Our People

Our team members are drawn from a variety
of backgrounds across both work and life
experience. Their experience spans
politics, media, trade bodies, think-tanks and
encompasses more than 25 nationalities.

We pride ourselves on our commitment to
diversity and inclusion as we understand the
unequivocal benefits it provides for our
consultants, our clients and wider stakeholders.

...
Chris Wimpress

Partner

chris.wimpress@h-advisors.global

Chris draws up on fifteen years experience as a national news and politics journalist to deliver communications campaigns and strategies to clients whose sectors are experiencing regulatory and political change. He works with major technology companies as they navigate new legislation in London and Brussels regulating online platforms, but also supports smaller tech firms helping them to grow their business and expand into new markets. Since joining H/Advisors Cicero he has provided political briefings and counsel to a range of our clients, speaking after significant fiscal and political events at conferences and advising board-level executives.

Chris worked as a volunteer vaccinator during the pandemic – jabbing hundreds of people in London against Covid-19. He jointly runs a writers group in London supporting amateur novelists and playwrights with script editing and feedback.

Previously, Chris was a journalist at BBC Radio 4, as both a reporter and editor on its flagship programmes including Today, World at One and PM. He was a member of the lobby and Parliamentary Press Gallery, helping to launch HuffPost in the UK in 2011. He worked extensively on Brexit from the referendum in 2016 to the UK’s eventual departure from the EU, including spending a year working in Brussels during the Article 50 process. He played a senior role in shaping Radio 4’s coverage during the Covid pandemic, covering its impact on politics, business and society.
Iain Anderson

Founding Partner & Executive Chairman

https://www.linkedin.com/in/iain-w-anderson/?originalSubdomain=uk Iain is a Founding Partner and Executive Chairman of H/Advisors Cicero. He has over 30 years' experience as a political adviser, business journalist and CEO and Board-level counsel for some of the world’s leading business and not for profit organisations. He focuses on corporate strategy and messaging. His clients have included Barclays, Unum, Blackrock, Royal Mail, General Electric, The Oversight Board, Legal and General, and American Express.

In the last year, Iain led an independent review for the Labour Party – “A New Partnership” – exploring a long-term plan for how industry and Government can work together.

He was ranked in 2022 and 2024 as the No1 lobbyist in the UK in the PR Week Power Book. CityAM also includes him in the list of “The City’s most influential financial PRs” voted by business editors.

Iain believes passionately in workplace opportunity and was appointed as the UKs first ever LGBTQ+ Business Champion by the UK Government in 2021. He is also a non-executive director of Innovate Finance – the members body for the global fintech sector. He is a non-executive member of the Court of the University of St Andrews.. He serves on the City of London Corporation Competitiveness Advisory Board and is one of the Financial Times Global 100 LGBTQ Executives and the Financial Times Allies of Women in Business.

Iain worked initially as a business journalist and then as a founding shareholder at Incisive Media. Iain is a former Chairman of the Association of Professional Political Consultants and the CIPR Public Affairs group. He is a Fellow of the CIPR and the PRCA and is a Freeman of the City of London. He has served on the International Advisory Board of the Institute of Business Ethics and the Advisory Board of the Queen Elizabeth II Garden in New York.
Mark Twigg

Founding Partner & Chief Executive Officer

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-twigg-3ba9981/?originalSubdomain=uk Mark is a Founding Partner and current CEO of H/Advisors Cicero. He has amassed over 25 years’ experience delivering public policy, media, market research, and brand campaigns for some of the world’s leading business organisations. His work increasingly focusses on ESG and sustainability issues. His clients have included Accenture, General Electric, Novartis, Gilead, BlackRock, Barclays, BNP Paribas, HSBC, and AXA. He has also worked for several governments including the UK, Japan, Switzerland, Malta, and Colombia. He has a truly global perspective, having worked with clients in more than 50 countries.

An active campaigner on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Mark leads Havas UK's work on promoting mental health and disability workplace inclusion. He has worked with the UK Government’s Inclusive Economy Partnership and the Disability Access to Insurance working group. He currently sits on the PIMFA DEI Committee and is a regular public speaker on LGBT, mental health, and disability inclusion. He was recognised in the Inside Out / Sunday Times workplace mental health ‘Leader Board’.

