Our advice reflects the diversity of our team: we have unique collective experience in the talented group of career communications consultants, former journalists, bankers, brokers and advisers who have made their professional homes with us.
Rory is Powerscourt’s founder and CEO. He established the firm in 2004 after serving as director of corporate affairs at Goldman Sachs International and a distinguished career in journalism, culminating in his appointment as business editor of the Sunday Times. He sets the strategy for the business, working closely with the senior leadership team each day, and remains deeply engaged with clients – especially at moments of challenge and change.
rory.godson@powerscourt-group.comVictoria is Powerscourt’s managing partner and works across the firm’s industry sectors, providing senior counsel on the core practice areas of financial PR, corporate campaigning and crisis situations. She has 17 years’ experience in the industry, prior to which she spent 12 years as an investment banker at UBS, Merrill Lynch (BoA) and Morgan Stanley.
vpm@powerscourt-group.comDavid is Powerscourt’s Chief Operating Officer (incorporating CFO responsibilities) and also a Partner in the business. He leads on all financial, commercial and operational aspects of Powerscourt, with a broad remit to ensure the effective growth and performance of the firm. Before joining Powerscourt in 2012, David qualified as an accountant in EY’s corporate finance team, before moving to Close Brothers (now DC Advisory) to work in the Industrial M&A team.
david.cohen@powerscourt-group.comRob is co-head of Powerscourt’s consumer industries team. His client roster spans FTSE 100, FTSE 250, AIM-listed and private companies in the retail, consumer and leisure sectors. He specialises in financial, corporate and crisis communications and has extensive experience of high-profile IPOs, cross-border M&A and corporate restructurings.
rob.greening@powerscourt-group.comJustin is Powerscourt’s head of financials and real estate and also a partner in the business. He has over 22 years of experience in financial and corporate communications advisory, working with both private and listed businesses at a range of agencies and in-house at a FTSE 100 company. His specialist team advises clients across a number of sub sectors including banking, insurance, private equity, real estate investment, housebuilding & materials and asset & wealth management. Recent mandates have included ongoing City communications advisory, IPOs (main market and AIM), M&A & divestments, debt restructurings, creative corporate/brand campaigns and issues management.
justin.griffiths@powerscourt-group.comSteve leads Powerscourt’s corporate practice, which helps clients to refine their corporate messaging and communicate points of differentiation. Having run a number of consumer PR agencies and teams, his mission is to bring the ambition, energy and discipline of consumer marketing to corporate reputation management.
steve.marinker@powerscourt-group.comPeter is a Partner with oversight of the Special Situations (crisis & litigation) and Industrials (energy, resources and clean tech) practices, in addition to working across sector with other Powerscourt clients. He also has a particular specialism in cross border M&A and ECM communications. Peter has over two decades’ experience of the full range of financial and corporate communications activities and spent four years in Australia, where he advised on two of the largest transactions in Australian corporate history.
peter.ogden@powerscourt-group.comElly leads the technology, media and telecommunications team. She has spent 15 years in financial and corporate communications advising private and public companies, from start-ups to global businesses, on their investment cases, corporate narratives and media and sell-side relations. She has a particular focus on financial calendar and capital markets advice in the TMT sector.
elly.williamson@powerscourt-group.comLeighton is Powerscourt’s head of sustainability and a member of the senior management team. He has over twenty years of experience in sustainability, spanning across corporate roles in the UK and Switzerland — including at AstraZeneca and Syngenta — before moving into senior leadership roles at sustainability strategy and communications consultancies over the past decade. He has helped some of the world’s largest companies — such as Reckitt, JLL, IHG, DP World, Tesco and BT — to develop sustainability strategies, improve corporate reporting and design and launch engaging campaigns that have helped to drive differentiation and perception change among stakeholders.
