Edelman Public Affairs - United Kingdom
Paul Afshar
Account Manager, Public Affairs
Paul recently joined Edelman as an Account Manager. He works advising clients in the technology, beverage and infrastructure sectors. Prior to joining the company Paul worked for another agency. Paul also spent two years working within the Chief Executive’s office at Ofcom, the communications regulator, where he was responsible for briefing senior figures within the regulator. Before Ofcom he worked for an online political communications agency. He is an Oxford University graduate having studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics. He is also a board member of Young Labour in London.
Amna Ahmad
Junior Account Executive
Amna Ahmad joined the Edelman on the graduate scheme in September 2007, and joined the Public Affairs team in 2008. Immediately prior to joining Edelman, Amna worked as a Policy and Projects Officer at the Stone Ashdown Trust where she worked across faith communities to promote cohesion. Previous roles include researcher at Ten Alps Digital, an internship at BBC Current Affairs and volunteer in the offices of Charles Kennedy MP. Amna graduated with a BA in Modern History and Politics from the University of Oxford in 2006.
Victoria Barton
Account Executive
Victoria joined Edelman as an Account Executive in May 2007. Victoria previously worked in the Government Affairs team at Pfizer where she worked across brand teams and treatment areas, with various think tanks and Government bodies. She has previously been Research Assistant to Andrew Mitchell MP which included involvement in the Conservative Leadership Contest and research work regarding International Development. During the 2005 General Election Victoria worked as a Late Duty Press Officer at Conservative Campaign Head Quarters and while studying Politics at Queen Mary, University of London, completed internships at Compass, and the Institute for Citizenship working on the 'Get the Vote Out' Campaign.
Rishi Bhattacharya
Associate Director
Rishi joined Edelman as an account director, working within the public affairs division and the Strategic Media Unit (SMU), following a decade in both broadcast and print journalism. Before joining Edelman Rishi was ITV Granada’s political correspondent and was based at Westminster for seven years, developing excellent presentational and written skills as well as building and maintaining contacts within Government and Parliament. As well as reporting on ITV Granada’s flagship nightly news programme and weekly current affairs show, he as also appeared as a political pundit on ITN. He has also covered three General Elections, the annual political party conferences as well as reporting from the European Parliament in Strasbourg and Brussels and the Commonwealth Summit.
Alex Bigg
Managing Director
Alex is a skilled public affairs consultant with over eight years’ consultancy experience. He provides strategic advice and political counsel to senior executives in a range of organisations in both the public and private sectors. Issues he has provided advice on include diet and health, reputation management and stakeholder engagement. He worked for the Labour Party on the Prime Minister’s Tour during the 2005 General Election. Alex graduated from London University with an MSc in Politics and Administration. He is a keen runner and swimmer.
David Brain
President & CEO - Europe
As President and CEO, David is responsible for the growth and development of Edelman’s operations in Europe. He has worked with Nestle, Siemens, Woolworths, GSK, Unilever, Absolut Vodka and many others. Before joining Edelman, David ran Burson-Marsteller's European marketing practice before being approached to be Joint CEO of Weber Shandwick where over three years he oversaw the merger of BSMG with Weber Shandwick and the creation of what is still the UK's largest PR consultancy. David started his career as a reporter with the Newcastle Evening Chronicle and Staffordshire Evening Sentinel in 1984 having gained a BA with honours in literature from UEA in the UK.
Michael Burrell
Vice Chairman Europe
Michael is Edelman’s Vice Chairman, Europe. Based in London, his responsibilities include oversight of the firm’s European public affairs businesses as well as involvement in the development of wider corporate issues and corporate reputation business. Recently Michael became Deputy Chairman of the European Centre for Public Affairs, a Brussels-based "best practice in public affairs" organisation, whose members are companies, trade associations and consultancies. PR Week named Michael as one of the 100 most influential industry figures in its 21-year history. Clients he currently advises include the Alliance for Health & the Future, Euronext, Microsoft, Resolution Life Group and Toy Industries of Europe.
