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Effie Kanyua, Director of PR & Communications at Hearst

After over 14 years’ communications experience with leading global brands, Effie now coordinates Hearst UK's PR and communications.

She previously held the position of Communications Director at Bauer Media, leading its broadcast and then publishing arm, and she spent several years at the BBC as a journalist and working within its TV and radio businesses. Effie has led teams at many communications agencies, including Splendid Communications, Clarity, Weber Shandwick, Talk.Global and M&C Saatchi, working with some of the world’s biggest tech, media, FMCG, beauty and healthcare brands.

Effie has worked with global brands including P&G, Coty, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, Huawei, Samsung, Microsoft, Virgin Media, Coca Cola, Diageo and Pernod Ricard.

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Rory Sutherland – Vice Chairman,  Ogilvy UK

Rory is the Vice Chairman of Ogilvy, an attractively vague job title which has allowed him to co-found a behavioral science practice within the agency. 

He works with a consulting practice of psychology graduates who look for ‘unseen opportunities’ in consumer behaviour - these are the often small contextual changes which can have enormous effects on the decisions people make - for instance tripling the sales rate of a call centre by adding just a few sentences to the script. Put another way, lots of agencies will talk about "bought, owned and earned" media: we also look for "invented media" and "discovered media": seeking out those unexpected (and inexpensive) contextual tweaks that transform the way that people think and act. 

It is a hugely valuable activity - but, alas, not particularly lucrative. This is because clients generally do not have budgets for solving problems they did not know they had. 

Before founding Ogilvy Change, Rory was a copywriter and creative director at Ogilvy for over 20 years, having joined as a graduate trainee in 1988. He has variously been President of the IPA, Chair of the Judges for the Direct Jury at Cannes, and has spoken at TED Global. He writes regular columns for the Spectator, Market Leader and Impact, and also occasional pieces for Wired. He is the author of two books: The Wiki Man, available on Amazon (at prices between £1.96 and £2,345.54, depending on whether the algorithm is having a bad day), and the best-selling Alchemy, The surprising Power of Ideas which don't make Sense, published in the UK and US in May 2019.  

Rory is married to a vicar and has twin daughters of 18. He lives in the former home of Napoleon III - unfortunately in the attic. He is a trustee of the Benjamin Franklin House in London and a Patron of Rochester Cathedral.

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Will Moy – Chief Executive of Full Fact

Will Moy is the Chief Executive of Full Fact, the UK’s independent fact checking charity. He has led Full Fact since work began in 2008.

Will has served on advisory groups for the ESRC, Ofcom, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and the Treasury, and regularly gives evidence to select committees and other inquiries.
He has advised the Office for National Statistics on a communications review and he was a Marketing Academy Scholar in 2018.

Will appears regularly in the media and at events to discuss Full Fact's work. 

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Graeme Codrington

Graeme’s breadth of knowledge and expertise makes him highly relevant -  essential - in today’s rapidly evolving business world. Along with his formal qualifications and research credentials, he also has a wide range of personal experience and a deep understanding of how people and business work. Now add his vast experience working with business leaders the world over during the past 20+ years, and you’ll understand why he is the go-to resource for leaders who are gearing up for the future.

That’s why CEOs in 50+ countries insist on working with him, year in and year out. It’s also why he continues to lecture at leading business schools on three continents, and why he gets invited to speak to 100,000+ conference delegates around the globe annually.

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Julie Lilley, Chief Executive Officer, Federation of Small Businesses (FSB)

Julie Lilley has worked for FSB for more than 22 years, having been head of various departments prior to her appointment as Chief Operations Officer in 2010 and then Chief Executive in 2018. She works with and advises the Board on operational matters whilst ensuring the directors’ strategic vision is delivered via her team of senior managers and staff.

On leaving school, Julie was self-employed owning and running her own business. A few years later she moved to the Middle East for 14 years, primarily working for the Royal Oman Police, where she was responsible for the management of several retail outlets supporting the oil installations in the dessert and key cities. Latterly, having studied classical Arabic, she led a department in Special Branch. She returned to the UK to further her education and completed her MBA in 2004.

Julie lives with her husband and together they enjoy walking with their Welsh Terrier, gardening and watching motor racing.

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Mike Cherry OBE, National Chairman, Federation of Small Businesses

Mike Cherry is the National Chairman at the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), and was re-elected by FSB membership in April 2019 for a further consecutive 3 year term.

An active FSB member for over 20 years, Mike previously led FSB’s campaigning and policy work as National Policy Director, a post he held for almost a decade. He is committed to ensuring the voice of small business is heard at the highest levels, sitting on both the Government’s Strategic Trade Advisory Group, and the Be the Business SME Advisory Board. He also formerly served as a special advisor to the Treasury Select Committee on small business finance.

