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27
Mar
Ex-Harrogate man walks out of London meeting after being told to tone down his accent
A young company owner from Harrogate has gone viral after he walked out of a meeting with a London PR firm when they suggested he soften his Yorkshire accent.
Ollie Skinner, who founded and runs Balearic LDN, a “nomadic private members’ club” in the capital, related what happened during the encounter on LinkedIn.
He wrote:
It started off really well until they advised me that I should tone down my northern accent and try to speak differently…
My response – no thanks, I left the meeting and walked out, I was very close to telling them to f**k off but had to remain semi-professional.
As a young 26-year-old founder I thought this was madness, people want to connect with ‘real’ people.
Former St Aidan’s pupil Ollie, who has lived and worked in London for four years, said the meeting was to discuss a possible collaboration with the PR company, which he has not named, but his counterpart’s linguistic prejudice scuppered the deal.
He wrote:
In my northern accent I shouted 'Cheers love’ – let’s just say we are NOT going to work together.
If the PR agency thought that was the end of the matter, they were wrong – Ollie's post on LinkedIn has been seen by more than 100,000 people and has attracted huge interest from hundreds of fellow professionals.
Among the more than 270 comments, one came from Ian Briggs, former Yorkshire Post reporter and now director of Leeds PR firm Aberfield Communications. He wrote:
If they're saying this to you and you're from Harrogate, god knows what they'd be advising people from elsewhere in Yorkshire! Good on you for walking out. #yorkshireandproud
Cath Wilkins, a London-based former head of external comms for furniture company Dunelm, wrote:
I literally can’t believe this. In what world???
Camille Merrells, vice-president at KWT Global in London, wrote:
Absolutely insane advice, any PR worth speaking to will tell you that authenticity in style, manner and message will ALWAYS result in more impact.
Leeds-based sales strategist Rebecca Roberts said:
Did they arrive in a time machine from the 80s...? You doing you is the best thing ever!
The episode may have made an impression, but it didn’t leave a scar. Ollie, whose company was featured in Vogue and The Times after he organised a party on board the biggest superyacht to ever dock in London, said:
I’ve looked after rockstars, royalty and everything in between, and this has never been an issue. Are they serious? I’m proud to be from Harrogate in Yorkshire and I will always be my authentic self.
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