Leighton.barnish@powerscourt-group.comPeter Barrett is a Director and Head of Special Situations at Powerscourt, where he advises a range of corporate, professional services and private clients. Recognised by Chambers & Partners in its rankings of the UK’s leading litigation PR practitioners (2020), he has advised on high profile civil and criminal matters (defence and claimant), including multi-jurisdictional cases, group actions and inquiries. He has provided crisis strategy, preparedness and management counsel to a range of international and domestic clients, from global brands to high-growth start ups and HNWIs.
Peter.barrett@powerscourt-group.comLudo is a Director at Powerscourt, with over 12 years of experience in all aspects of corporate communications and has delivered award-winning integrated campaigns at several leading agencies. He has extensive experience providing reputation management counsel to FTSE-listed companies, privately held corporations, industry bodies, high-growth start-ups, and NGOs across a range of sectors – spanning financial services, consumer goods, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, technology, energy, and real estate. Ludo holds a BA in History and International Relations from the University of Leicester and has completed a Mini MBA at Birkbeck University of London.
ludo.baynham-herd@powerscourt-group.comNick is co-head of Powerscourt’s consumer industries team and has more than 17 years’ experience of advising small and mid-cap companies on their financial and corporate communications. He and his team offer financial calendar management, M&A advice and both domestic and international company listings.
nick.dibden@powerscourt-group.comEavan joined Powerscourt’s investor relations practice following a 20-year career in financial services, latterly at Davy where she was director of corporate broking and a senior private client specialist in the wealth management division. A highly skilled adviser to ISEQ and FTSE 100 and 250 companies, she is a member of the Irish Institute of Bankers, a registered stockbroker and a qualified financial adviser.
eavan.gannon@powerscourt-group.comNick has over 14 years’ experience in media and communications; a former journalist, he joined Powerscourt in 2021. He has extensive experience in all aspects of financial and corporate communications – including IPOs, M&A, fundraisings, corporate restructurings and special situations work – working with companies across a range of sectors from FTSE100 through to AIM. Nick holds a BA in Law and Sociology from the University of Warwick, an MA in Journalism from Dublin City University and is a holder of the Investment Management Certificate.
nick.hayns@powerscourt-group.comLouise leads our HR team, creating and delivering our people strategy, managing operational human resources activities and leading initiatives to support and develop our people. Prior to Powerscourt, she spent 20 years in HR leadership roles in insurance, banking and asset management. Louise holds an MA in Human Resources and is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD.
louise.hayward@powerscourt-group.comMark is a director at Powerscourt, overseeing Westminster intelligence, parliamentary campaigns and political media engagement. He had a 17 year career in business and political journalism, including The Independent and TIME magazine, before becoming press secretary to the then-leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Vince Cable. Mark also specialises in media and select committee training.
mark.leftly@powerscourt-group.comGilly leads Powerscourt’s accounts across asset and wealth management and related sectors. She has over 13 years of experience in financial services communications and has advised a wide range of clients, including Barings, BlackRock, BMO Global Asset Management, BNY Mellon Investment Management, Brown Shipley, IG, Jupiter Asset Management and ICBC Standard Bank, among others. Gilly started her career in the corporate communications team at M&G Investments. She holds a voluntary role as Chair of the Investment Sector for the PRCA.
gilly.lock@powerscourt-group.comRussell Lynch is a director in the campaigns team at Powerscourt. He joined from The Daily Telegraph, where Russ was economics editor from 2019-22, and was previously deputy business editor at the Evening Standard. After more than 20 years in journalism, Russ has an extensive understanding of the media and modern editorial practices, as well as first class writing skills and story development expertise.
russ.lynch@powerscourt-group.comSarah has 25 years’ experience of advising healthcare, pharmaceutical and biotech companies across Europe and beyond on strategic communications, media relations, corporate communications and capital markets transactions. Beginning her career within leading communications agencies, she later moved in-house, where she held a number of senior roles including Director of External Communications at GSK and Head of Communications at Oxford Biomedica.
sarah.macleod@powerscourt-group.comSimon Petar is a senior member of the Political Affairs team as a Director. He has over 20 years’ experience in public affairs, media relations and corporate communications, advising on a range of issues and sectors. He has a particular specialism in the built environment and retail and was previously a spokesperson for Tesco, often appearing on local radio and television.
