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.

...
James van der Graaf

Director

james.vandergraaf@h-advisors.global

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 PRCA NextGen Public Affairs Board, a team dedicated to fostering growth, innovation, and best practices within the public affairs sector.

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.
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. In 2024 Iain received the CIPR's highest professional award - the Sir Stephen Tallents' medal.

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.
Helena Walsh

Senior Partner & EU Consulting Lead

https://www.linkedin.com/in/helena-walsh-8b09a09/ Helena leads H/Advisors Cicero's European team and is a member of the Executive team. She has twenty years’ experience working on Government and EU policy issues – financial services, digital, environmental, energy and trade. Before joining H/Advisors Cicero, Helena was a Political Functionnaire on the European Parliament Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee. She also headed up the EU department at the Irish Industrial Development Agency (IDA Ireland). She began her career in the European Commission.

Helena provides senior counsel to clients – FTSE, scale ups and trade associations - on technical policy issues in addition to multi-country campaign strategy and planning on the EU legislative processes. She has worked hand in hand with client teams winning amendments that lead to significant economic, social and commercial gains for clients and their customers/stakeholders.

She has won awards: voted European Consultant of the Year at the European Public Affairs Awards and has been listed as one of the Top 40 Rising Stars of the Trading and Technology Industry by Financial News (2014).

She holds a Master’s degree in European Social Policy Analysis and has previously lived in Denmark and Japan.
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. He works closely with clients and colleagues on corporate strategy and narrative and is responsible for overseeing our growing thought leadership and creative campaigns function.

With 20 years of experience, he is adept at helping clients build engagement across the entire corporate communications landscape – including sales and marketing, PR and public affairs channels.

His experience spans global markets in a range of highly regulated industries, including financial services, pharmaceuticals, technology and infrastructure, with clients including Amundi Asset Management, Aegon, Legal & General, Oversight Board and Becton Dickinson

Andrew has a research and data analytics background, and has extensive experience in delivering strategic research and insight for clients. He previously held the position of Head of Research at H/Advisors Cicero and holds the MRS Advanced Certificate for Market & Social Research Practice.
Adam Taylor

Senior Partner & Financial Services Sector Lead

https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-taylor-57574523/ Adam Taylor is a Senior Partner and Financial Services Sector Lead at H/Advisors Cicero. With more than a decade’s experience, Adam works closely with clients to help develop and execute communications strategies. This work includes building profiles of new businesses and individuals, launching media and policy campaigns as well as supporting reputational issues.

In the ten years he has been working at Cicero, he has focused on building strong relationships with journalists to not only help introduce clients and build relationships, but also to understand the changing nature of journalism and newsrooms, as well as emerging media – and how this affects PR and news management. He works closely with Cicero’s public affairs and campaigns team to enhance the strategies of clients through lobbying and research.
Adam has worked with clients across financial and professional services, technology, third sector including LINK, Cash Access UK and Kroll.

Adam originally trained as a journalist and worked in newsrooms and TV development.

He is most content watching and talking about cricket and Manchester United.
Aideen Ginnell

Partner & Health Sector Lead

https://www.linkedin.com/in/aideenginnell/ Aideen is a communications specialist with experience in corporate, commercial and government communications management. With a B.A in European Studies and M.A in Political Communications, she has over eight years of professional experience in public affairs and communications.

Before joining H/Advisors Cicero, Aideen worked as a Senior Consultant with Hanover Communications and previously Cullen Communications where she managed accounts for multi-national clients’ providing detailed public relations, government and industry consultancy.
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.
Anusha Mallikarachchi

Finance Director

https://www.linkedin.com/in/anusha-mallikarachchi-962b3310/ Anusha Mallikarachchi is the Finance Director at H/Advisors Cicero. She joined H/Advisors Cicero in 2011.

Anusha Mallikarachchi is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants since 2005. Anusha has over twenty-five years’ experience in Publishing, Marketing and the Media industry.

Before H/Advisors Cicero Anusha Mallikarachchi worked for one of the largest contract printers in the UK as a Management Accountant working on The Financial Times and The Guardian projects for around eight years. Anusha also worked for a digital marketing company part of the Full Six group as a Financial Accountant.
Parisa Namazi

Director of Talent

https://www.linkedin.com/in/parisa-namazi-assoc-cipd-b7298793/ Parisa is currently Director of Talent at H/Advisors Cicero. Having joined in 2016, she is responsible for providing strategic business partnering HR advice to H/Advisors Cicero's Executive Committee and provides a supportive role to our employees. She is responsible for all aspects of human resource management at H/Advisors Cicero including internal communications, employee engagement, diversity and inclusion, benefits and reward, training and development and talent acquisition.

