In-house corporate affairs news, March 2023

2023 got off to a strong start for senior corporate affairs moves. January saw Louise Shield join M&G plc as their new Group Director of Corporate Affairs. Previously Director of Communications for Responsible Banking at Santander for six years, Louise’s role at Santander has since been filled by Andrew Wilson, formerly a Founding Partner of the strategic communications consultancy Charlotte Street Partners.

Another move in the financial services world saw Sarah Moody join abrdn as their Chief Corporate Affairs and Investor Relations Officer. Prior to the move, Sarah was the Founder and CEO of Future 30 Funds, an investment management company aiming to deliver financial returns to investors over the long-term by investing in environmental technologies.

Continuing the new year, new role trend, Krista Pilot left her role as Senior Vice President of External Communications and Strategy at PepsiCo to join AT&T, the global telecoms company, as their new Chief Communications Officer.

In February, Lindsay Walls joined QinetiQ as Group Communications Director following a successful career with BAE Systems where she was Head of Financial PR, Director of Media Relations and most recently, Director of Strategic Communications.

The arrival of Spring sees Joseph Pickerill join the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change as their new Executive Director, Global Strategic Communications. Joseph was previously Director of Communications for the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and International Trade for the Government of Canada.

Former Executive Director at Camelot, Matt Ridsdale, joined Sky at the end of March as their Group Chief Corporate Affairs Officer. This move comes after Matt spent 11 years agency side with Tavistock and then six years with Camelot where he led the corporate affairs function during a significant period of change for the operator.

Birchwood Knight congratulates everyone on their career moves.  We help CEOs to hire their corporate affairs leaders, and we help corporate affairs directors to hire their direct reports.

If you are considering a career move or hiring for your team, we’d love to hear from you. Click here to get in touch.