simon.petar@powerscourt-group.comAndy leads Powerscourt’s banking practice, advising on both investment and retail listed banks in the UK and abroad. In his past career he spent a decade with Santander, where he oversaw all external media communications and financial calendar work in the UK. He worked on the mergers and integration of Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley and on the bank’s UK launch. He began his career in agency PR, supporting banks and other financial services businesses.
andy.smith@powerscourt-group.comJames leads Powerscourt’s industrials and support services team, joining in 2019 from a major communications agency. He is a strategic communications specialist with over seventeen years’ experience of advising business leaders on all elements of their firms’ capital markets communications, corporate reputation, crisis management, social media planning, ESG and internal engagement strategies. James holds a BA in Public Relations from Bournemouth University and is a holder of the Investment Management Certificate.
james.white@powerscourt-group.comSam is a senior consultant in the consumer industries team. He also supports a number of clients in the healthcare sector. His work is largely split between financial PR and corporate profile-raising, acting for a range of listed and private companies. He also provides pro bono support to campaigner Charlotte Caldwell. Sam graduated from London School of Economics with an MSc in Law & Anthropology and previously worked for a Member of Parliament.
Sam.Austrums@powerscourt-group.comOllie is Powerscourt’s Digital and Social Senior Consultant. He has over 5 years of digital marketing experience in media and creative agencies in a range of industries including Travel, Retail, FMCG, Charity & NGO, Automotive and others in both earned and paid media. His short- and long-term strategies and media plans have driven growth and success in the digital space through effective realisation of those strategies. Ollie focuses on providing digital knowhow, management, implementation & reporting and can provide insight, strategies and opportunities that alleviate client and practice area pain points running alongside, or independent-from any strategic comms.
Ollie.Beckwith@powerscourt-group.comCian is a Senior Consultant at Powerscourt, specialising in corporate communications and public affairs. Before joining Powerscourt, Cian held positions with the Irish Medical Organisation, the GAA, and Ibec, spanning the areas of communications, public policy, and industrial relations. Cian has provided consultancy to a range of major companies in Ireland, including An Post, eir, and McCann FitzGerald, and holds degrees in political science, public policy, and law.
Cian.ODowd@powerscourt-group.comChristopher has over five years’ experience within in the financial services, fintech and tech sectors and specialises in corporate communications and media relations. He has advised clients on all aspects of corporate profile building including messaging, reputation management and stakeholder engagement. Chris sits on the Financial Services and Real Estate team. Current clients include Brown Shipley, Inflexion, NewDay and Qontigo.
christopher.flame@powerscourt-group.comJane has over nine years’ experience working in the financial services industry and specialises in financial and corporate communications. She has advised clients on all aspects of capital markets activity including M&A, IPOs, crisis communications, activist campaigns and profile raising. Jane sits on the TMT team at Powerscourt and has clients spanning both the private and listed spheres. Current clients include Darktrace, S4 Capital, Draper Esprit and Dawn Capital.
Jane.Glover@powerscourt-group.comVictoria is a Senior Consultant in the Financial Services and Real Estate team with experience across financial and corporate communications. Since joining Powerscourt in April 2017, Victoria has worked with almost all of Powerscourt’s real estate and property clients, including SGS, The Office Group, Unite Students and Vistry. Her role encompasses financial calendar support and analyst relations, corporate profile raising and campaigning, as well as issues and reputation management. Victoria also has significant M&A and IPO experience, most recently advising on the merger between TOG and Fora.
victoria.heslop@powerscourt-group.comLizzy is a Senior Consultant in Powerscourt’s Consumer division where she advises clients principally on their strategic communications in the retail, leisure and consumer space. She has over seven years of experience in financial and corporate communications more broadly, working with both listed and private companies across different sectors . Recent experience has also included profile raising, crisis and reputation management, corporate PR and investor relations. She has also worked on a number of high-profile M&A and IPO transactions. Lizzy gained the CFA Investment Management Certificate in 2021. She graduated from the University of Leeds with a BA in English Literature.