Mike is a successful entrepreneur with 40 years’ experience in the timber and manufacturing industry. His family business, W.H. Mason & Son Ltd, supplies cask closures to international brewers and produces laser-engraved promotional and giftware products.

Juggling both his commitment to FSB and running his own business, Mike has travelled extensively across Europe, exporting prime sawn timber to furniture manufacturers and promoting specialised woodturning CNC lathes.

Mike served in the Territorial Army (TA) for five years, gaining a commission in 1973. He has formerly worked as an Apprenticeship Commissioner and is a Trustee for the RAF Heraldry Trust. As a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), Mike is keen to promote employability for all, enterprise, and manufacturing across the globe.

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Anna Russell, Manchester Airport Group (MAG)

Anna Russell has spent the past 15 years at MAG (Manchester Airports Group) in a variety of roles spanning internal communication, colleague engagement, stakeholder management and government affairs.   

Anna has a passion for change communications and has most recently been leading MAG’s internal communication response to the coronavirus pandemic. Prior to this she led the communications and stakeholder management team on MAG’s £1bn investment programme at Manchester Airport. Before this she was the Group’s Head of Internal Communications through a period of rapid growth including the £1.5bn acquisition and integration of Stansted Airport.   

Prior to joining MAG she held roles with Zoo Digital, Anchor Trust and JWG Media and studied at the University of Salford.  

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Naomi Jones, Communications Director, SUEZ recycling and recovery UK

As Communications Director for SUEZ, Naomi has responsibility for both the communications and marketing teams for the UK and Sweden.

From starting her career in agency life working in public affairs, she became a specialist in sustainability communications, crisis management and corporate communications, with experience spanning industries from retail to banking. In 2009, she became SUEZ group’s youngest ever head of department, aged 28.

Naomi has been instrumental in numerous projects during her 11 years at SUEZ, including increasing SUEZ’s media share of voice in the waste management sector from fifth, to first position. In 2015, she project managed the group’s rebranding and repositioning in both the UK and Scandinavia, and has overseen the employee engagement programme resulting in the company being awarded the Sunday Times Best Companies’ ‘Best 25 Big Companies to Work For’ accolade in 2018 and again in 2020, for a predominantly operational and dispersed workforce.

Naomi has co-authored the book 'Managing a Crisis: A Practical Guide' (2006, Palgrave Macmillan) and is a member of the CIPR’s STEM committee.

Twitter handle: @NaomiLJones1 - LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/naomi-jones/

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Annique Simpson

Annique Simpson is an award-winning internal communications business partner with experience spanning property, telecommunications, banking, and healthcare. She holds a BSc in Psychology, a journalism postgraduate diploma, and a CIPR Internal Communications postgraduate certificate.

Her interest areas include change communications, measurement and evaluation, event management and all things content. She has won several awards for her work, including the Moorfields Eye Charity Award for Innovation, Education and Research (2016). She also received the runner-up prize for the CIPR Inside’s Future Leader Award (2017) after only one year in industry.

In 2016, Annique set up the IC Book Club, with the CIPR, to support professional development and networking within the internal communications community. She’s passionate about making the communications industry more inclusive and is founding member of the UK Black Comms Network and a mentor on the 2020 BME PR Pros BAME mentoring programme. 

An avid writer, Annique writes a monthly blog exploring communications through a psychology lens and is a feature writer for VC-backed media platform Black Ballad. 

Twitter: @annique_simpson LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/anniquesimpson/  Web: anniquesimpson.com

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Chris Wilkins, Managing Partner at Audley

Chris is a strategy and communications advisor with nearly twenty years’ experience of senior level strategic counsel in public and private sector institutions from the UK, US and Middle East.

He has a long track record in Westminster and Whitehall and a deep understanding of the workings of government. He was Director of Strategy and Chief Speechwriter to the Prime Minister in Downing Street between 2016-2017, and has advised successive Cabinet Ministers, Prime Ministers and Party Leaders on their communications, policy and political strategies during a twenty-year political career.

Chris is a regular political commentator on TV and radio and has written for the Daily Mail, the Guardian and the Times.

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Bill Hamilton, Director of Communications, Stakeholder Relations at Magnox Ltd

A town planner by profession, Bill moved into public relations as a consultant to major developers trying to get planning permission at Good Relations in London. He then became Director of Public Affairs at Safeway supermarkets before heading up the public affairs team at the newly formed Transport for London. Bill then moved into the nuclear industry, taking up the role of Head of Stakeholder Relations at the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority just as the NDA was established in 2005. He remained in that role until being appointed to his current role at Magnox Ltd in May last year as one of a new leadership team taking over the management of the company on 1st September 2019. Magnox Ltd is now a wholly owned subsidiary of the NDA.

