Jez Ashberry

Shooting Star · October 2026

Pillars of Lincoln is a series of interviews with professionals who are more than specialists in their field. They have given their careers to their industry and become the pillars that keep Lincoln standing.

First in the series is Jez Ashberry, a Founding Director of Shooting Star, a PR and Marketing agency that is celebrating it's 20th year in business. Jez is a former Editor turned PR specialist, passionate about supporting local charities and giving young people their first taste of working in marketing and PR.

How did you first get into your line of work, and did you ever imagine you'd still be doing it 30 years later?
My mother and brother were both newspaper reporters and I followed in their footsteps, writing my first football reports for the Boston Standard aged 14 and then becoming a news and sports reporter on the same paper after graduation in 1989.
I did a few different journalism jobs, including Editor of Lincolnshire Life, before the University of Lincoln arrived in the city and I became its first Press and Media Relations Manager. It was my first job in PR and I’m still amazed that I got it.
What do you remember about your first day?
It was a culture shock joining a large new organisation where most of the staff and students were 50 miles up the road in Hull, but after some initial doubts I ended up staying in the job for eight years.
The university was still finding its feet back then and the recruitment had been done back to front: on my first day I found a press officer waiting for some guidance from me, and a few months later the new Director of Marketing arrived to let me know what he thought I should be doing!
What's the biggest change you've seen in your profession since you started, and what hasn't changed at all?
When I started writing for my local paper reports were typed and carbon copied on small sheets of copy paper. When I became a full-time reporter we had rudimentary computers but no hard drives. At Lincolnshire Life I remember receiving printed press releases through the post with photos literally attached with a paper clip. And at the university I remember asking journalists if they preferred to receive press releases via fax or the new-fangled email!
But the fundamentals haven’t changed: copywriting has to be of a high quality and free of errors, relationships are important, integrity is non-negotiable.
How has Lincoln changed around you in that time? Is there a street, a building or a business that sums it up for you?
When I first moved to Lincoln in 1998 the city centre was a lot less vibrant. There were only two university buildings – the rest of the campus was waste land – and the north side of Brayford Pool had yet to be developed.
You wouldn’t fancy walking down there at night and there would be no reason for you to do so. Now it’s an attractive waterfront environment with cafes, bars and restaurants – just what the city needed.
Who taught you the most along the way, and what did they teach you?
When I first worked as a newspaper reporter I had a grumpy chief sub-editor who always kept me in line. A chief sub’s job is to edit the paper, check the copy and make it all fit together.
He taught me to never miss a deadline and to only write what would “stand up” – he had no time for rumour, speculation or guesswork. “If in doubt, check it out” he used to say. His advice has stood me in good stead ever since.
What's the moment you're proudest of?
There have been many proud moments: launching the Taste of Excellence Awards at Lincolnshire Life; collecting a CIPR Pride Award in Leeds on behalf of Shooting Star; and celebrating Shooting Star’s 20th birthday with friends and colleagues spring to mind.
But I’m most proud of what we’ve achieved at Shooting Star over two decades: doing our best work for over 300 clients, supporting 19 different charities through our Charity of the Year scheme, and giving a helping hand to more than 100 young people starting out in their career in marketing and PR through work experience placements and internships.
What's the one thing people outside your profession never realise about it?
A lot of people don’t realise just how much time it takes to manage social media channels! It’s specialised and time-consuming work, but many businesses don’t seem to attach much monetary value to it.
What's kept you doing it all these years?
With two kids and a mortgage I had to do something to pay the bills! But also I love agency life and I really enjoy doing work for clients that helps them in a way they really appreciate.
What would you tell someone in Lincoln starting out in your line of work today?
Marketing and PR has changed enormously since I first started out; nowadays you need a lot of strings to your bow to be a success. So I advise everyone starting out in marketing and PR to learn diverse skills and put them into practice.
If you can write copy, take photographs, shoot and edit video on your phone, understand SEO and run digital ad campaigns, you will prove to be an asset wherever you go.
If you could send one piece of advice back to yourself on that first day, what would it be?
No-one ever said on their deathbed: “I wish I’d spent more time in the office.”