We’ve been managing a media opportunity for weeks now, and finally last night [Tues 10th November 2026] the whole Refresh team tuned into the Martin Lewis Money Show to watch heating installer James Lacey appear live on the 45 min extended show, focused on help for homeowners around energy efficiency. It is now available on ITV X and well worth a watch, if we do say so ourselves.
The show’s producers contacted Refresh and the Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering around six weeks prior to the show, to ask for support in pulling together a show that could genuinely offer advice and help to homeowners facing a winter of increased energy bills.
Preparing for an appearance on TV
It was crucial for Refresh to work closely with the CIPHE for this: its members are the most professional and authoritative in the UK.
The producers wanted to speak with people who could genuinely advise on the best approach for the show, so the technical team at CIPHE supported with this initial scoping work. We also connected the producers up with more heating installers who contributed to this phase of the research so our thanks go to Karen and Ruben for their time too.
Refresh liaised with producers and the industry representatives to facilitate these calls. Listening to the type of person they were hoping to represent the industry was crucial in who we nominated.
Choosing a spokesperson for a TV appearance
Refresh has a whole network of plumbers and heating installers who we work with daily on different opportunities, which has evolved from the work on the Heating Installer Awards. Many of these installers, by the nature of their award-winning status, are also CIPHE members.
Having won the national Heating Installer HVAC Award earlier in the year, we’ve worked with James over the past few months and understand his business and his knowledge. For this reason, we recommended James as a spokesperson for the industry. And great news, he flew through his ‘audition’ call!
We briefed and then de-briefed to ensure we were able to help, but with James’ increasing media appearances, we also knew he was a great choice.
Final preparations for a TV appearance
The final couple of weeks are always nerve-wracking for a PR. If the news agenda changes, programmes are changed or even pulled completely to make way for something more relevant to the news. Fortunately, neither happened in this case, and the weekend before we were informed that we were on!
Getting to London threw up a few surprises thanks to Britain’s rail network, so we were in contact a lot on the day, but we finally met James at the studios a few hours before the show. We always give clients a choice of whether they’d like us there or not. From there, we watched rehearsals and final run throughs before the broadcast went live! Being behind the scenes at a TV studio is an exciting experience and perhaps one of the perks of the job, so we’re lucky at Refresh that we get quite a few opportunities like this.
James was amazing and represented the industry and himself impeccably. He spoke with authority yet was relatable to the audience and we’re hoping offered some great advice. You can view the programme on ITV X – it’s well worth a watch if you’re looking at getting advice ahead of winter.
Advice for appearing on TV
If you’ve got a forthcoming TV appearance in the calendar, here are our top tips:
- Ensure you have the most information possible: ask the producers and your PR team for all the information they have
- Know what you’re going to be asked: and if you’re unclear, clarify
- Know your key messages: keep them front of mind and make sure you talk about them early in the interview
- Take a spare change of clothes: from spilling a coffee to clashing with the colours being worn by the guest next to you, we’ve seen it all!
- Eat beforehand: make sure your stomach is full and your bladder is empty! It may sound basic but you don’t want this to be the reason you can’t concentrate
- Be prepared for a lot of make up: the glare of the TV means that make up artists have to apply a lot of make-up. This will make you look great on-screen but slightly different off-screen
- Get there in plenty of time: plan for delays. It’s better to be early and relaxed
- Make the most of it: ensure you’re promoting the opportunity via your own marketing, after all you’ve given up your time to prepare and appear
- Enjoy it! It’s not every day you’re on TV, so try to enjoy the experience. This will also come across while you’re on air and hopefully lead to more opportunities for you
- Get a photo with the presenter: great memories, great to use in the promotion, and it’ll definitely win at the Christmas dinner table!
Our final thought? Join the CIPHE and enter the Heating Installer Awards or The Plumber Awards! It’ll open up media opportunities for you as an added bonus to its already long list of benefits!
