IPB manages bomb ordeal passenger's day in the spotlight

While the country was snowbound this week, we got straight back into things by dealing with one of the media stories of the new year.

IPB PR has managed publicity around Cestria Community Housing employee Laura Vincent, who sat near suspected terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on a Christmas Day flight to Detroit. She is believed to be the only Brit in the incident, which made global headlines.

Our north east team helped Laura prepare for and take control of the media interest which erupted when she returned from her mid-air ordeal. We held an in-depth briefing to establish her story and then prepared a detailed release which was issued to the media. A press conference was then held at our Sunderland office which was attended by nine media outlets, local and national.

The story hit the lunchtime news yesterday and has continued to generate huge interest.

Craig Downs, our Senior Consultant who worked with Laura, said: "Laura had been interviewed by The Sun, and huge interest was going to follow their story. This was rightly a national story, and it demonstrates the importance of being prepared when the media descends on a massive issue such as this."