The executive team of M:Communications.
Nick is co-founder of M:Communications and is one of the most experienced financial PR practitioners. Prior to M: Nick was for 10 years CEO (latterly chairman) of Financial Dynamics. With 20 years in the business, his career has progressed alongside the current generation of City editors and commentators. He has handled many of the highest profile corporate deals since the 1980s. He speaks French and reads Russian. He is a main Board Director of King Worldwide.
Hugh is co-founder of M:Communications and the world’s leading transaction communications adviser (source: mergermarket 2010). Prior to M: he spent 14 years building Financial Dynamics, serving as Group Managing Director of FD’s parent company before conceiving M:Communications as a leading strategic communications consultancy. Over 20 years, Hugh has built an unrivalled reputation advising many of the world’s largest and most dynamic companies. He is a main Board Director of King Worldwide.
Until joining M: Communications, Mustafa was one of the region’s leading business journalists, broadcasters and writers with more than a decade’s experience in the UK and Middle East. Mustafa launched the Gulf region’s first English language financial daily, Emirates Business 24/7, in 2007 and has launched a further three national papers in the UAE. In 2003, Mustafa reported from Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime and established the country’s first independent language newspaper, Iraq Today. He has written for a number of international titles including Esquire, The Independent, The Guardian, The Jordan Times and Lebanon’s Daily Star. In 2006, he hosted a weekly radio show in Dubai called Al Majlis aimed at encouraging dialogue between expats and local Emirati officials and government. Mustafa is a graduate of City University Business School and has a Masters in Communications from the University of Leeds. He is a native Arabic speaker.
Andrew joined M: in October 2009, having spent 5 years at Bell Pottinger Corporate and Financial. He has advised a wide range of quoted and unquoted companies across a variety of sectors, most notably leisure, tobacco and oil and gas. Andrew has broad transaction experience and has worked on a number of M&A transactions and IPOs, including Imperial Tobacco’s £11bn acquisition of Altadis. He also has extensive experience in the Middle East, including work on the establishment of a comprehensive communications programme for the Qatar Financial Centre and work for the Bahrain Economic Development Board.
Tom has had more than 10 years experience working in the Russian and CIS markets. Prior to joining M: to head up the firm's Russian operations, Tom worked for PBN as Managing Director of its Moscow office. Tom had particular responsibility for the development of the firm's financial communications practice group. He advised on a number of Russian IPOs such as Exillon Energy, Human Stem Cell Institute, M.video, Bank St Petersburg, MMK and Raspadskaya, as well as high-profile M&A such as Pepsi - Lebedyansky and Enel - OGK-5. Prior to joining PBN, Tom worked for three years at the Adam Smith Institute as Director of Research for Russia and the CIS, with a particular focus on energy, metals and mining and the financial sector. Tom is a fluent Russian speaker.
Samantha has over 11 years of financial and corporate PR experience across a variety of sectors, most notably financial services, telecoms, healthcare and property. She joined M: in the Gulf early 2010 having been the Managing Director of Buchanan Middle East. Samantha has advised on numerous IPOs, high-profile M&A deals and fund launches, as well as directed clients on their corporate, financial and crisis communications. Her experience covers high level media briefings for CEOs, including some of the Middle East's key financial leaders like the Founder of Unicorn Investment Bank but also high level corporate chiefs like Sir Richard Branson. Samantha's areas of specialism include financial services and international growth companies across the Middle East, Europe and Asia. Samantha speaks German, Spanish, French and some Mandarin.
For fifteen years, from 1987, Charles worked in management consulting, focused on corporate strategy, change management and commercial due diligence, conducted mainly within the Bain & Company extended family of consultancies. Since then his focus has been on interim and full time operational positions, primarily concerned with the management of high growth companies. In 2002 Charles supported the principals of M: in setting up the business and remained to oversee the financial function. At the start of 2008 he became Chief Operating Officer.
Team Assistant
Sophie works with M:’s dedicated Industrial and Engineering team having previously worked as a project manager at Media Tree and Euromoney. Sophie has a degree in French and History from Warwick University and speaks fluent French.
George has over 10 years’ experience in financial and corporate communications. She joined M: in 2007 from Hogarth Partnership and has advised clients from a diverse range of sectors including leisure, retail, professional services and energy. George has covered a wide range of communications challenges such as fund raisings, initial public offerings, shareholder actions, OFT investigations and crisis communications.
Patrick is the leader of M:’s energy and renewables practice. He joined M: in 2005 having founded Aquila Financial, a financial PR agency specialising in energy sector communications, which he jointly established in 2002. Before founding Aquila, he was head of worldwide public relations at Enterprise Oil plc, a FTSE100 exploration and production company and then Europe’s largest independent oil company.
