Our consultants have worked in politics, business, charities and the public sector. They have a mixture of media and political experience. Some have backgrounds in consultancy; others have joined from in house communications roles or from different walks of life. Each of our clients has a dedicated account team with an appropriate balance of skills and experience.
Simon is co-founder of Linstock Communications and leads its financial and professional services practice. He also works on a number of Linstock’s education clients. Simon advises investment service Interactive Investor, the Association of Independent Financial Advisers (AIFA), and Durham University. He has also completed projects for the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) and Reed Elsevier.
Prior to Linstock, Simon was a director at Gavin Anderson & Company where he led the UK corporate communications practice. He helped devise and implement campaigns for The Hartford Financial Services Group, Morley Fund Management and American Express.
Previously, Simon worked at an issues management consultancy where he ran programmes that demonstrated the benefits of public/private collaboration. He helped the NHS and Telewest launch the UK’s first interactive health service accessible via television. He also completed a risk communications project for the Food Standards Agency in partnership with Business Schools at Leeds and Manchester University.
Simon is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (MCIPR) and holds a BA in Politics from the University of Nottingham.
Jon is a founding director of Linstock Communications and has more than fifteen year’s experience in corporate communications and public affairs. His sectors of expertise include local government, the built environment and financial services. He directs public relations, public affairs and full service marketing campaigns.
Jon was previously director of communications for England’s Regional Development Agencies (RDAs). He helped the nine RDAs handle communication issues surrounding job creation, enterprise, skills and workforce development, physical regeneration, sustainability and tourism. He has a strong track record in helping trade bodies and partnerships agree and work towards common communications goals and has devised campaigns that work at local, regional and national levels.
Jon steers Linstock’s work for clients including Commercial Estates Group, Regional Cities East and a number of local authorities. Other major organisations he has represented include Aviva, John Lewis, Rathbones Unit Trust Management and the Urban Task Force.
Jon holds the CAM Higher Diploma and a Geography degree from Cambridge University, where he specialised in urban development and economics.
Keith is a corporate and financial communications consultant with over a decade of experience advising companies across a broad range of communication requirements. He is a financial services specialist and currently gives counsel to clients including Interactive Investor and the Association of Independent Financial Advisers (AIFA). Keith is a Director at Linstock Communications.
Keith has a PR agency background and prior to joining Linstock worked for Powerscourt and Gavin Anderson & Company respectively. Here he advised clients such as the Bank of Ireland, The Hartford, National Australia Bank, and eSpeed / BGC. He has developed a specialism in helping foreign financial services companies build a strong media presence in the UK market through profile raising and thought leadership programmes.
Keith also has extensive experience advising clients on investor relations issues and communicating with financial audiences. He has advised private and listed UK companies on IPOs, acquisitions and restructurings.
After an informal association dating back to the company’s inception, Nicholas joined Linstock Communications as non-executive Chairman in 2011.
His experience in the communications sector is substantial. Between 1995 and 2000 he worked for issues management consultancy Luther Pendragon, becoming Managing Partner before leaving to join WPP subsidiary Metro Broadcast as CEO. He remained a non-executive director of Luther Pendragon, helping to steer the company through its 2005 management buyout, while transforming the fortunes of Metro Broadcast over a 5-year period.
In 2001, he helped found g+ europe, an EU affairs consultancy based in Brussels, serving as a non-executive director. After 5 years of rapid organic growth, the company sold a controlling stake to Omnicom Inc. and a year later, Nicholas swapped his non-executive role for an executive one, helping to ensure a successful outcome to the earnout process. He stayed on for a further year, guiding the company through its transition to second generation leadership, before returning to the UK.
Since starting his working life as a management consultant in the 1980s, Nicholas has made a career out of growing and nurturing small businesses. He is currently Managing Director of The Imaginarium, an independent film studio, and a non-executive director of Maintel Holdings Plc, a telecoms company. He is also a fellow of the RSA.