elizabeth.kittle@powerscourt-group.comKeira is our HR Business Partner and works closely with key stakeholders to help build organisation and people capability, support business growth and the development of their people strategies. Prior to joining Powerscourt, she worked in HR roles within the Financial Services sector. Keira completed her CIPD Level 5 certificate in Human Resources Management in 2018.
keira.marron@powerscourt-group.comSiobhan joined Powerscourt from Lloyds Banking Group where she spent 12 years in a range of senior media roles supporting retail, wealth and more recently commercial banking. As well as financial calendar work, she also led on issues such as executive renumeration and litigation . Prior to LBG, she worked at a pr agency on clients such as Chubb Insurance, Just Retirement, Fidelity Pensions and the Government of the Isle of Man.
Siobhan.McCluskey@powerscourt-group.comGary spent almost 15 years at The Sun, where he covered some of the biggest news stories of recent times. He joins Powerscourt from his previous role as Senior Account Director at a media agency, working across a range of sectors including asset management, fintech, and real estate investment.
gary.oshea@powerscourt-group.com
Genevieve is a Senior Consultant at Powerscourt with 8 years of global experience covering equity capital markets and corporate and financial communications. Prior to her tenure at Powerscourt, Genevieve was a Director at FTI Consulting in the Energy & Natural Resources team where she advised private and publicly listed clients on stakeholder engagement and ESG/sustainability reporting across a range of jurisdictions. Prior to FTI, Genevieve worked at Canaccord Genuity in equity sales, based in Melbourne and Hong Kong, where she was involved in coordinating global corporate roadshows and executing on-market transactions. Genevieve graduated from Monash University, Australia, with a Bachelor of Arts and Business Management, majoring in International Studies and Chinese as a Second Language.
genevieve.ryan@powerscourt-group.comCourtney Sanford is a Senior Consultant in Powerscourt’s Financials & Real Estate team, with eight years experience working on integrated communications programmes for range of businesses – both listed and private. She specialises in campaigns and corporate PR, with sector experience spanning real estate, financial services and professional services.
Courtney.Sanford@powerscourt-group.comMaria is a Senior Consultant in Powerscourt’s Campaigns team. She has ten years of experience leading corporate reputation programmes for clients from a range of sectors – including financial services, energy and consumer goods. She specialises in corporate narrative and thought leadership content development. Her clients have included Coca-Cola, Airbus, Samsung, MATCHESFASHION, Barclaycard, E.ON, SABMiller and Nestlé. She has particular experience advising consumer goods clients on corporate sustainability campaigns, helping them navigate reputational threats around packaging, carbon footprint and supply chains.
Maria.Sizyakova@powerscourt-group.comLuke Thompson is a Senior Consultant in the Special Situations (Crisis & Issues Management) practice. He works with organisations and individuals to navigate and respond to high-risk and high-profile reputational issues and incidents, with a core focus on protecting their commercial interests. He brings over eight years of high-level reputation management experience and has represented a number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals and family offices, including several well-known entrepreneurs. Recent experience includes a three-month secondment in a Head of Media Relations role at a FTSE 250 utility company.
luke.thompson@powerscourt-group.comHarold Amoo is a consultant in Powerscourt’s Public Affairs (PA) team. He studied Politics and Economics and previously worked at Nottinghamshire Refugee Forum, helping asylum seekers find housing. Prior to joining the public affairs team, Harold was a part of Powerscourt’s TMT team and has an understanding of both financial and political communications. His clients include multinational construction and engineering company Laing O’Rourke; author and campaigner Gina Miller; the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, which is the UK’s strategic research hub for industry; and Skype co-founder Janus Friis, who is funding the Official Secrets Acts campaign.
Harold.Amoo@powerscourt-group.comOlli is a consultant in the Consumer Industries team and, since joining Powerscourt, has developed skills and experience in financial PR, reputation management, corporate messaging, crisis preparedness, M&A, sustainability communications and media relations. Oliver’s client list is broad and ranges from FTSE 100 to AIM-listed to private companies across the consumer, retail, technology, banking and industrial sectors.
