Tune in to the Spin Unspun podcast

Episode 10

A leading framework for Corporate Affairians – Alex Cole of the Ithaca Centre

After 20 years leading corporate affairs for three multinational organisations, Alex Cole is dedicated to developing her peers and successors to become better “corporate affairians” at the Ithaca Centre for Corporate Affairs Leadership. From a career beginning in politics, working under Jack Straw, to honing her craft at the likes of Bupa, Sainsbury’s and Cadbury Schweppes, Alex tells us about her newest passion, helping directors of communications and corporate affairs succeed with the help of the Ithaca Leadership Framework.

In the  final episode of Season 2, Damian is joined by Jeremy Durrant, Instinctif’s Chief UK Media Strategist, hearing Alex’s wisdom from her broad career and insights at the top of corporate affairs.

Episode 9

Matt Grayson of Redrow on football and housebuilding

What have Premier League football and housebuilding got in common when it comes to comms? Matt Grayson knows thanks to a career that has taken him from Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club, to Redrow via a stint in banking with HBOS.

In this episode Matt talks about how football and homes lie at the heart of communities and what communicating effectively with fans and homeowners has taught him. He discusses the ups and downs of life in the Premier League and the frustrations and opportunities for housebuilders. 

Episode 8

Banking on reputation – with Andrew Walton of Lloyds Banking Group

In banking, trust is the key commodity. Andrew Walton, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Lloyds Banking Group, shares his insight into managing reputation and effective communications at a time when banking is once again under intense scrutiny. What lessons have been learnt from successive banking crises? What are the key reputation issues that banks face? How is Lloyds differentiating itself? What makes a great communications leader?

Episode 7

Communications and the Law – Jo Sanders & Tom Rudkin

Corporate affairs professionals increasingly work alongside lawyers to manage the reputations and communications strategies for companies and individuals. Damian speaks to leading reputation and media lawyers, Jo Sanders, Partner at Withers Worldwide, and Tom Rudkin, Partner at Farrer & Co to find out the limits of libel, how injunctions work, the reality of “public interest” defences, the SLAPPs debate, how to handle leaks, and how comms professionals and legal teams best work together.

Episode 6

Corporate Affairs on a global scale – with Unilever’s Paul Matthews

Starting as a journalist, Paul Matthews was headhunted from a travel PR agency to work at Unilever in 2008. After 15 years, Paul now heads communications at the global brands giant and this episode reveals what it takes to lead corporate affairs across 190 countries worldwide. Paul shares his views on Unilever’s commitment to sustainable living and the challenges of getting the message right to diverse stakeholders and what he’s learned from the issues the company has faced in recent years.

Episode 5

From advising Boards to being a member of them – with Rebecca Shelley

Rebecca’s long and varied career at the forefront of corporate affairs has seen her take the helm for reputation at The Prudential, Tesco and TP ICAP. She has tackled the thorniest issues in financial communications and investor relations, the knottiest problems in corporate affairs and communications and a welter of crises and issues that have hit some of Britain’s biggest boardrooms. In episode 5 of Spin Unspun, Rebecca discusses these and many other topics including how she has transferred her skills into the world of NEDs with three PLC directorships.

Episode 4

Vodafone, values and being a trusted advisor – with Nicki Lyons

Before becoming Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Vodafone UK, Nicki worked for Walgreen Boots Alliance, PepsiCo, Unilever and a stint in government communications. Here she talks to Damian Reece and his Instinctif co-host Katie Gabriel about her fascinating career on both sides of the Atlantic. She discusses authenticity, the weight of responsibility as a corporate affairs lead and the skill of brilliant messaging.

Episode 3

Reputation and communications in healthcare with Rupert Gowrley of Bupa

How did the COVID-19 pandemic impact the healthcare sector’s reputation? Where is the public versus private healthcare debate going? What is the role of corporate affairs in healthcare? Rupert Gowrley, Director of Corporate Affairs at Bupa, discusses these questions and much more in conversation with Damian Reece and his Instinctif co-host, Dulcie Keates-Miles in our latest episode.

Episode 2

An appetite for sustainability – with Sam Fulton of Nomad Foods

Damian and his co-host Annabelle Duke speak to Sam Fulton, Director of Corporate Affairs at consumer goods giant Nomad Foods, which owns brands including Birds Eye and Findus.

Drawing on her experience at Nomad, Apple, Kellogg’s, Nestlé and McDonald’s, Sam discusses making it in corporate affairs and the increasingly heated debate about corporate approaches to ESG.

Episode 1

Booze makers, banks and brokers – a life in corporate affairs with Aviva’s Stephen Doherty

In our first episode, Damian Reece and co-host Ellie Day speak to Aviva’s Chief Brand and Corporate Affairs Officer, Stephen Doherty, about his career in communications.

From managing issues at Diageo, the hugely successful drinks giant, to dealing with the fall-out from several high profile crises and issues at at Barclays bank, Stephen has been central to many dramatic stories that go to the heart of reputation management.