Parisa is an associate member of Chartered Institute of Professional Development (CIPD qualified).Parisa has a great interest in promoting diversity in the workplace. She was previously appointed as one of 12 on HM Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter Board, representing SME and professional services signatory firms and sat on the Membership Committee for OUTstanding, LGBT+ network.

Parisa is currently part of the PRweek led Mental Health and Wellbeing Charter committee and is an ambassador for the HAVAS ‘All In’ Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Charter.

Before H/Advisors Cicero and after completing MSc International Human Resource Management and Comparative Industrial Relations, Parisa delivered HR talent programmes at international advertising agency J, Walter Thompson.
Sir David Lidington

Senior Counsel

https://www.linkedin.com/company/cicero-group/ Rt Hon Sir David Lidington works as Strategic Counsel within H/Advisors Cicero’s public affairs team.

Lidington was first elected as a Member of Parliament for Aylesbury in 1992. He served the Conservative Party front bench for more than 20 years, including as Minister for European Affairs, Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, where he acted as Deputy to the Prime Minister. He stood down from government in July 2019 and did not stand as an MP at the 2019 General Election.

In September 2019 he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath for political and public service. He is Chair of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), British Co-Chair of the Konigswinter Conference (UK/Germany) and Aurora Forum (UK/Nordics and Baltics) and Honorary President of the Great Britain China Centre.

Sir David works as a client counsel and is not involved in any lobbying capacity.
Rhoda Macdonald

Senior Counsel

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rhoda-macdonald-421aba3/ Rhoda joined H/Advisors Cicero as Senior Counsel from WA Communications where she was a Partner from 2021 – 2023. Previously she was Senior Director at Hanover Communications from 2012 – 2020.

Over the course of her career, she has won the PR Week PA Campaign of the Year and the Public Affairs News Freelancer of the Year Award. Former clients include Airbus, RWE, Tata Steel, Saab, Danone Baby Nutrition, Heineken, HSBC and BAE Systems.  

Before moving into agency, she worked as a special advisor to the Secretary of State for Scotland during the last Labour Government and spent nearly 20 years in the media in Scotland, as a programme presenter, journalist and producer. In that time, she won numerous awards, including a Bafta for Best Documentary.
Barbara McLaughlan

Senior Counsel

https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbara-mclaughlan-97727611/ Barbara has been appointed Senior Counsel to H/Advisors Cicero’s Global Public Affairs Health Team. She has more than 25 years’ experience in health policy and campaigning at UK, European and EMEA level working in agency, charities and the pharma industry, covering Government Affairs, patient advocacy, communications and corporate social responsibility. Barbara is supporting the health team with strategic advice and analysis based on her experience of working in a wide range of disease areas (oncology, rare diseases, eye conditions) and industrial policy. Her time in the pharma industry adds particularly valuable insights to the team. A linguist who has lived in Germany, Japan, Belgium and the UK, Barbara understands the importance of cultural awareness in working with global teams on programmes that need to be adaptable to local needs.

Barbara is passionate about patient engagement, equity and diversity, mentoring, and community cohesion. She provides pro-bono advice to the European Institute of Women’s Health and Cancer Patients Europe, volunteers at her local community hub leading a small team of volunteers who produce the Hub-made food, and mentors young people from disadvantaged backgrounds aspiring to a career in public relations.

Barbara started her career in teaching about European integration and German unification before moving into public affairs in the UK. Her campaigning successes include changes to the design of Euro coins to make them easier to use for blind and partially sighted people, securing access to a sight-saving medicine to hundreds of patients prior to its approval by NICE, the reform of the Cancer Drugs Fund in the UK and the inclusion of prostate cancer screening in the 2022 EU Recommendations on cancer screening. She worked for the Novartis Oncology Division in the UK and the EMEA and Established Markets Regions at Astellas before becoming and independent advisor.
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.
Tom Wilkins

Partner & Energy and Infrastructure Sector Lead

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomwilkins31/ Tom leads the multi-sector public affairs practice at H/Advisors Cicero, with a focus on energy, tech, transport, and sustainability. Having been at H/Advisors for eight years, Tom has successfully led client accounts including LinkedIn, Uber, Legal and General, and Meat and Livestock Australia. Tom is a founding member of Havas Genus, an integrated global network of sustainability experts.