Mary-Jane leads the Healthcare team at M:. She has more than 12 years of healthcare sector experience. Prior to joining M: Mary-Jane was a Partner at Buchanan Communications where she spent six years advising healthcare clients. Previously Mary-Jane worked at the FTSE 250 company PowderJect Pharmaceuticals where she initially was a scientist and then joined the Corporate Communications and Investor Relations team. She has advised both public and private companies in the UK and internationally, across all sub-sectors of healthcare, and has a broad range of experience including work on various M&A situations, over 20 IPOs and over 10 secondary fundraisings. As a healthcare specialist, Mary-Jane has a BSc (Hons) in BioMedical Sciences.
Adrian joined M: in 2005 after serving a full term as MP for Taunton. He uses his experience and knowledge to advise clients on where political and financial PR overlap with a special understanding of how to influence the groups who impact the media’s understanding of difficult corporate situations. Before moving into financial communications with Financial Dynamics, he had a successful 12 year career as an institutional stockbroker concentrating on European equities with a number of leading investment banks including UBS Warburg and Société Générale.
Manager
Abigail is M:’s Office Manager and has been with the agency since 2004. Having previously spent four years at Financial Dynamics and two years at an investment bank, she has worked on a number of IPOs and across M:’s client base.
Marylène joined M: in 2007 having spent four years at Tavistock Communications. She has managed corporate and financial PR and investor relations for a number of clients across a broad range of sectors including housebuilding, property, aerospace/engineering and financial services. Marylene is a fluent French speaker.
Robin joined to the Gulf team from M: London in late 2008 bringing a wealth of cross-sector experience from UK and European markets. He is an integral part of the team advising Aldar, Abu Dhabi’s leading developer, on the full spectrum of activity including communications strategy and senior management counsel. A corporate and financial communications specialist, regional experience includes coordinating the media launch of international law firm Gide Loyrette Nouel's simultaneous opening of offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Robin speaks French & Spanish.
Anthony is M: Communications' public affairs consultant in the Gulf region. During a British Diplomatic Service career which included eight Arab-related posts, Anthony was part of the negotiating team that concluded the Al-Yamamah defence contract with the Saudi Government in 1985. He was Charge D'Affaires in Cairo in the late 1980s. In the early 1990s he was responsible for the budget of the World Service of the BBC. His last appointment was as Ambassador to the UAE for four years in the late 1990s. After two years in Robert Fleming, as a Director of Project Finance, he returned to Dubai to set up a consultancy. He has worked with a number of international companies in the financial services sector across the GCC and elsewhere in the Middle East. He speaks Arabic and French.
Louise is one of the leading experts in the fund management industry and in 1998 was one of four founding Partners of Penrose Financial responsible for the development of its highly successful financial service business. She has 15 years experience of Financial Services PR and possesses an outstanding knowledge of financial services and financial services media. Louise joined Hill Murray in 1991 and completed a management buy-out of the PR division to form Ludgate Communications.
Kate joined M in June 2008 and supports M:’s Energy team. She is responsible for market research, support and co-ordination on all the team's accounts. She also provides support for M:’s Research Unit providing market intelligence for existing clients, account teams and supporting new business development. Kate has a degree in Marketing and Management from the University of Newcastle.
Personal Assistant
Philippa joined M: in June 2009 having returned to England after 12 years living in Paris. She is PA to Hugh Morrison, Nick Miles and Louise Tingström. Philippa is fluent in French.
After more than seven years experience in corporate PR and media relations in the MENA region, Mary has strong relationships with all the leading business and financial journalists, both Arabic and English language media, throughout the Middle East. Mary was formerly a business journalist with Al Ouruba, a daily newspaper in Syria, and her experience also includes bilingual media training for CEO’s and CFO’s in the Gulf region for companies such as Amlak Finance, KPMG & T’azur. Mary speaks, reads and writes Arabic, English and French.
Charlotte has over 8 years financial and corporate PR experience, joining M: in 2005. Having worked with a wide range of UK and international companies across multiple sectors, her specialism has evolved in the financial and energy & environment sectors, advising both public and private companies. Charlotte is experienced in defending and promoting companies reputations, and has worked on a number of listings, fundraisings and M&A transactions. At her previous agency, Bell Pottinger, she was seconded on a 6 month placement to run Investor Relations for the world’s second largest luxury goods group, Richemont.