Tony has ten year’s experience in media relations and public affairs. At Linstock, Tony is responsible for managing many of its financial services clients. Linstock’s financial clients include the Association of Independent Financial Advisers (AIFA), Honister Capital, Interactive Investor, and Moneywise.
Tony has helped position fund supermarket Interactive Investor as the champion of retail investors with extensive coverage in the national personal finance media. Tony has assisted AIFA to champion the views of its members through engagement with Government and the regulator. Tony has also helped The Hartford to launch The Facing Retirement Forum, a new initiative to tackle the needs of the older generation. The Forum was launched at King’s College London with ex-Pensions Minister David Willetts MP.
At Linstock Tony also works in the local government sector and has gained recognition across Government for Regional Cities East and worked with a number of other local authorities.
Prior to Linstock, Tony has worked as senior researcher to David Ruffley MP, the Shadow Minister for Welfare Reform, Shadow Home Secretary David Davis MP and also the Shadow Transport Minister Greg Knight MP. Tony has a degree in British Politics and Legislative Studies from the University of Hull.
Lucia keeps our office running smoothly, by liaising with clients and partners, managing diaries and organising events. Lucia also works for a number of Linstock’s clients that are targeting diverse ethnic groups. Before coming to work at Linstock, she worked in the property sector in both the UK and Slovakia. Lucia has a Masters Degree in Economics from the University of Bratislava.
John has extensive experience of policy making, political processes and media relations. At Linstock, he works on campaigns for the Association of Independent Financial Advisers (AIFA), Durham University, and Treloar School and College.
Prior to Linstock, John worked in the Liberal Democrat’s Policy and Research Unit (PRU) as a political adviser. He worked across a number of portfolio areas, placing headline stories in the national media. His stories covered issues such as hospital acquired infections, for The Sunday Times, and the carbon footprint of Government, for The Independent. John has contributed articles on education and environment policy issues to trade, regional and national press. During his time in the PRU, John worked on the Liberal Democrats successful anti-homophobic bullying campaign. He also drafted a policy motion on the natural environment which has become a cornerstone of Liberal Democrat policy.
John has a BA in Politics from Exeter University.
Tariq Khwaja is an associate consultant with Linstock, with 18 year’s experience of advising public and private sector clients.
Today, Tariq works for economic development agencies, local authorities and government departments as well as commercial companies. His expertise lies in communications strategy, media relations, crisis communications and consultation exercises. He is also one of the few consultants in the country with expertise in Gypsy and Traveller issues.
Tariq turns complex briefs into astute, no-nonsense strategies – and complex information into simple messages.
Tariq is a Member of the CIPR with an MA from Oxford. He was previously MD of top 15 UK consultancy August One Communications and has headed communications for Microsoft.
Professor John Maule is a Linstock Associate. John is Professor for Human Decision Making at Leeds University Business School where he runs the Centre for Decision Research.
John has an international reputation for research in behavioural economics, risk communications, and the effects of emotion on decision making. John divides his time between teaching MBA students and providing consultancy and research services to public and private organisations.
John has worked with the likes of Defra, FSA, DWP, Unilever and Yorkshire Bank looking at their organisational decision making processes and ways of improving them. He advises on communications campaigns, runs training courses and provides coaching to senior executives. John is also a regular media commentator in the regional and national media.
John is an Associate fellow of the British Psychological Society and a Chartered Psychologist. He was previously President of the European Association of Decision Making (EADM).
Ashnoor is an Associate at Linstock Communications and has a wealth of experience and understanding of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) and hard to reach communities in the UK. She recently led the Office for National Statistics campaign to encourage those from BME audiences to respond to the 2011 Census.
Ashnoor has worked within the ethnic media industry for nearly fifteen years. Her first role was as PR and Events executive for the UK’s largest Asian satellite channel, Zee TV back in 1997.
After completing three years at ZEE, Ashnoor went freelance and worked on the PR and marketing for a number of projects including The International Indian Film Awards (UK Indian Oscars) as well as concerts, book launches and networking events.