Previously, Mark worked for the UK Labour Government between 1997-1999 for both the Rt. Hon Nick Brown MP and the Rt. Hon John Reid MP. He also worked as an adviser to the UK Treasury-sponsored Bischoff Review on the international competitiveness of the UK financial services sector. Mark worked in-house as a lobbyist for the RBS insurance brands, serving on several ABI and CEA (Insurance Europe) Committees. He has also been an active member of AmCham EU serving on the tax and financial services committees. Mark helped to establish the International Financial Centres Forum and advised the Swiss Bankers Association for 12 years. His experience includes working in London, Brussels, Singapore, New York, and Washington DC.
John Rowland

Senior Partner & UK Consulting Lead

https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-rowland-a52a3414/ John leads the UK Public Affairs team at H/Advisors Cicero. A strategic communications consultant with 17 years’ experience working in London and Washington D.C., he has advised clients in financial and professional services, technology, global hospitality, defence and mining industries. He is known for his work on complex issues in highly regulated markets. He was named 2023 Public Affairs Professional of the Year in the PR Week UK Corporate, City and Public Affairs Awards. At the time of his award, PR Week said “the respected agency figure has built a formidable reputation, reflected in the value that clients place on his insightful and strategic counsel and proactive, enthusiastic style.”

He is a member of the Executive Committee of the PRCA Public Affairs Board and is a freeman of the Company of Communicators, the City of London livery company for PR professionals. John is a non-executive director of Churches Mutual, a workplace credit union for employees and trustees of Britain’s churches. He is member of the Advisory Board of the Managing Partners Forum, which promotes management excellence in the professional services sector. He is a keen BBQ chef, aviation enthusiast, husband to Marie and dad to two young boys.

Starting at the firm in 2006 as a graduate, John has been instrumental building his team into one of top-rated in London (#2 in 2022 PR Week rankings and finalist for Public Affairs Agency of the Year in the 2023 PR Week CCPA awards). He is an engaging and entertaining speaker, who regularly contributes to industry conferences and webinars. He has degrees from the London School of Economics and University College London.
Andrew Roberts

Senior Partner & Chief Creative Officer

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/andrew-roberts-b964b332 Andrew is a Senior Partner and Chief Creative Officer at H/Advisors Cicero and is responsible for overseeing our thought leadership and creative campaigns across brand and marketing, media and policy audiences – inclusive of campaign strategy, message development, research, copywriting and digital design. With over 15-years of experience Andrew’s clients have spanned a range of sectors that include financial and professional services, health and pharma, technology, energy and infrastructure. His clients have included Aegon, Legal & General, BCLP Law, Kennedys Law, Baird Global Investment Bank, Accenture, Becton Dickinson, Fresenius Kabi and Microsoft – with his experience spanning the UK, US, LATAM, EMEA and Asia.

Andrew also represents H/Advisors Cicero within the Havas Genus Sustainability Network, which brings together a broad set of capabilities that businesses require to address their sustainability practices.

Andrew has a research and data analytics background, and has extensive experience in delivering both quantitative and qualitative insight for clients across thought leadership and marcomms campaigns, branding, new product development, proposition testing and market insight projects. He previously held the position of Head of Research at H/Advisors Cicero and holds the MRS Advanced Certificate for Market & Social Research Practice.
Robert Agnew

Chief Strategy Officer

https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-agnew1/ Rob draws upon a decade of public policy, communications, and market research experience to support the consultant teams at H/Advisors Cicero grow and innovate. Rob is responsible for ensuring our teams perform commercially, providing extensive knowledge of strategy and business development to facilitate growth across all of H/Advisors Cicero’s core disciplines – political, media, and brand. This includes day-to-day support on revenue generative activities and long-term relationship building, product development, team up-skilling, incentivisation and corporate strategy.

Rob helps to drive integration between H/Advisors Cicero and the wider HAVAS network to ensure synergies between the global media, communications and creative capabilities and H/Advisors Cicero’s account teams helping to boost sales and enhance client servicing.

Before H/Advisors Cicero, Rob worked for start-up/scale-up businesses in market research and corporate communications supporting and leading teams from ideation to stable business. These experiences have provided him with a broad knowledge of business operations, finance and strategy. Rob was also a Research Best Practice Trainer for the PRCA - helping communications professionals understand and unlock the power of data in their day-to-day work.

In his spare time, Rob spends a lot of time running, swimming and cycling in preparation for his next triathlon.
Susan Keogh

Partner & Corporate Communications Team Lead

https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-keogh-31429b172/ A senior communications consultant with H/Advisors Cicero, Susan brings 16 years’ experience as a journalist in national media to her role. Susan is an experienced public relations and public affairs practitioner with a unique understanding of Ireland’s media and political landscape and an extensive contact list. Her area of expertise is helping clients develop the most effective strategy for communicating, engaging, and building profile in the media and with all relevant stakeholders. Years behind the microphone has also equipped Susan to deliver valuable media training to her clients. She works with the Irish government, PayPal, Swappie, Kellogg’s and RTE.