Tom is an active member of Westminster North Conservatives and currently provides pro bono strategic advice to New Horizon Youth Centre, a charity focused on tackling youth homelessness.

Prior to joining H/Advisors Cicero, Tom worked in the City where he lobbied for legislative and regulatory developments in international insurance markets. Tom has worked for several public affairs consultancies focused on renewables and green finance, lobbying successfully on the Energy Act 2011 and on Electricity Market Reform for renewable energy clients.

Tom graduated in Philosophy from the University of Southampton and holds an MSc in International Conflict and an LLB from the College of Law in London.
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.
Mairi Maclennan

Partner

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mairi-maclennan/ Mairi is a Partner in the UK Public Affairs team, working primarily with financial services clients. Her current clients include Barclays, BNY Mellon, abrdn, MarketAxess, Lloyd’s of London, Dell and The Oversight Board. She advises clients on political and regulatory developments, specialising in sustainability, international affairs, and the Union.

Mairi leads the H/Advisors Cicero charity partnership programme, which provides a range of pro-bono public affairs and communications support to the company’s annually selected charity. She is an active member of her local Constituency Labour Party and Labour in the City.

Before joining H/Advisors Cicero Mairi spent five years working at TheCityUK. While there, she led the financial and related professional services industry’s post-Brexit European engagement, regularly travelling to Brussels and EU Member States to discuss regulatory and market access issues. She also supported the industry’s activity ahead of COP26, UK G7 Presidency and Italian G20 Presidencies. Prior to this, Mairi worked for the American Chamber of Commerce in the UK working on transatlantic trade issues. She started her career at the Scottish Government in Edinburgh.
Alen Hristov

Associate Partner & Tech Sector Lead

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alen-hristov-a706a1121/ Alen is an Associate Partner in our Brussels office and leads the EU Tech team. Over the past five years, Alen has been advising a wide range of clients in the tech space, including manufacturers, software providers, online platforms, cybersecurity firms, telecom & tower companies, and cloud providers, amongst others. His previous experience includes positions in foreign policy and national politics as well as think tank and research roles, focusing on technological developments, emerging trends, public policy, and EU politics, amongst others.
Alexandros Nikolaidis

Associate Partner & EU Public Affairs Team Lead

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-nikolaidis/ Alex is an Associate Partner within the EU Public Affairs team of H/Advisors Cicero. He joined the company in 2019 and has since advised clients on European political and regulatory risks. His work has also included the development and implementation of European and Member State legislative engagement campaigns. His clients have included Abrdn, Funding Circle, IHG, Index Ventures, Legal & General, MarketAxess, Onfido, PIMFA, Plus500, Rio Tinto, thyssenkrupp Steel and Worldpay (FIS).

Alex is actively involved in the startup ecosystem, with a strong focus on ESG and renewables. He advises on ESG issues and supports in ongoing assessments of the UK and European funding landscape for cleantech startups.

Previously, Alex worked as Acting Legal Advisor for the Bristol-based startup Perceptual Robotics. Prior to this role, Alex worked in a number of Athens-based law firms on issues pertaining to project financing – with a particular focus on the shipping finance space. Alex holds both an LLB in Laws as well as an MSc in Political Economy of Europe from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
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.
Ben Hope

Associate Partner & Campaigns Team Lead

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-hope-69327673/ Ben is an Associate Partner and Campaigns Team Lead at H/Advisors Cicero.

Ben has a depth of experience working on multi-country thought leadership campaigns. H/Advisors Cicero’s targeted campaigns shape the future of industries, develop brands and pipelines, build business profiles, and inform public policy.

Ben works across the full campaign lifecycle, from the formation of strategy to the development and distribution of content. Past and present clients include Aegon, Legal & General, Efficio, Eversheds Sutherland, HSBC, and World Financial Group.

Ben was a successful applicant to the first H/Advisors exchange programme and spent a month working alongside colleagues in Havas Paris. In 2022, Ben also won the annual H/Advisors Cicero Nicola York Award for his contribution to the business.

He joined the business in 2019, having previously spent 4 years at Kantar. Whilst at Kantar, Ben developed expertise in primary research methods and leveraging insight to fuel thought leadership. His experience at Kantar included an eight-month client-side secondment in Switzerland.
Sarah Bosworth

Associate Partner

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-bosworth-728066b0/ Sarah is an Associate Partner at H/Advisors Cicero, with a focus on the health sector. She has over half a decade of experience, delivering corporate campaigns, public policy strategy, thought leadership, and market research. Sarah works with clients at both a market level in the UK and at a global level to design and deliver integrated campaigns and advise on engagement strategy and activation. Her clients have included Novartis, Reckitt, BD, Ipsen and Fresenius Kabi.

