away from the office, she pursues fair-weather sailing and gardening, having recently undertaken a qualification in landscape design. In her spare time she also enjoys walking, reading and cat ownership.