Susan has always been inspired by other people’s stories. In 2020, Susan co-wrote the bestselling book ‘With Hope In Your Heart’ with Martina Cox whose husband Sean sustained a severe brain injury in a brutal, unprovoked attack outside Liverpool’s Anfield Stadium in 2018. Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp wrote the foreword for the book and launched it in Dublin. Susan continues to hold a passion for storytelling in her current role working closely with organisations in Ireland and internationally. She is also an experienced public speaker and emcee and contributes to news and current affairs panels on radio and television.

Previously, Susan enjoyed a long career as a broadcast journalist in national radio in Ireland. She began her career in local radio before moving on to become a news reporter and anchor at national level. She also presented her own award-winning news and current affairs programme. In 2020 Susan was awarded two gold IMRO radio awards for News Broadcaster of the Year and Best News Programme.
Elizabeth Tomlin

Partner & UK Public Affairs Team Lead

https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-tomlin-33834533/ Lizzy is Partner & UK Public Affairs Team Lead at H/Advisors Cicero where she ensures clients are serviced to a high quality and the correct team structures are in place to deliver a market-leading offer. Alongside this role, Lizzy assists several FTSE250 clients across legislative affairs, financial services policy and consumer policy. Her clients have included Barclays UK, American Express, Klarna, Santander UK and AXA UK. As part of the H/Advisors Exchange Programme, Lizzy spent four weeks in Washington D.C. with H/Advisors Abernathy working on U.S. Public Affairs and building relationships across the pond.

Lizzy is an active campaigner on diversity and inclusion in public affairs and is Chief Operating Officer on the Executive Committee of the Women in Public Affairs (WiPA) Network. As part of this role, Lizzy leads Executive Committee meetings and leads the Committee’s engagement with over 2,000 members. Lizzy is also active in the Liberal Democrats and campaigns locally in south west London.

Lizzy started her career working for two Liberal Democrat MPs – Paul Burstow MP and Adrian Sanders MP - in Westminster during the Coalition Government. Prior to joining H/Advisors Cicero, Lizzy worked for a political consultancy firm specialising in local government and planning. Here she worked on various planning applications across the UK on behalf of large-scale residential developers, whilst circumnavigating local politics.
Simon Fitzpatrick

Partner

https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-fitzpatrick-632b787a/ Simon is a Partner at H/Advisors Cicero. He joined the business in October 2010 and now serves as part of the senior leadership team. Simon has particular specialisms in pensions and retirement, asset management and insurance having worked with the likes of AXA, Fidelity, Just Group, NOW: Pensions and the BT Pension Scheme. Outside of financial services, he has worked with a diverse array of clients which includes DHL, the Health Food Manufacturers’ Association, the APPG for Connected and Automated Vehicles and Royal Mail.

Simon takes a strong interest in the politics of the Labour Party and has written a number of reports on the party’s policy development and internal dynamics during his time at Cicero. He is a longstanding member of Labour in the City and has previously served on its management committee. Simon’s other core interests include Scottish politics, having led Cicero’s analysis for clients during the 2014 independence referendum, and electoral politics and polling, having served as Editor of our Cicero Elections microsite during two General Elections and the EU Referendum.

Prior to joining H/Advisors Cicero, Simon worked for a senior Scottish Labour MP. He holds a Masters degree in Political Communication from the University of Glasgow. Simon is a frequent writer for political and financial media, currently writing a regular politics column for Money Marketing, and having also written for Huffington Post, LabourList, Economia and CityWire. He is also a qualified mental health first aider with Mental Health First Aid England and has been a mentor as part of the 30% Club.
Sonia Khan

Partner

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonia-khan-189920203/ Sonia is a Partner in H/Advisors Cicero’s UK Public Affairs team. She has widespread sector experience, working with clients across financial services, tech, management consultancy and transport. Sonia also provides political counsel to senior stakeholders, drawing on her 10 years’ experience in politics. She oversees work on cross sector domestic political risk tracking and manages the delivery of political products including political advisor mapping. Her clients have included Accenture, Barclays UK, BlackRock, Funding Circle and the Oversight Board.

