About Us
Impact’s lead consultant is Martyn Barr, an experienced writer, designer and project manager.
Martyn began his public relations career at the London Borough of Southwark, as the authority's Press & PR Administrator. He moved to the Department of Health and Social Security, where he oversaw a number of multi-million-pound government information programmes, including the high profile anti-drugs campaign, before being promoted to Promotions Officer at the Department of the Environment.
Martyn relocated to Kent in 1988 to join an international PR and crisis management consultancy. He left in 1997 to establish Impact. After nearly 30 years in Canterbury, Martyn’s home and business moved to North Norfolk in 2017.
Martyn has been a Member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations since 1986 and holds the CAM Diploma in Public Relations and the International Advertising Association’s Advanced Certificate in Advertising.
In 2006 he was nominated for an Excellence Award by Land Securities, the UK’s largest Real Estate Investment Trust and a longstanding Impact client. In 2012, he was awarded a Purple Apple Merit Award followed by an Opal Award in 2014, both for campaigns on behalf of the Whitefriars shopping centre in Canterbury.
Martyn is the author of eight best-selling history and nature guides for young people as well as three children’s story books. He has also collaborated with other authors to design other works of non-fiction. His book on Canterbury Cathedral's stained glass windows - Paintings in Light - was runner-up in the children's publications category of the Association for Cultural Enterprises 2014 awards. Both The Young Person’s History Guide to Canterbury and To Be A Bee were nominated for a Canterbury Culture Award in the Excellence category.