Tony joined M: in 2004 and is the company’s financial controller. Previous to this, Tony worked as the head of the business management division of Alan Heywood & Co, and then as a director of the financial outsourcing company, Prospect Finance Ltd. Tony has worked with a diverse group of media and commercial clients, focusing on all of the financial, technical, and regulatory issues of SME business.
Stuart Leasor is head of M:’s developing markets coverage having rejoined M: in 2008 after a two year absence when he was Managing Director in charge of the PBN Company's Global Financial Communications Team, focusing on Russia and the CIS. With over 20 years experience of financial communications he has wide experience of most corporate situations including restructuring, mergers & acquisitions, crisis communications and IPOs, as well as mainstream financial and investor communication.
Nicholas has recently been appointed as M:Communications Managing Director for the Gulf Region. He is an extremely experienced corporate and governmental communications specialist with a wide range of high-level expertise gained in the Middle East, South Asia, Western Europe and the former Soviet Union. This includes working as communications adviser to the Prime Minister’s office in Iraq, NATO’s chief civilian spokesman in Kabul, to various government Ministers in Afghanistan and to the leadership of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah. Most recently he was based in Mumbai where he was Director of Client Services of Vaishnavi Corporate Communications, the leading Indian PR company where he was responsible for the launch of Tata’s ‘Nano’ car.
Ann has been involved in European IR for more than 12 years, advising on international best practice and supporting the investor relations programmes of a wide range of European companies. She has broad financial services experience; former employers include Standard & Poor's, Citigroup, Cheuvreux de Virieu and Citigate Dewe Rogerson, where she was a Director of International IR. Ann specialises increasingly in perception research, best practice benchmarking and in coaching Senior Management and IRO’s in IR communications and presentations skills. Ann speaks fluent German and Danish.
Since joining M: in 2005, Charlotte’s major focus has been within the banking, financial services and real estate sectors, for which she has advised a range of clients including FTSE 100 and CAC 40 companies. In addition to her day to day account handling, Charlotte has worked on a several primary and secondary offerings and M&A transactions. Prior to M:, Charlotte spent five years at Paris based PR agency i&e Consultants where she advised a number of multinational companies on their pan-European PR programmes. She is a fluent French speaker.
Alex has recently joined M:Communications having spent the previous six years working in the public affairs industry advising a wide range of clients about the UK’s broad political environment. Prior to this he worked for an MP and as a special advisor to the Conservative Party advising shadow secretaries of state on the environmental and transport issues. Alex has advised numerous high profile companies and uses his political and PR experience on how best to communicate client issues with key political stakeholders with a particular emphasis on taking a national message and making it relevant in the towns and cities of the regions.
Jane is recognised as one of the leading IR professionals in London. She has spent the last 10 years specialising in investor relations and advising corporates across Europe. She joined M: from Citigate Dewe Rogerson where she headed the international IR team. Her focus is to provide international best practice advice and implementation. She also has extensive transaction experience, having advised on European privatisations and IPOs as well as M&A deals. She speaks fluent Swedish.
Head of Research
Marc is M:’s Head of Research having eight years of experience in the City working for Lloyds Investment Managers/Hill Samuel and ABN AMRO Hoare Govett as well as operating in a similar role at Financial Dynamics before joining M: in January 2003. He is responsible for generating M:'s research and analysis for all transactions (M&A and IPO) in addition to undertaking bespoke research projects for prospective and existing clients.
Ed joined M: in August 2006 after more than seven years as a partner at Finsbury, prior to which he was for ten years a journalist at Bloomberg and the Financial Times. He provides communications advice to public and private companies across a range of sectors. He has extensive experience in giving counsel and developing strategies on M&A transactions - both hostile and agreed; IPOs, as well as general reputation management for senior executives. He speaks fluent Spanish.
Kate joined M: from Bell Pottinger in 2006. She advises a range of private and listed companies, including FTSE and CAC 40 firms. Kate has worked on a number of M&A transactions, fundraisings and IPOs across several sectors including luxury goods, industrials and financial services. She is a fluent French speaker.
Walid is M: Gulf's market and financial strategist. With over 12 years of Middle East market experience, Walid founded and then led for eight years Shuaa Capital's research unit. Shuaa is the leading investment bank in the Middle East and was voted best Equity House in the region in 2008 by Euromoney magazine. Walid built a team of 25 analysts across the GCC and in Egypt and Lebanon. He has an unrivalled knowledge of the investment industry in the Middle East as well as a profound understanding of regional macro-economic issues. Walid has been published or quoted in most of the leading regional and international financial publications including The Economist, Forbes, MEED, Al Sharq al Awsat, The National and the Financial Times and has been a regular commentator for business and financial TV and radio. Walid is a graduate of the American University of Beirut. He speaks and writes fluent Arabic, English and Russian.