Oliver.Banks@powerscourt-group.comNatasha joined Powerscourt as a Consultant in October 2023 working in the Financials and Real Estate team. She specialises in financial and corporate communications and focuses on honing brands’ reputations and relationships with the media. Natasha works primarily with banks, private equity firms, and real estate developers but has experience across sectors including the technology, FMCG, and pharmaceutical industries. Natasha has a first class BA Hons degree in English from Cambridge University.
natasha.bragoli@powerscourt-group.comRoxane joined Powerscourt as a consultant in the financials and real estate team in 2021. Prior to joining, she spent over three years working for longstanding multi-specialist financial communications and investors relations firms. Her experience spans financial services, insurance, asset management, and banking. A French national, she has worked on financial communications for a range of domestic and international businesses, both private and listed.
Roxane.Girard@powerscourt-group.comMaddy is a Consultant in Powerscourt’s Financials and Real Estate team. Prior to joining, Maddy worked in PR agency for three years, working with both listed and private clients from a variety of sectors, including real estate, energy and technology. She has worked across both financial and corporate communications, bringing experience in financial calendar management and stakeholder engagement. Before this, Maddy graduated with an MSc from University College London.
madeleine.gordon-foxwell@powerscourt-group.comLouisa is a Consultant in Powerscourt’s Financials and Real Estate team. She has worked on corporate and financial communications for a range of both public and private clients across real estate, construction, financial services and consumer industries. Louisa’s experience has included supporting on sustainability messaging, building brand awareness and growing and advising on owned social media channels.
louisa.henry@powerscourt-group.comMaxim is a Consultant on Powerscourt’s Industrials and Support Services team. His clients range from FTSE 100s (CRH, Fresnillo) to major international sector leaders (Airbus, Ørsted). During his time at Powerscourt he has worked on a number of deals, activist scenarios and crisis situations. Recent work includes SARIA’s £694m acquisition of Devro, Vistry’s £1.25bn acquisition of Countryside Partnerships and Darktrace’s engagement with QCM.
Maxim.Hibbs@powerscourt-group.comIbrahim has over five years’ PR experience, with a particular focus on assisting biotech companies, healthtech and healthcare providers with product PR, NHS engagement, media relations, patient advocacy and crisis communications. Prior to joining Powerscourt, he spent three years at a City PR agency working across healthcare and public affairs, and two years at a PR agency focusing on reputation and crisis and issues management.
Ibrahim.Khalil@powerscourt-group.comBeth is a consultant in the Consumer Industries team, working across a range of B2B and B2C businesses, from FTSE 100 to AIM and private companies. During her time at Powerscourt, Beth has worked on clients such as Greencore, DCC, SSP, AO World, Auto Trader, and Entain, predominantly focusing on financial and corporate communications. She is a graduate from the University of Queensland, where she majored in Media, Communications & Cultural Studies, and has also completed a Professional Publication Relations Certificate with the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.
Bethany.Johannsen@powerscourt-group.comNick joined Powerscourt as a Consultant in April 2022, working with publicly listed and private companies in the Industrials, Support Services and Healthcare Sectors. He joined Powerscourt in April 2022 from a Financial PR & Investor Relations agency in London, where he specialised in Industrials, Support Services, Health-Tech and TMT sectors. He is certified with the IR Society’s Certificate in Investor Relations (CIR), covering Capital Markets, Valuation and Accounting Principles, Reporting, ESG, IR Campaigns and Corporate Governance themes with listed Companies. Nick graduated with an honours degree in History from Cardiff University.
Nicholas.Johnson@powerscourt-group.com
Molly is a consultant in Powerscourt’s Special Situations team. She provides issues management and corporate and financial communications support to a range of corporate and private clients, across a variety of different sectors. Recent work includes advising Airbus on their ongoing $2 billion legal action against Qatar Airways, as well as complex issues management for a leading UK developer, product recalls in the food and beverage industries, and data breaches in several sectors including financial services and transportation.