Sarah has completed a year-long Leadership Apprenticeship through Hyper Island, alongside colleagues from across Havas in the UK. She has also been the recipient of the Nicola York Award at Cicero for her cross-team collaboration efforts. Outside the office, Sarah’s passion is women’s rugby, having captained a development team in London, she’s now putting her boots on in Norfolk where she has recently relocated.

Previously, Sarah’s worked was at a market research agency, and is experienced in delivering multi-market qualitative and quantitative research projects, specialising in in-depth interviews with senior stakeholders, including policymakers and business leaders. She was awarded a Merit in the Advanced Certificate from the Market Research Society. Sarah graduated from Merton College, Oxford where she read History and Politics.
Alice McLaren Blade

Associate Partner

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicemclaren/ Alice is an Associate Partner at H/Advisors Cicero. She brings a wealth of experience across various sectors, including financial services, technology, and insurance. Alice is adept at navigating complex communication challenges and delivering impactful solutions for her clients. Her expertise spans a wide range of disciplines, including media relations, stakeholder engagement, policy communications, and internal communications. Alice has a proven track record of advising clients on multifaceted issues, helping them achieve their communication and business objectives and enhance their reputations. Alice has successfully guided diverse organisations, from education and energy to regulated industries and global brands.

Beyond her client work, Alice is a passionate advocate for education and inclusion. She actively contributes her expertise to various charities and associations, including initiatives to engage minority groups through sports and providing counsel to schools seeking to enhance funding and educational quality.

Prior to joining H/Advisors Cicero, Alice advised listed and private companies, ranging from FTSE 350 companies to agile SMEs. Her background encompasses a broad spectrum of corporate communication challenges, including IPOs, fundraising, mergers and acquisitions, and the development and execution of impactful corporate campaigns. Her clients included industrial companies, mining and energy organisations, educational institutions and financial services firms.
Emma Turnbull

Director

https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-turnbull-84a2aa13b/ Emma is a Director specialising in healthcare public affairs. She has experience creating and delivering integrated campaigns for pharmaceutical companies, healthcare services businesses and patient charities. Since joining H/Advisors Cicero Emma’s clients have included Boehringer, Ipsen, UCB and Novartis. Her time is spent on a combination of UK, EU and globally focused projects.

Emma was elected as a Councillor and Leader of the Labour Group on St Albans City and District Council in May 2024. She is also a dedicated volunteer, giving up her time to support local and national health charities including Keech Hospice Care, Mind in Herts and ME Research.

Before joining H/Advisors Cicero, Emma worked for a global healthcare company overseeing government relations for five businesses, including a medicines wholesaler, a community pharmacy contractor, and a clinical homecare provider. Whilst in this role, Emma chaired the Company Chemists’ Association’s external relations group and helped manage the activity of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Pharmacy. Earlier in her career, Emma spent time in a Labour MP’s office and worked at a healthcare specialist communications firm, managing a range of corporate, pharmaceutical, and med-tech accounts.
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 PRCA NextGen Public Affairs Board, a team dedicated to fostering growth, innovation, and best practices within the public affairs sector.

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.
Alex Dekanyova

Team Manager

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandra-dekanyova-010656aa/ Alexandra is the Team Manager of Cicero Pulse, managing the overall deliverables of the team. She joined the business in 2015 having since accumulated over 9 years of experience working in public affairs across a variety of roles. She has extensive experience delivering on complicated briefs/proposals, and consultation responses across challenging jurisdictions for clients. She is also the lead on key accounts in several sectors such as financial regulation, payments, sustainable finance, Fintech, energy and transport. She runs the political monitoring team’s global financial services and bespoke work on various accounts including: the Bank of England, FCA, PSR, UK Finance, SMMT, Bank for International Settlements, European Banking Authority, European Parliament and others.

She has previously graduated with a Master’s degree in European Public Policy from UCL and with a BA degree in International Relations from Canterbury Christ Church University.
Miglena Atanasova

Head of Design

https://www.linkedin.com/in/miglena-atanasova/ Miglena is the Head of Design at Cicero. She heads up the design team leading on creative, working across graphic design, video, and creative/ digital strategy. She has over 7 years of experience in the design industry, working with a wide variety of clients across the UK. Miglena’s wide-ranging interest in media, art, creativity, and storytelling has led her to produce high-profile work in various categories, including Advertising, Branding, Digital Media, Video/Animation, Illustrations, and UX/UI design.

