Newcastle’s MHW PR has closed its doors for the last time following the sudden death of founder and director Wayne Halton, aka the “H” from the form’s original name, Mitchell Halton Watson PR.
North East PR consultant and former MHW PR manager Jill Farmer, also the founder of beseenbeheardPR, broke the news in a lengthy eulogy on LinkedIn:
“After 24 years at the top of the North East’s B2B PR scene, MHW PR closes its doors.
After the tragic, sudden death of Wayne recently, it’s the end of an era.
I just wanted to share a public, huge thanks to Wayne, fondly known as Waynetta to me, for all his support and friendship over the last, almost-a-quarter of a decade.
I originally met Wayne, along with the other two directors of MHW PR, in the bar on the corner of Dean Street in about 2001-ish (the one owned by Ant and Dec allegedly – can’t remember its name?? It’s now a Miller & Carter) at a job interview for a PR Executive. Lots of PR business was done in the bars of Grey Street in those days and Wayne, of course, had a large glass of red in hand.
In true Waynetta style – which was never predictable or PC(!) – I remember thinking who the hell is this bloke when his interview questions were so left-of-field including random ones like what my parents did for a living?! 🤔
Anyway…he offered me the job…I turned it down because I’d been offered another job at the same time by another NE consultancy which was offering about the same money but also a company car (a brand-new Ford Puma no-less 😆).
He didn’t hide his annoyance that I was picking a competitor over MHW and said company cars would soon be phased-out and I’d regret going to work for the other company because it had shit clients like car dealerships and holiday parks 🤣🤣 True story!
Sure enough…a year later, I emailed Wayne and said do you remember me… I hate my job, do you have any vacancies?
I then really started to learn the art of public relations properly – he was a great mentor, very generous, a great laugh and prone to legendary mood swings which, luckily didn’t phase me. I think he used to like the fact that I gave a good as I got 👊🏼
“Know your media” was his nag, constantly, and he loved going through a press release with a red pen 😂
I had a really fun, 3-ish years at MHW before I had a mid-20’s crisis and bought a round-the-world ticket and went off travelling for a year.
MHW later became a client of mine when I set-up as a PR consultant and Wayne was definitly my most entertaining and outspoken client 💙 And we still did business in a bar like the good old days!
I miss being able to ring him for a gossip, he absolutely loved a good story or a scandal!
Rest in peace Wayne, thanks for everything you did for me!”
In its near-quarter-century at the centre of the North East PR scene, MHW worked with a range of manufacturing clients including Gateshead-based Express Engineering, Peterlee-based Seaward Electronic, battery pack manufacturer Alexander battery Technologies, and off-site construction company Remagin, with operations in Newton Aycliffe and Leeds.
The consultancy also has strong expertise and credentials in the construction and built environment sector working for national planning and development consultancy Lichfields; London based QS and cost consultancy firm Stature Piercehill; County Durham housebuilder Homes by Carlton; and regional housing and commercial developer Modo Bloc.