In 2002, she joined Media Moguls and became a key member of the team handling all event management, marketing and PR for major clients including the FCO Forced Marriage campaign, Learndirect, Defra, UK Transplant Organ Donation campaign, Lloyds TSB India Banking Service and The Merchants of Bollywood amongst a host of others.
She has a strong understanding and relationship with all key media within the ethnic marketplace and her grasp of audience needs and habits allows her to tailor media campaigns across all generations.
Ashnoor has a BSc in Business Studies with Social Policy.
Tom has four years’ consultancy experience and has developed media relations for a range of clients across professional and financial services, private equity and commercial property. At Linstock Tom works on campaigns for Grant Thornton International, Interactive Investor and PDL International.
Prior to joining Linstock, Tom worked at Mattison Public Relations where he proactively generated media interest on issues including overseas takeovers of British companies, the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) and investment in small and medium sized businesses. Tom worked closely with UHY Hacker Young, a top 20 accountancy firm, and City law firm, Trowers & Hamlins, to raise their profiles as experts and thought leaders in the field of corporate finance. He also advised Wedlake Bell, a City law firm, on their commentary across merger and aquisitions activity in the UK.
Tom has a BA in Journalism, Film and Broadcasting from Cardiff University.
Murtaza Shibli is a Linstock Associate. He is a trainer, writer and consultant on Muslim issues in Europe and South Asia. He has worked as a journalist and as a security and emergency aid consultant in Kashmir, India, Pakistan and Iran. He recently worked for the Muslim Council of Britain as Public Affairs and Media Officer. Murtaza is also the editor of 7/7: Muslim Perspectives, a book that explores the British Muslim reaction to the London bombings.
As a journalist in Kashmir, Murtaza interviewed scores of resistance and militant/terrorist leaders, along with some Afghan jihad veterans. He has written a monograph on Hizbul Mujahideen, the largest guerilla resistance group in Kashmir, which was added to European Union’s terrorist organisations in December 2005. He has an MSc. in violence, conflict and development from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London; and an MA in Mass Communication and Journalism from the University of Kashmir.
Jo has four years’ consultancy experience and has worked with clients across a variety of sectors including financial & professional services, public services and travel. At Linstock Jo works on campaigns for the Design Council, SCONUL and PDL International.
Prior to becoming a Consultant at Linstock, Jo worked at Flagship Consulting where she advised on campaigns to generate media interest and public awareness for a diverse range of clients including a pensions consultant, employment law experts, an anti-malarial bednet manufacturer and an online travel agent. She managed a busy press office for leading independent pensions and benefits consultant Hymans Robertson and worked with Sumitomo Chemical, manufacturers of the Olyset Net anti-malarial bednet, to raise awareness of the role of bednets in malaria prevention amongst the health and development community.
Jo heads up the digital and social media activity at Linstock, having advised a range of clients on subjects including social media management, website content and search engine optimisation. She has also worked on media training and crisis management planning for professional and public service providers.
Jo has a BA in Theology from Exeter University.
Bieneosa is a Linstock Associate. She recently provided consultancy services to Linstock Communications on its communications campaign to raise awareness of the 2011 Census among Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups in the UK.
Bieneosa is a specialist in communicating with BME audiences. She has worked with a range of organisations including the Home Office, Thomas Eggar LLP, The Big Lottery Fund, Costa Coffee, Starbucks and Milestone Restaurants, providing strategic consultancy to build profiles, develop messaging and engage with key stakeholders. Prior to consultancy Bieneosa led an award winning team as a communications manager for McDonalds.
As a leading advocate for diversity in the public relations industry, Bieneosa has written the Chartered Institute of Public Relations’ skills guide on multi-cultural communications and is Chairperson for Ignite, a network to drive forward the benefits of cultural diversity in public relations. She is also an Associate at Leeds Metropolitan University’s ‘Centre for Research into Diversity in the Professions’.
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