A Rich Picture for Shropshire Fire and Rescue (that started with a barbecue!)
Word of mouth is often the best sort of marketing, especially in my world where much of my work must remain hidden and my potential clients could be anywhere. This job was sparked into life by a casual conversation at a barbecue between a Formula One Racing Team executive and the Communications Manager at Shropshire Fire and Rescue.
The scene- a back garden in England, the barbecue is lit, Lauren Jeal, Communications Manager at SF&R was having a bit of a moan to a friend and former client of mine (who must remain anonymous) from the F1 world. She was envious about his parent organisation’s huge marketing capabilities, seemingly bottomless pockets and undeniably global reach. She had a complicated story to tell to a diverse audience and a limited budget. My F1 client suggested she get in touch with me and the results I can share with you here in full because, unusually, the picture contains no sensitive information.
Shropshire Fire and Rescue Rich Picture (click for larger image).
I saw my F1 Racing Team client in January 2026 as part of the process of a Rich Picture we were developing (very much one of those I can’t show you here) and he mentioned the conversation with Lauren. Of course I had no objection to a potential work lead with a new client and a few days later I was in a Teams meeting with her to set the ball rolling. The usual procurement hurdles followed as budgets had to be signed off (I allowed myself to be talked down slightly on price to meet the budget knowing that if I did a good job it would probably improve the performance of SF&R and therefore save lives, noble of me I know!).
The Senior Leadership Team were corralled to the Shrewsbury Headquarters building (a very simplified version of which appears in the picture) in mid-February for an all-afternoon meeting that gave me time to get there and back the same day. Driving back through the Shropshire countryside in the dark my mind was already drawing pictures, how best to represent the eight interlinked supporting services (SMT, Finance. HR, IT, Training etcetera) and connect them to the three front line elements (Prevention, Protection and Response) with the community at the heart. The aim was to break down any “them and us” sentiment between the front line firefighters and the more office based supporting functions; to spread the idea that “we are all firefighters”.
The River Avon flows across much of Shropshire, meandering through Shrewsbury, and as I needed to represent the water rescue and flood assessment functions it was inevitable it would appear in the picture. This lead me to think about labelled plinths for the different functions, linked by bridges and walkways. This was refined to a suggestion of cog wheels which Adobe Illustrator is a lot better at drawing than I am, freehand with pencil and paper.
The job went through the same number of pencil iterations (six) as the F1 Racing Team job that preceded it and the artwork took longer to complete but I was enjoying the process and it felt like “doing good work” so I didn’t mind that the budget was smaller. Fire and Rescue funding comes largely from Council Tax so I tried to give good value.
The central plank of SF&R’s vision is contained within their Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP) which sets out the what, why and how for five years. I’m hopeful that my picture will be very useful as a communication tool for Lauren and her team and ultimately helps improve the metrics in the reports back from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS). We are all Firefighters!
After delivery of the job I received this recommendation via Linkedin from the client-
“I worked with Paul in my role in Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service and really enjoyed the process. Paul was extremely fun to work with and the end design achieved exactly what we hoped it would.
We commissioned Paul to create a Rich Graphic that showcased the fire service and all the teams that it encompasses. The graphic was designed to make staff feel included and part of the ‘bigger picture’ while also educating people on what goes into making sure we can respond to emergencies.
Paul was professional throughout and patient. He adapted to changes that we needed and took our ideas and what we do and made it into something that really represents us.
We’re looking forward to using these high-quality images throughout our Service and hope to work with Paul again in the future to showcase our journey.”
Lauren Jeal, Communications Manager, Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service
If you think your organisation could benefit from a Rich Picture please drop me a line.
Paul Shorrock