Sonia is passionate about animal welfare and volunteers at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home as a member of their Global Advancement Board where she promotes Battersea’s capabilities abroad. She is also keen on expanding access to politics to minority groups and has written about this as a regular commentator in British newspapers such as the Times and on broadcast television. Sonia was recognised as ‘One to Watch’ by Women in Westminster 2021 and one of the most influential PR professionals in Britain in the PR Week PowerBook in 2021 and 2022.

Sonia started her career in local campaigning for the Conservative Party before working as a Grassroots Coordinator at the thinktank, The TaxPayers’ Alliance. Sonia then joined the Government in press office roles from 2014 – 2018 including at the Department for Work and Pensions and the Home Office. She was then Press Secretary for Liam Fox where she worked with embassies across the world covering the USA, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Sonia has also worked at No10 Downing Street in a bespoke campaigns team set up by David Cameron to launch the National Living Wage campaign. Sonia has also worked as a special adviser in the Treasury to former Chancellors, Philip Hammond and Sajid Javid and oversaw their engagement with the media.
Chris Wimpress

Partner

https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-wimpress-1490a97/ Chris draws up on fifteen years experience as a national news and politics journalist to deliver communications campaigns and strategies to clients whose sectors are experiencing regulatory and political change. He works with major technology companies as they navigate new legislation in London and Brussels regulating online platforms, but also supports smaller tech firms helping them to grow their business and expand into new markets. Since joining H/Advisors Cicero he has provided political briefings and counsel to a range of our clients, speaking after significant fiscal and political events at conferences and advising board-level executives.

Chris worked as a volunteer vaccinator during the pandemic – jabbing hundreds of people in London against Covid-19. He jointly runs a writers group in London supporting amateur novelists and playwrights with script editing and feedback.

Previously, Chris was a journalist at BBC Radio 4, as both a reporter and editor on its flagship programmes including Today, World at One and PM. He was a member of the lobby and Parliamentary Press Gallery, helping to launch HuffPost in the UK in 2011. He worked extensively on Brexit from the referendum in 2016 to the UK’s eventual departure from the EU, including spending a year working in Brussels during the Article 50 process. He played a senior role in shaping Radio 4’s coverage during the Covid pandemic, covering its impact on politics, business and society.
Dave Eaton

Associate Partner & Head of Financial Services Policy

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-eaton-7349268b/ Dave is an Associate Partner and Head of Financial Services Policy in H/Advisor Cicero’s UK Public Affairs Team. He has extensive experience of working with financial services firms of all specialisms, in the UK and internationally. Dave provides regulatory and political counsel to senior stakeholders, drawing on a decade’s experience in political campaigns and financial regulation. He advises on strategy and engagement and his clients have included Barclays UK, BNY, DTCC, IG Group and Just.

Dave has previously served as a Trustee of a national carers charity and is currently Secretary of Labour in the City, the membership organisation for Labour-supporting financial services professionals. He is also a member of the Senior Common Room of St Chad’s College, supporting undergraduates interested in careers in public service. He has over a decade’s experience of Labour Party activism, including working on battleground Parliamentary campaigns, local authority elections and Prospective Parliamentary Candidate selections.

Dave started his career working on a top 10 Parliamentary target seat campaign in the North East. He later joined a think tank, splitting his time between advising a working Peer and serving as a Policy Manager, providing media commentary on a range of domestic policy issues. He later joined the Financial Conduct Authority where he held a number of management position, including Private Secretary to its current Chair. He has worked on organisational strategy at Board level, led teams managing stakeholder relations and has extensive experience of working with CEOs and Executive Leadership teams on Parliamentary engagement.
James van der Graaf

Director

https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-van-der-graaf-095055146/ James is Director in the H/Advisors Cicero Public Affairs team, working across a number of energy, infrastructure, transport and technology clients. He supports Cicero’s wider sustainability practice, with a focus on supporting clients navigate the energy policy landscape in the UK through the implementation of national and regional public affairs and communications campaigns. His clients have included Wales and West Utilities, BAM Nuttall, Hewlett-Packard, AXA UK and the InterContinental Hotels Group.

James is a member of the Labour Party and supports Cicero’s Labour offering for clients. He studied International History and Politics at the University of Leeds and was an active member of the University’s Student Labour Society.

James previously worked in-house for 4 years at an international industrial and energy group. He managed their public affairs and external communications in Westminster and the devolved governments. In this role, he focused on developing the group’s steel, aluminium and renewable energy portfolios in the UK. James then worked in the group’s Brussels office, coordinating engagement with European-wide trade, industry and business bodies. Beyond this, he supported the development of the group’s sustainability practice and delivered public affairs support and stakeholder management for a string of global M&A activity.

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