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Tom Goddard, Head of Communications, KPMG

Tom is Head of Communications for KPMG in the UK, responsible for external, internal and strategic communications. Prior to this Tom built KPMG's Strategic Communications team, which focuses on reputation strategy and management, internal and external campaigns, crisis communications and telling the firm's story to the wider world. Tom has strong experience in building and developing high performing internal and external communications teams both in the FTSE 100 and Professional Services, having previously been Head of Communications for HSBC’s Commercial Bank in UK and Europe.

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Angela Scaffidi, Managing Partner, Senate SHJ Australia

Angela Scaffidi co-founded communication and change consultancy SenateSHJ in 2002. The consultancy now has offices in Australia and New Zealand.

She brings more than 20 years of management consulting, change and communication experience. She leads complex change programs across the public and private sectors, and she has particular experience in the health and education sectors. She works with leaders who are driving change at a system, organisation, team and/or individual level. She is certified in the Four Rooms of Change® from Sweden.

SenateSHJ is a partner of PROI Worldwide, the largest partnership of independent communication firms. Angela is Vice Chair, Asia Pacific.

Angela is a Fellow of the Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA). She previously worked at McKinsey & Company and Porter Novelli. Angela is deputy chair of Challenge: supporting kids with cancer, chair of the Missing Persons Advocacy Network (MPAN) and a director of McAuley Community Services for Women.

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Philip Ross, Founder and CEO UnGroup and Cordless Group

Philip is Founder and CEO of the UnGroup and Cordless Group.
He is an author, futurist and advisor on the new world of work and specialises in predicting the
impact of emerging technology on the way we will work, shop, learn, consume leisure and live.

Much of his focus has been on workplace innovation, advising organisations such as McKinsey & Co,
Marks & Spencer, EY, Allen & Overy, Penguin Random House, GSK, Barclays, Macquarie Group, BBC,
PwC and Boston Consulting Group on innovation and future concepts.

He founded his business in 1994 with the publication of The Cordless Office Report. Since then he
has written a number of books on the future of work including The Creative Office, The 21st Century
Office and Space to Work (all co-authored with Jeremy Myerson). He has also contributed to a
number of other books and reports including the Corporate Fool, Jelly Bean Working and the
Responsible Workplace. He regularly gives keynotes, presentations and runs think tanks and
workshops for organisations in the process of change. He is frequently quoted in the media,
including The Wall Street Journal, BBC Radio 4, The Australian, Financial Times, OnOffice and France
24 TV.

Visit www.ungroup.co.uk and www.cordless.co.uk
Email [email protected]

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Uri Baruchin, Strategic consulting at UBCS

From the early days of digital media to leading strategy at some of the world's leading brand agencies, Uri's experience spans industries and geographies. He's worked with global clients such as Nestle and Sony as well as regional brands and start-ups. Frequently, "a strategist to the strategists", consulting to clients such as Deloitte, Kantar, and Bain & Company. Presently, his boutique consultancy works on strategic programmes and campaigns across B2C and B2B. A passionate speaker and educator, Uri facilitates the D&AD's creative strategy masterclass and mentors the creative talent at the School of Communication Arts, London.

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Joanna Abeyie, founder Blue Moon

The go-getting 33-year-old has blazed a trail as a multi-award-winning social impact entrepreneur, champion of diversity, inclusion, and equality as well as making a mark as an award-winning journalist and broadcaster. 

Joanna has spent the last 14 years, increasing the employment of diverse talent through inclusive hiring practices and creating inclusive working cultures. Launching her first charity Elevation Networks Charitable Trust at 18 alongside six colleagues in 2006, following this 2008 Joanna went on to start her own Social Enterprise Shine Media in 2008, saw she placed over 3000 people from diverse backgrounds into work within the creative industries. 

Joanna’s latest enterprise is founding Blue Moon, a flagship inclusive Executive Search Business and Diversity and Inclusion Consultancy Practice. Before BM, Joanna founded Hyden, part of FTSE 250 Global Recruiter SThree, an executive search and consultancy business.

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David Macdonald, Director of Communications, Global Brands & International Retail at Walgreens Boots Alliance

 
David Macdonald is Director of Communications for the Walgreens Boots Alliance Global Brands business, including No7, Liz Earle and Soap&Glory. He is also responsible for communications in Boots Retail Pharmacy footprint outside of the UK&I. He is a Leadership Team member and oversees a talented team of 20+ corporate, consumer and internal communications professionals.

Prior to joining Walgreens Boots Alliance, David worked for L’Oréal in various roles both in London and Paris. Over the past 20 years he has also worked in the financial, technology and telecoms sectors. While in Paris, David was a regular visiting lecturer on the Communications Masters course at the American University of Paris. He is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.