Molly.Melville@powerscourt-group.comOllie has three years of experience in financial and corporate communications and has worked for a broad range of listed clients including in TMT, retail, logistics and financial services. Current clients include Darktrace, Sir Martin Sorrell’s S4 Capital and several top-tier venture capital firms. Ollie supports the account lead to manage client relationships on a day-to-day basis, implements communication strategies and provides tactical input into key materials. Ollie joined Powerscourt from Headland Consultancy, and before this graduated with an MSc from the London School of Economics.
Ollie.Simmonds@powerscourt-group.comGeorgia is a content writer and corporate storytelling consultant. Prior to joining Powerscourt she created SEO-focused content for corporates, wrote for publications including The Daily Telegraph as a freelance journalist, and worked for an MP during the Brexit negotiations. She holds the Certificate in Investor Relations, as well as degrees from the universities of Cambridge and Manchester.
georgia.way@powerscourt-group.comJourdan is a consultant in Powerscourt’s sustainability practice. She has experience in financial and corporate communications advisory, working with both private and listed businesses in the oil & gas and mining sectors. Jourdan specialises in ESG and sustainability strategy development, reporting, disclosure, and communications. She holds and MSc in Media and Communications from the London School of Economics and has completed the CFA ESG investing Certificate.
Jourdan.Webb@powerscourt-group.comCorey is an Analyst in the Financial Services and Real Estate team. He recently graduated with a degree in Politics from the University of York and previously spent twelve months at Unilever in media relations and sustainability roles. His accounts include private equity firms, banks and real estate operators.
corey.hughes@powerscourt-group.comMichael Keating is an analyst in Powerscourt’s public affairs and campaigns teams. He uses his knowledge of social media ecosystems to provide clients with insight on how online narratives develop over time and influence wider public perceptions. Before joining Powerscourt, Michael worked as an academic researcher, analysing how approaches to press regulation vary across different European countries. He also holds a postgraduate degree in political communications. Michael’s clients include the International Chamber of Commerce UK, Halfords, Primary Health Properties and Azeem Rafiq.
michael.keating@powerscourt-group.comIo is an analyst in the digital engagement team, joining Powerscourt in 2021 from the University of Edinburgh where she studied French and Spanish. She works across Powerscourt’s clients on improving their digital strategy and impact. Her experience in corporate and financial communications underpins her recommendations and strategic outlook.
io.kidson@powerscourt-group.comJoseph has joined the Industrials team as an Analyst. Prior to joining Powerscourt, Joseph was an Assurance Associate at EY working on audits of Asset Management groups. Joseph holds an MSc in Occupational Psychology and a BSc (Hons) in Psychology from the University of Nottingham.
joseph.ratcliff@powerscourt-group.comChristie joined Powerscourt as an Analyst within the Sustainability and Powerscourt 360 Teams in October 2022. Christie holds a First Class Degree in BA (Hons) Geography from the University of Exeter, where her passion for sustainability developed, whilst writing her soon-to-be published dissertation. She is now working towards achieving the FSA Sustainability Accounting qualification. Over the past few years, Christie has enjoyed work experience across a breadth of companies, including DHL Express and Capita Real Estate. She currently provides strategic sustainability communications advice to numerous clients within hard to abate sectors such as the construction, aviation and cleantech industries.
christie.wanstall@powerscourt-group.comChris is an analyst in Powerscourt’s Healthcare team. As the team’s analyst, Chris is responsible for research, media monitoring and account support. He works across our healthcare clients and is responsible for producing our healthcare and medical cannabis media briefings. Chris holds a 2:1 degree in Politics and Economics from the University of Nottingham.
Christopher.Ward@powerscourt-group.comMaria is an analyst in the TMT team covering cybersecurity, AI, and media companies. She joins Powerscourt from Bloomberg and previously graduated with a MSc. in political science and political economy from the LSE.
maria.zander@powerscourt-group.com