Meet Paul | Senior PR & Social Manager
My name is Paul Ainsworth and I’m Senior PR & Social Manager – Audiology & Home Visits. 
The early part of my career was in journalism. I cut my teeth in the UK, working for several regional newspapers, and then moved to Guernsey to work for the local newspaper. From here, I moved into public relations, joining the States-owned airline as their PR manager, before finally joining the PR team at Specsavers at the end of 2018.
When I first started my Specsavers career, my focus was audiology and looking after Republic of Ireland. I learned so much in my first year in the role, particularly from stores and our partners. Then COVID hit, meaning PR and Social became integral to delivering our ‘open for care’ message and our customer care stories. This was an incredibly busy and challenging time. More recently, I’ve taken on national PR for Home Visits. Both Home Visits and audiology are incredibly rewarding areas of the business to work for. I feel like I’m making a genuine difference.
At Specsavers, there are always opportunities to develop your skills, both in your role and your own personal development. In my first year, I was able to complete a CIPR (Chartered Institute of Public Relations) course which taught me a huge amount about campaign planning and evaluation. Since then, I’ve been able to join various other courses, such as crisis management and a more advanced campaign planning tutorial. As an employee, you’re encouraged to create a Personal Development Plan and set regular objectives for yourself so you can own your own development.
What really gives me pride in my role is when I see a plan come together. Most recently, we had huge success with our Misheard Lyrics audiology campaign with music legend Rick Astley. This was designed to get the nation talking and thinking differently about hearing loss. Within the first few hours, our teaser video went viral on Rick’s channels! We also achieved a huge amount of media coverage, featuring on This Morning, The Lorraine Show and in all the major national newspapers. This was a proud moment for me.
I’ve learned a lot during my time at Specsavers. I now think big, think bold, and I’m not afraid of failure. I’ve really developed my confidence here. Being in the PR & Social team has helped massively. I’ve also come to realise that you can gain so much from learning from others that you work with. We have an incredibly talented workforce so we can really reap the benefits of this!
If you’re thinking about coming to work for Specsavers – do it. Do it now! It’s a great place to work. You’re treated incredibly well, and if you’re anything like me, you’ll make good friends for life. It’s like a family here and my team make it so much fun to work here. We work hard, but we play hard. I genuinely get up each morning and look forward to coming into work.