Ben has worked in financial communications for nine years. Prior to joining M: in 2008 he contributed to the development, and later MBO, of a quoted financial communications business. He advises private and public companies on a broad range of situations from IPOs to M&A and ongoing stakeholder communications.
Kevin is a recognised leader in financial and corporate communications strategy, having led the Citigate Dewe Rogerson International team from 1985 to 2001. Kevin advises a number of international companies on Investor Relations and Corporate Communications as well as branding strategies, work that involves both long term messaging as well as projects involving a combination of marketing disciplines with a more immediate revenue generation focus.
Maria joined M: in 2007 and specialises in Russia and Emerging Markets. Prior to joining M: Maria spent a year working in business development at Bell Pottinger Corporate & Financial, primarily including attracting large Western-facing Russian clients looking to develop their business in the UK. Maria has advised on numerous AIM and main list IPOs. She is a fluent Russian speaker.
Design Consultant
Sophie joined M: in 2009 as a Design Consultant. She has a BA Honours in Visual Communication Design at the University of Stellenbosch .
Emma joined M: in 2009 and is a specialist in life sciences with extensive experience in medical technology, pharmaceuticals and healthcare services. Emma advises public and private companies in the domestic and international markets and has broad transaction experience, having advised on a number of IPOs, fundraisings and M&A deals. She joined M: from Financial Dynamics where she developed financial PR strategies for clients and also worked with Roche’s IR team.
Louise joined M: in 2002 from Financial Dynamics where she was a partner responsible for specific sector and European coverage. Louise is an international specialist, who previously ran worldwide corporate relations at Visa International based out of the US and international communications at British Airways. Before that, she founded and ran her own financial and corporate communications consultancy – AKKA, in Paris – which became one of the foremost players in the French market. Since joining M: Louise has worked on mergers valued at more than €200bn and is ranked among the top 10 M&A advisers worldwide. Louise is fluent in Swedish, French and Italian.
Harriet is a specialist financial services PR consultant. She joined M: in June 2005 and during that time has worked with both quoted and unquoted companies focused predominantly in the financial services sector, handling corporate communications and targeted media relations programmes. Major clients currently include HSBC Private Bank, CA Chevreux, PSigma, Collins Stewart Wealth Management and Matrix Group. Prior to M:, she worked at leading personal finance PR agency, Lansons Communications, where she worked for two years on a range of retained financial services clients including Virgin Mobile, Jupiter Asset Management and premier consumer finance website, insuresupermarket.com.
Caroline works with various clients across the hedge fund, private equity, professional services and insurance sectors as well as regularly working on M&A transactions. In 2005 she was seconded to Lehman Brothers where she was part of the Corporate Communications team. Prior to joining M: Caroline was formerly a press officer at CNN in London.
Tilly has nearly 10 years of financial services PR expertise and has played a prominent role in building up the Financial Service expertise at M: where she handles hedge fund, private banking, fund management and private equity clients.
James joined M: in March 2010 having previously worked as a lawyer for White & Case LLP where he covered Project Finance, Structured Finance and Mergers & Acquisitions. During his time as a lawyer he worked for various financial institution clients including Deutsche Bank, the Royal Bank of Scotland and Goldman Sachs. At M: James works on a range of clients across the financial services sector.
Ann-marie has over 16 years financial and corporate public relations experience both in-house and as a consultant. She recently joined M:Communications from Bell Pottinger Corporate and Financial where she was a senior Director for over five years. Prior to that she had been Managing Director of Beattie Financial. Ann-marie has extensive experience, advising on a wide range of transactions from fledgling to FTSE 100. She led the IPOs of Petrofac, Heritage and 888 Holdings and advised Imperial Tobacco on its £11 billion acquisition of Altadis. Sector experience includes resources, leisure, construction and retail.
With six years’ experience of financial and corporate PR, first at Buchanan Communications and since 2006 at M: Communications, Eleanor has advised both public and private companies on their media relations, from early-stage investment candidates to members of the FTSE 100, and has worked to support public companies on their sell-side analyst relations. Her clients at M: are focused in the energy, natural resources and media sectors. Further to her work for retained clients, she has extensive AIM and main list IPO experience and has advised on a range of M&A transactions. Eleanor speaks German and Hebrew.
Lucy joined M: in September 2008 and supports M:'s dedicated Financials team. She is responsible for market research, support and co-ordination on all the team's accounts. Lucy graduated from Bristol University in 2008 with an upper second class honours in History of Art.