About Us
Award-winning,
London-based,
globally minded.
Over a decade of helping brands get noticed, grow, and generate real commercial opportunity.
Our Story
Founded on
a simple premise —
built to last.
Squirrels & Bears was founded in 2016 by Petra Smith, who built her career steering brand strategy and growth across EMEA for some of the world's most recognised organisations.
The premise was simple: the world-class growth strategies used by global brands shouldn't be the preserve of world-class budgets. SMEs with leaner teams and less firepower deserve the same quality of strategic thinking, creative execution, and commercial rigour — they just need a partner who knows how to apply it at their scale.
That's what S&B was built to do. And nearly a decade on, it's still what drives us.
Work with usWhat we've built
Today, S&B is a full-service consultancy working with B2B, B2C, and not-for-profit organisations around the world. Our clients range from ambitious founder-led businesses to established companies navigating their next stage of growth. What they share is a desire to be taken seriously — and a need for a partner who'll take their success personally.
Strategy, PR, and design delivered by a single senior team, under one roof, from one relationship. No briefing multiple agencies. No diluted accountability.
A different kind of commitment
We offer something unique: pay-per-result PR. You don't pay until we deliver coverage. It's a bold model, and it's one we stand behind because our track record gives us every reason to.
We introduced it because we believe in shared accountability. Your investment in PR should come with genuine confidence, not a leap of faith.
Who we work with
We work across sectors and business models — B2B, B2C, and not-for-profit — with clients across the UK and internationally. Many come to us as their outsourced marketing team, others engage us for specific projects: a rebrand, a PR campaign, a product launch.
Whatever the brief, the approach is the same: senior-led, relationship-driven, and focused on building something that lasts beyond the engagement.
Founder & CEO
Petra Smith
Petra has over 18 years of experience in corporate, agency, and B2B/B2C global marketing strategy. She is a strong advocate for the idea that business size is not an obstacle — whether a business is “squirrel-sized” or “bear-sized”, it can build a highly visible brand that drives customer loyalty and sales.
Her specialism sits at the intersection of marketing psychology, PR strategy, and commercial thinking. She believes the most effective marketing isn't the loudest — it's the most precisely targeted, the most psychologically grounded, and the most honestly delivered.
Petra is a regular contributor to Forbes, Inc., Entrepreneur, CEO Magazine, and a number of Central and Eastern European publications including Forbes.sk.
Connect on LinkedInWhat makes us different
Marketing Psychology
We emphasise why people buy.
Using psychological triggers — like social proof and anchor pricing — to build strategies that go beyond creative execution alone. We understand what drives behaviour, and we design for it.
Pay-per-Result PR
Performance-based and rare.
We offer a performance-based model for PR which is rare and highly attractive to SMEs with tight budgets. You don't pay until we deliver coverage. No results, no fee.
Agility
Embedded, not distant.
As a smaller agency, we are an embedded partner rather than a distant vendor. Senior-led, relationship-driven, and invested in the outcomes that matter to your business.
Full-Service
Strategy through to execution
We serve as both a strategic advisor and a creative execution partner. True full-service: strategy, PR, and design under one roof, from one senior team, from one relationship.
Senior-led,
relationship-driven.
Focused on building something that lasts beyond the engagement. Let's talk about what we can build together.