Louise Mason-Rutherford has joined Blakeney as a director, meaning we have more than doubled our headcount since the start of the pandemic, from 10 in March 2020 to 23 as of this week.
Louise was previously a director at Citigate Dewe Rogerson. Before that, she was a partner at Portland, and before that a director at Buchanan.
Blakeney’s growth is thanks to the expansion of existing accounts across the energy, property and other sectors, plus substantial new wins including a brief with Virgin Money won in April this year; another with property developer St Modwen, also in the spring; and environmental change group Systemiq.
Louise Mason-Rutherford, director at Blakeney“I’m delighted to be joining a firm which is rapidly becoming a leader in corporate communications. I’m excited to get stuck in with clients both in the energy and industry space, which has long been a specialism for me, as well as applying my experience from those challenging and at times contentious industries to other Blakeney clients.”
Other hires in recent weeks are associate director Anthony Pickles, previously Welsh Conservatives chief of staff and head of tourism affairs at VisitBritain/VisitEngland; senior account manager Joe Vinson, previously a consultant to Progressive Britain; account manager Joseph Howe, formerly a senior parliamentary assistant; and account executive Claire Isenegger, a graduate of Wesleyan University in the US.
Blakeney has built up a roster of clients attracted by its strategic focus, and ability to counsel clients on large-scale issues and achieve significant results. Blakeney has also made investments in senior hires throughout the Covid pandemic, bringing in Lizzie Loudon, previously of Hanbury and a spad to Theresa May in Downing Street; as well as Rolls-Royce Motor Cars’ global head of digital PR Terence Church, as head of digital.
Jonathan Lomax, managing director of Blakeney“Because of our performance through the last 18 months, Blakeney can now rightly consider itself part of the top-tier of independent corporate specialists in the UK. While this period has been challenging, we have continued to make investments in talent, and this has fuelled our growth. We know that Louise, and other exciting new hires in the pipeline, will continue that trajectory."