My background as a communicator and facilitator

My Background

I have thirty years experience as a senior communications professional in the public and private sectors. My career spans the health sector, government, education, charities and industry. I have a track record of raising brand awareness, delivering successful strategies and building new partnerships which have helped organisations achieve their goals. I am an experienced facilitator, trainer and mentor and have teams and individuals at all levels to develop their communication and leadership skills. To give you an idea of the type of person I am, the feedback I receive most often is that I am an engaging facilitator, and a creative, insightful and trusted communications expert. You can see what people say about me on the Testimonials tab and the homepage of this website.

Consultancy services

As a consultant since autumn 2019, I have helped charities realign their brand and messaging, developed content for industry annual reports, developed strategic plans to support major change in the NHS, facilitated workshops to help organisations engage with their communities, and developed online training to help teams develop their leadership and communication skills. I have developed my facilitation offer, supporting a range of workshops, meetings and training events. I have helped teams solve their internal and external communications challenges, never more so than during the difficult times created by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Earlier career 

Prior to setting up my consultancy, my career highlights include a major rebranding project for the Design Council UK while I was Director of Communications. In that role I forged new, ground-breaking partnerships between business, government and the design industry, getting design-thinking higher on the government agenda and  leading significant branding projects with industry leaders. As Head of Communications and External Affairs at an NHS Foundation Trust for eight years, I operated at executive board level to lead communications for the Trust. This included  communications for major change programmes including new hospital build plans. I developed and delivered stakeholder strategies, leading engagement with 6,000 staff and a community of over 600,000 people. While Head of Communications for the Basic Skills Agency, a national education charity, I delivered a major national campaign to raise levels of literacy and numeracy in Wales, funded by the Welsh Assembly Government. I created a bilingual TV and radio broadcast advertising and an educational  partnership with the BBC reaching into local communities.  The campaign achieved 82% unprompted recall and was a first of its kind in Wales.

Professional qualifications and networks

I have a first class BA (Hons) from the University of Exeter and an M.A (distinction) from the University of Kent. I am a qualified member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), which helps my continuing professional development and I am a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) which keeps me networked with innovative thinkers and informed nationally. I am a qualified educator, gaining the L3 Award in Education and Training, which has given me a good understanding of teaching theory and principles, to underpin my extensive experience of facilitation and training, both face-to-face and in online virtual settings. 

How I can help your organisation today

I aim to bring my experience and skills together to offer a creative, thoughtful  approach to supporting your communications, training and marketing projects. I am a skilled and experienced facilitator, supporting and leading workshops, meetings and training events. I provide communications strategic planning and change management support to senior leaders and offer sound strategic judgement.  

Take a look at the Services section of this website to see how I can help you, and see my LinkedIn profile for more about my career.