Nicola Dykes
Account Executive
Nicola joined Edelman’s Public Affairs Team as an Account Executive in September 2007. She has past experience in the political field at both local and national level. Before working at Edelman, Nicola worked as a researcher in Parliament for Philip Hammond MP. During her time there, Nicola gained a thorough knowledge of the workings of Parliament. The role involved being astute to the changing political environment ranging from thorough coverage of the press and parliamentary business to reporting on departmental statements and publications. Previously Nicola worked as Constituency Manager for the Hammersmith and Fulham Conservative Association. She was fully involved in the running of the 2006 local elections whilst holding this position and worked closely with Councilors, the press and constituents.
Susan Eastoe
Deputy CEO Edelman UK
Susan Eastoe has worked in the public affairs field for over 15 years. She has provided high level public affairs counsel in a variety of sectors including; business, regulation, the voluntary sector, trade associations, and foreign affairs and defence. Before joining Edelman. Susan was Chief Operating Officer of Westminster Strategy, one of the UK's leading public affairs companies. Previously she ran her own corporate and public affairs company, Profile Corporate Communications. At Profile, Susan played a leading role in the social and corporate responsibility debate, providing the Secretariat to the Corporate Responsibility Group (CRG). She is a member of the Commonwealth Club.
Kate Eden
Account Director
Kate joined Edelman in 2007 as an Account Director focusing on pharmaceuticals and healthcare. Kate has extensive experience in the UK pharmaceutical industry, both in-house and within a consultancy environment. Prior to joining Edelman, Kate spent three years at Boehringer Ingelheim’s UK subsidiary advising on health policy and corporate affairs. Working across their portfolio of long term conditions and specialist care products, she helped the company plan their strategic market access activities in pre-launch, launch and post-launch phases, guiding them through NICE, SMC and AWMSG appraisals to ensure they retained their record of positive appraisals. Kate also worked with the UK industry trade association, professional and patient advocacy groups to secure patients access to medicines. Prior to Boehringer Ingelheim, Kate worked at Total Healthcare Solutions, a specialist management consultancy focusing on market access, pricing and reimbursement. She specialised in supporting global clients’ needs to understand the complex UK market, advising on market access strategies, payor willingness to pay and potential pricing corridors for new and existing products. Working across all stages of the product lifecycle, she informed early stage development plans and value messages, through to devising generic protection strategies. Liaising directly with payors she built up trusted relationships with these key stakeholders to give companies real added value. Kate has also worked for Merck, Sharp and Dohme, the UK subsidiary of Merck and Co., building relationships with key stakeholders across the devolved political environment, health service professionals and advocacy groups.
Mark Hadley
Account Executive
Mark joined Edelman in September 2006 in the Strategic Media Unit. Prior to working at Edelman, Mark studied International Relations and Spanish at the University of St. Andrews, specializing in Middle East and Terrorism studies, he spent a year studying at the Universidad de Deusto, Bilbao, Spain. While abroad, Mark studied Spanish history, politics and public international law and taught English classes. Mark spent time working at Technopolis Group Ltd, a research and policy consultancy company for economic and social development. He worked on a research and evaluation project for the Department of Trade and Industry.
Edward Jones
Intern
Edward Jones joined Public Affairs in 2007. He has been working on a variety of clients. He previously undertook an internship in Parliament for a Labour MP.
Mark Lever
Senior Account Executive
Mark joined Edelman as a Senior Account Executive in July 2007. Before working for Edelman, Mark was director of the parliamentary polling business at Dods, the political publishing company. Prior to that he was the commercial director for Public Affairs News, the trade magazine for the government affairs industry. Mark gained a degree in Politics and Modern History and an MA in Political Development from the University of Manchester, where he was also Chair of the Student’s Union Council. Mark is a fan of overseas travel, and enjoys playing football, cricket and tennis in his free time.
