Our Team

Anastasia, better known at Champollion as Ana, joined the team soon after receiving her Master’s degree in Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics. She has previously worked as an aide for a Member of the Ukrainian Parliament, assisted in the press office of the European Commission, and written for a political media website.

Ana has in-depth knowledge and expertise of the British and international media landscape, having worked on a spectrum of client campaigns and secured TV, radio and press coverage in national and regional outlets. She is particularly experienced in preparing spokespeople and case studies for newspaper and broadcast interviews.

Since joining Champollion, Ana has built on her interest in British and EU policy-making to become well-versed in policy areas of criminal justice, disability, women’s issues and microfinance. Originally from Ukraine, Ana is a keen linguist and has a strong understanding of Russian and Eastern European culture, history and politics.

Laura joined Champollion during the very early days of the company and, as a shareholder, has played a major role in the growth and expansion of the business. Previously a senior broadcast journalist in news and current affairs, Laura has produced flagship programmes like BBC1’s Question Time, Dispatches and 30 Minutes for Channel 4. Before her career in the media, Laura was the Deputy Press Secretary to the former leader of the Liberal Democrats, Charles Kennedy, for whom she was also the official press officer during his successful party leadership campaign in 1999.

An experienced communications professional, Laura manages several of our largest public policy clients, and is responsible for strategic thinking and managing our team to ensure high class delivery across all media disciplines. As part of a unique scheme that is offered to all staff at Champollion, Laura enjoyed a lengthy sabbatical in Belize, taking part in a marine conservation programme on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef.

Simon established Champollion in 2005 after a career garnering direct experience of the way the media works. Simon has been fully trained in all media skills and has an enormous array of contacts from his years as both the Social Affairs and the Employment Correspondents of the Financial Times, a political reporter for the BBC and a producer at LWT.

Named in the prestigious list of top 100 public affairs professionals in Britain by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and Total Politics magazine, Simon has a proven track-record as a political strategist and campaign communicator.

He was the Chief Executive of Britain in Europe, a business-led coalition launched in 1999 by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and supported by prominent Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. He has also had senior roles in the Labour Party: he managed Labour's advertising campaign for the 1997 general election and was an adviser to John Prescott MP.

Sam was a Media and Policy Adviser for the Liberal Democrats where he worked closely with David Laws to develop many of the party’s education proposals for the 2010 election manifesto. During the general election campaign, Sam toured the country as a press officer for the leader, Nick Clegg, managing his campaign visits which created strong visual material and reflected the key messages of each day. He also supported the preparation for the historic leaders’ debates, devising strong rebuttals and key lines.

Sam has put his expert knowledge of Parliament and Whitehall to good use at Champollion, supporting clients as they take their campaigns to key Westminster figures. He has managed the organisation of high level roundtables with Secretaries of State as well as securing one-to-one lines of contact with senior civil servants.

Given his expertise in education policy, Sam manages many of Champollion’s clients in this sector. His well-honed media handling skills have enabled him to attract high profile coverage for these clients in flagship outlets including the BBC 6 o’clock News and Radio 4’s Today Programme, as well as the national broadsheets.

Kim Catcheside joined Champollion from the BBC, where she was the education and social policy correspondent for network radio and television since 1997.

Kim is a familiar voice to devotees of Radio 4 as a regular contributor to the award winning “Today” programme. As well as being an experienced journalist and broadcaster, Kim is an expert in UK education and social policy, respected by programme editors and policy makers alike.

Before becoming education and social policy correspondent Kim spent more than ten years as a political correspondent on television and radio for the BBC and ITN. For instance, she was a reporter on the BBC’s flagship political current affairs TV programme “On the Record”, which was renowned for its insider knowledge of Westminster.

Kim is also a trustee for the Charity Finance Director’s Group which is dedicated to improving the way that charities are managed.

Nick’s career focus is on exploring ways in which to widen political participation and help disadvantaged groups gain a stake in society. He has experience of many different aspects of the political process, having worked for an MP in parliament, campaigned and spent time at a centre-left think tank. He therefore has a detailed understanding of the domestic political scene, along with an in-depth knowledge of the international policy landscape as a result of his Master’s in International Relations.

Nick joined Champollion in 2010, delivering high-profile media and building stakeholder awareness for a wide range of clients. He has particular experience in working with trusts and foundations, profiling their own work and the work of their grantees. This has taken him on many adventures, from rescue missions with the RLNI to a day with the donkeys at Hackney City Farm, as well as generating local, national and international coverage for the organisations Nick works with.

A significant shareholder in our business, Becky has been part of the senior team that has built Champollion since its earliest days, after holding senior positions in some of London’s most respected PR consultancies, where she advised leading businesses like Wrigley’s and McDonald’s. Passionate about her work for charitable causes and complex social policy campaigns, she is central to Champollion’s commitment to apply the highest standards of professional consultancy to all of our clients – large and small.

Becky has managed controversial front-page news stories on Guantanamo Bay and Darfur, led a sensitive high-profile public-perception campaign for Girlguiding UK during its centenary, and helped clients become respected media commentators on issues from asylum and immigration to criminal justice and equality.

Becky also runs the operational side of Champollion – taking responsibility for business development, HR, financial management and all the policies and procedures that ensure the company is run to the highest standards. It is her job to look after and develop our company culture, ensuring that our core values remain at the heart of all aspects of our business.

Kathy is responsible for keeping the day-to-day finances of Champollion running smoothly. This is a task she thoroughly enjoys (sad but true).

She is already a qualified bookkeeper, but is also currently studying for an accountancy qualification.

Prior to working at Champollion she spent twelve years working full-time as a bookkeeper in a variety of SME businesses.

