Breaking: Death of talented figure in major Knaresborough business who always set standards high

Carol Rees, the highly respected PR director of Allott and Associates, one of the UK’s leading independent business to business PR and marketing agencies, has died unexpectedly while on holiday.

After attending King James School Knaresborough and Harrogate College, Carol worked for a number of PR and marketing agencies including Quest Public Relations Ltd, before joining Allott and Associates in 2012 as a Senior Account Manager, later to be promoted to PR Director in December 2013.

She is credited with developing the business and setting the grammatical and editorial standards that all staff are now required to follow.

Renowned for her hard work, modesty and client focussed writing skills, she was born in May 1970 and was educated locally, initially at King James School, Knaresborough, and then Harrogate College where she studied graphic art.

During her career with Allott and Associates, she represented a number of leading accounts based in the UK, mainland Europe and as far afield as Australia.

Carol was a talented writer and won a number of awards for clients.

Carol also had an eye for drawing and was a gifted sketcher especially of animals, which she found relaxing.

An accomplished writer with a flair for disseminating complex information, Carol specialised in business-to-business, technical accounts.

She worked on a number of household name clients in food, energy, manufacturing, processing, packaging, construction, IT and professional services sectors.

In her spare time, Carol was an avid tennis player and played for a number of teams including Knaresborough King James, Harrogate Spa and Harlow Hill Tennis Clubs.

When she could no longer play due to a knee injury, she took responsibility for organising the catering and fixtures for a number of the local clubs.

Carol died last month during a holiday.

Allott and Associates’, managing director Mike Lewis said: “Carol will be very sadly missed by colleagues and clients, she was always full of enthusiasm and had a smile that could light up even the dullest of days.”

Philip and Sandra Allott, the founders of Allott and Associates, who sold the business to Break Out Media in May 2023, added: “Carol joined us in 2012 and would always go the extra mile to accommodate overseas meetings, and where needed client-imposed deadlines. Carol set a very high professional standard and took a pride in helping everyone, we will all greatly miss her.”