James Lundie
Associate Director
James joined Edelman Public Affairs in 2003, after two years as Deputy Press Secretary to Liberal Democrat Leader Charles Kennedy. From 1996 to 2001 he served as researcher and then senior researcher to Paddy Ashdown and then Charles Kennedy. James works for a number of Edelman’s key clients providing senior political counsel and engaging with political media audiences. James’ seven years in Westminster enabled him to gain strong experience of political and parliamentary systems. As Deputy Press Secretary to Charles Kennedy, he was responsible for liaising with the parliamentary lobby, and thus developed strong skills in dovetailing political and media strategies. James has extensive experience of speechwriting and drafting media articles for national, local, and specialist publications.
Anthony Marlowe
Senior Account Executive
Anthony joined PA in January 2008. He previously worked as a researcher in Parliament for Justine Greening MP, the Shadow Economic Secretary and Vice-Chair of the Conservative Party. During his time as a researcher, Anthony gained a thorough understanding of the machinations of Parliament, governmental policy, and of the importance of local and national media relations in maintaining a marginal parliamentary seat as well as a political party. Anthony has a degree in Theology from the University of Cambridge. In his spare time he enjoys watching films, eating out and skiing whenever possible.
Robert Phillips
CEO Edelman London
Robert Phillips started out his professional life with serious political ambition but soon realised that his chosen brand lacked full emotional engagement with the needs of the British consumer. As the SDP faded into distant memory, Robert turned his love of brands from politics to the consumer arena - and, in collaboration with his business partner, Jackie Cooper, established Jackie Cooper PR. Edelman and JCPR came together in 2004 and in May 2007, Robert was asked to become CEO of all Edelman companies in the UK, including Edelman London and JCPR. The combined power of this group ranks Edelman UK as the largest independent firm in the UK PR marketplace and among the top three multi-geography, multi-practice consultancies - with fees in excess of £20 million per annum and about 270 staff.
Luke Pollard
Account Director
Luke Pollard is an Account Director with Edelman Public Affairs. He specialises in online and Parliamentary campaigning working with clients in the education, charity, utilities, entertainment, travel and technology sectors. Before joining Edelman in May 2005 he worked in Parliament as an advisor to two former Government Ministers (David Jamieson - Plymouth Devonport and George Foulkes - Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley). Luke was seconded to the Labour Party for the duration of the 2005 General Election where he worked in the International Unit dealing with Labour's international operations and helping campaign in key marginal seats. Prior to working in politics Luke worked in childrens' television as a studio manager for ITV. In September 2007 Luke was selected to fight South West Devon at the next General Election for the Labour Party. He has previously stood for Labour in the local elections in May 2006 for Labour. Luke worked on the Labour Party's Scottish Parliament elections campaign in 2007 working as part of a team to successfully defend Scotland's most marginal Labour seat. In addition to his client work Luke leads on reducing Edelman's carbon footprint. He is also a primary school governor in Westminster and has also just completed his second term on the governing body of the University of Exeter. He is an active member of the Labour Party, a keen hockey and football player and an avid Plymouth Argyle supporter!
David Robertson
Director
Prior to joining Edelman in 2003, David was a director of Westminster Strategy and of Grayling Political Strategy. In his sixteen year consultancy career, he has advised a wide range of organisations including FTSE 100 companies, professional bodies and charities. He has experience in providing a wide range of public affairs activities for example strategic counsel based on political information/intelligence, advice on mergers and acquisitions, media relations, stakeholder communication programmes and crisis management. Before becoming a consultant, David was Assistant General Secretary of the Fabian Society. He has also worked for the Citizens Advice Bureau and Age Concern. Born in Glasgow, he has a degree in psychology from Dundee University.
Chris Rumfitt
Director, Public Affairs
Chris joined Edelman in 2008 as a Director in the public affairs practice following five years as Head of External Communications at Network Rail where he led that high-profile company’s public affairs, media relations and community relations activity. He also led the company’s crisis communications following the major rail crashes at Ufton Nervet in 2005 and Grayrigg in 2007. Prior to Network Rail, Chris was at Weber Shandwick and before that had a number of political roles for the Labour Party including working in Parliament for John McFall MP and in the media team at 10 Downing Street. Born in Jersey, he has a degree in British Politics & Legislative Studies from the University of Hull.