She has vast experience predominately working across the B2B, corporate and financial industries. Miglena has worked with clients such as L&G, AXA, Santander, and HSBC.

Previously, Miglena worked for the UK Local Government across the public sector, local businesses, charities, and education. She has a diverse background that gives her vast insight into how to strengthen brands to ensure success, and her drive and enthusiasm are shown in all her projects, big and small.
Ed Saunders

Senior Consultant

https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-saunders-877430147/ Ed is a Senior Consultant on the Corporate Communications team at Cicero. He has amassed more than four years of experience delivering targeted communications plans for a range of clients. He works across a variety of sectors, including alternative finance, insurance, and insolvencies. He has a proven track record of engaging with national, regional, and trade journalists, fostering beneficial relationships between clients and publications and driving engagement on stories covering client-specific topics.

Alongside his client work, Ed is heavily involved in Cicero’s pro-bono charity work. He supports Cicero’s charity of the year, The Listening Place, with their communications and fundraising. He also spoke in the Speakers for Schools initiative and supported interns on the Talent Tap programme.

Prior to joining the Communications team, Ed worked as a Parliamentary Researcher for an MP dealing with a range of national and constituency policy issues. He also worked as a caseworker directly supporting constituents needs.
Harriet Hill

Senior Consultant

https://www.linkedin.com/in/harriet-hill-18213a80/ Harriet is a Senior Consultant in H/Advisors Cicero’s UK Public Affairs team, working predominantly with financial services clients.

Harriet joined the team from the Financial Conduct Authority where she spent four years in Supervision, Policy and Competition, working in retail banking, consumer credit and customer vulnerability. At the FCA Harriet was an active Mental Health Champion, member of the FCA’s gender network Balance and the Speakers Club where she spoke about violence against women. 

Also during her time at the FCA, Harriet was seconded to HM Treasury, where she spent 17 months in the Economic Secretary’s Office. In this time, she supported three different ESTs execute their role as Assistant Private Secretary on a wide variety of policy and stakeholder management, covering sectors including insurance, retail banking, fintech, financial inclusion and mortgages. Harriet also has experience working for an MP in Westminster, and the charity sector, where she worked on accessibility in financial services.
Sian Bradshaw

Senior Consultant

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sianbradshaw/ Sian is a Senior Consultant on Cicero’s Corporate Communications team, bringing over four years’ experience delivering communications consultancy across the financial services and technology sectors. Her work spans a number of key areas, including insurance, technology and regulation, and various industry trade associations, acting as a primary contact for media relations and external communications support.

Since joining the Corporate Communications team in 2023, Sian’s clients and projects have included Meta’s Oversight Board, Santander’s Trade Barometer, Liberty Specialty Markets, the Lloyd’s Market Association, and The Investing and Saving Alliance (TISA).

Sian joined H/Advisors Cicero from boutique agency City Road Communications, where she began career in communications in 2020 after reading English at the University of Cambridge. There, she quickly progressed to the role of Account Manager, where she served as the day-to-day client lead for the agency’s fintech clients, delivering strategic communications support focused on brand-building for SMEs.
Claudia Mulholland

Senior Consultant

https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudia-mulholland-166845169/ Claudia is a Senior Consultant at H/Advisors Cicero working across public affairs and corporate communications. Since joining the team in July 2021, Claudia has worked with clients to deliver strategic communications and public policy campaigns and has extensive experience in supporting clients to engage with political and regulatory stakeholders in both the UK and globally.

Her experience spans financial and professional services, health and life sciences, and technology. Her clients have included Santander, Lloyd’s of London, Fidelity International, American Express, Boehringer Ingelheim and the Oversight Board.

Claudia is a member of the H/Advisors Cicero legislative affairs group and provides monitoring and analysis to clients on the passage of Government and Private legislation. She has particular technical expertise in the operation of secondary legislation. Separately, Claudia leads client engagement with the Liberal Democrats.

Claudia joined H/Advisors Cicero from a grassroots advocacy group campaigning in the UK on issues relating to diversity and inclusion. She holds a first-class degree in politics from Durham University and a masters from the school of anthropology at SOAS, University of London.
Dhilan Modasia

Finance Manager

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhilan-modasia-a5760597/ Dhilan is Finance Manager at H/Advisors Cicero, working in the finance department. He graduated from De Montfort University with a MSc in Accounting and Finance and is currently working towards becoming ACCA qualified.
Anthony Pinnick

Marketing Manager

https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-pinnick-7791171a2/

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