Jonathan Haslam and Sheree Dodd are highly experienced, professional communications specialists.
They have worked together as associates on big projects such as the Office of the Policyholder Advocate and the Global Diabetes Forum held on the eve of the International Diabetes Federation’s World Congress.
In 2015 they decided to seek out new business opportunities together, concentrating on high-level strategic communications advice.
Jonathan Haslam was formerly Chief Press Secretary to then Prime Minister John Major and worked in No 10 for over six years. His twenty-year government career included the Department of Trade and Industry, Home Office, and the Department of Education and Employment, where he was David Blunkett’s first Director of Communications.
He was a member of the Scott Inquiry Unit at the Cabinet Office and was responsible for designing the Government’s communications response to the Arms to Iraq inquiry.
In the private sector he took the lead role in rebuilding the reputation of the London Metal Exchange following the Hamanaka copper fraud. He led the mission to explain the Jarvis plc turnaround story from near bankruptcy to the debt for equity exchange of 2005.
Jonathan is Managing Director of Haslamedia Ltd, a specialist communications consultancy dealing with complex financial, corporate and governmental affairs, including the Aviva reattribution project on behalf of the Office of the Policyholder Advocate.
He has wide experience of the private equity/venture capital sector. Jonathan is a Senior Adviser to Smith Square Partners, a corporate finance advisory firm, and works with a number of individuals providing communications and business coaching support.
He is joint managing director of Pitch-Perfect, a presentation and media training business. He appears regularly as a reviewer and commentator on Sky News and has assisted Sky and the CBI with high profile appointments.
Sheree Dodd is a former Director of Communications at the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Deputy Director at DWP and Head of News at the Northern Ireland Office (NIO). She offers a powerful combination of experience in leading complex communications activity as well as national media practice.
Sheree has successfully handled a wide range of high-profile media campaigns. Former clients with complex communication needs include the House of Commons Commission, which she advised throughout the MPs’ expenses scandal, and the Sentencing Guidelines Council.
She is currently communications adviser to the Groceries Code Adjudicator, whose role regulating the relationship between suppliers and supermarkets is high on the political agenda.
Another recent role of note was as interim policy director for an international NGO, the International Diabetes Federation, based in Brussels. There her responsibilities included supporting advocacy, messaging and programmes when non-communicable diseases were a United Nations and World Health Organisation priority.
Her practical experience and personal communication skills also ensure she is in demand as a trainer and coach in policy-making, strategic thinking, communications, campaigning and writing skills, including speechwriting. She has also coached individuals in the private and public sectors in preparation for significant public appearances.