From a Master's in International Politics at Cambridge University to a gap year exploring the countries and cultures of Asia, Andrew has always demonstrated a passionate interest in global social, economic and political issues. Eager to translate this interest into a career, Andrew developed an expertise in international public policy at a number of heavyweight Westminster think tanks, including RUSI, where he managed a project on Afghanistan which culminated in a monograph read at the highest level of the United States’ government.

Since joining Champollion in 2010 he has continued to work for internationally focused clients, from contributing to the creative development behind a global index of fear for a leading UK university’s fundraising efforts, to leading the pro bono support provided to a new international gay rights campaign. Andrew’s long term ambition is to contribute to the company’s rapid expansion by taking Champollion international, helping to establish the first office overseas.

Eben has a background in grassroots human rights campaigns. After graduating from the University of Leicester he spent time at Amnesty International and Action for Southern Africa. He has also worked at a digital communications agency.

Since joining Champollion, Eben has supported Scope to reach new audiences through regional and local media, and helped secure the acceptance of Champollion’s first Government e-petition on behalf of the International Consortium of British Pensioners.

Alongside his work for clients, Eben is making use of Champollion’s Graduate Training Programme in order to match his passion for communicating good causes with a wide range of professional skills.

Honda, Airbus, Morrisons, Accenture and Mothercare are just some of the renowned companies Estelle has advised on their public affairs strategies. She has led campaigns on climate change, women in science and engineering, economic regeneration, and the future of UK manufacturing. Estelle has also counselled several foreign governments on their international communications strategy.

After a brief flirtation with a career in law, Estelle was Head of Business Liaison at Britain in Europe, a cross-party, pro-European coalition which was one of the most high profile campaigns of the Blair era. She then joined the UK’s largest public relations group where she rose to become a Director and ran an award-winning political communication team.

Estelle joined Champollion to become a shareholder and to bring her skills, experience and networks to our entrepreneurial and values-led environment.

As well as providing strategic leadership to clients and colleagues, Estelle develops our growth and new business strategy, and brings to our team and our clients the disciplines of delivering complex campaigns across multiple audiences in different countries.

Estelle has lived, studied and worked in the USA and in France. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.

After graduating with a politics degree from the University of Nottingham, Sarah went on to design and implement a constituency-wide campaign for the Labour Party at the 2010 General Election. She also worked for a number of MPs in a research capacity on issues of social cohesion and development in Africa.

Since joining Champollion, Sarah has used her in-depth knowledge of the Labour Party to provide political insight to client campaigns and her knowledge of Westminster and Whitehall to organise a number of policy events including for the Trust for London on domestic violence, and for the Transition to Adulthood Alliance on young adults in the criminal justice system. On a day-to-day basis she supports our consultants with raising the profile of our clients through the media or engaging with key stakeholders.

Sarah has also been instrumental in developing the Graduate Training Programme that ensures excellence amongst our junior team.

Hamir graduated from the University of Bristol with a Master’s in International Relations. He has always had a keen interest in current affairs, and following his studies he wanted to engage with issues that had a visible, and direct, impact on people’s lives. This led him to become involved with grassroots politics, volunteering at the 2010 general election for his local Liberal Democrat candidate in what turned out to be the closest three-way marginal in the country. This experience, and his subsequent work at another communications agency, helped him realise the potential of communications to bridge the gap between policy and people’s lives.

He maintains his interest in international affairs, and at Champollion works across a range of both domestic and foreign clients, monitoring the media, advising on strategy and messaging, and helping to reach different target audiences.

He has also been seconded as a founding member of staff for our sister agency, Champollion Digital, which ensures integration in our work to bring public policy expertise to the online world.

Nav has experience of both Westminster and Whitehall, having worked for the Home Office and as a policy adviser to the Liberal Democrats, where her specialist policy areas were transport, housing, local government and equalities. Nav played a key part in the drafting of the 2010 Liberal Democrat manifesto, as well as helping to establish and lead the campaign on Body Confidence, along with MPs Jo Swinson and Lynne Featherstone.

At Champollion Nav has a particular focus on women’s and equalities issues, working with organisations like Platform 51, Scope and the Equality Trust. She has extensive experience of working with the media on sensitive issues, from domestic violence to mental health, finding and preparing case studies for both national and regional media. In addition, Nav has expertise in successfully generating support for grassroots campaigns.

Helen is an experienced communications consultant who has been in senior positions at a number of leading consultancies. She has worked on a range of clients across the arts, cultural and charity sectors, including Museums and Galleries Month, and Arts Council England’s Decibel Programme which aimed to increase diversity in performing arts. In addition, Helen has led communications strategies for international clients such as Abu Dhabi International Book Fair and the Shanghai Cultural Development Foundation.

At Champollion Helen uses her experience and contacts to manage campaigns and develop strategy for a range of UK and international clients.

Having joined Champollion as an intern five years ago, Frida is now a shareholder, a Senior Consultant responsible for managing some of our most important work, and currently serving as Deputy Managing Director while Becky Hewitt is on maternity leave.

As a Senior Consultant Frida manages some of our highest profile campaigns and specialises in working with organisations which have a particular branding or perception problem they need to address. These have included the launch of the Girlguiding UK Centenary celebrations, the complete rebrand of the YWCA which re-launched as Platform 51, and managing the vast media interest in the return of Guantanamo detainees to Britain. Frida has expertise in analysing and shifting public perception, and supporting organisations to reposition themselves in the minds of key stakeholders, the media and the public.

Frida is also experienced in leading international human rights and development campaigns. In 2009 she joined charity Jubilee Action on a visit to Haiti to look at issues around child exploitation and trafficking. She has worked extensively with African based organisations, generating front page coverage and influencing international policy makers.

Prior to working at Champollion Frida worked for a FTSE 100 company, a local authority, in Parliament, and for the research team at the homelessness charity Crisis.