Complexity, clarity and a cast of thousands
A high-stakes digital transformation. A dispersed frontline workforce. And very little room for error.
A large-scale digital programme was fundamentally transforming the systems and processes used by thousands of frontline colleagues working across sites throughout the UK and Europe - people operating in high-pressure, security-critical environments where getting change right carried significant national importance.
Brought in as communications lead at a critical point in the programme's deployment phase, I worked as part of a multi-disciplinary team to translate a technically complex transformation into clear, practical communications that helped colleagues understand what was changing, why it mattered, and what it meant for how they worked day to day.
Central to the approach was a structured stakeholder engagement strategy, change impact and readiness assessments, and the development of a change champion network across sites throughout the UK and Europe - equipping local leads to communicate change consistently and confidently at frontline level.
The programme was subsequently recognised internally for its rigorous and structured approach to change management and, in particular, for its success in building genuine stakeholder confidence in the systems and processes colleagues were being asked to adopt. In 2024, the team received a prestigious internal award for its approach - a submission I’m proud to have written as it gave the change team the kudos it so richly deserved.
The challenge: Thousands of frontline colleagues. Security-critical environments. A non-desk-based workforce with every reason to be cautious - and a country to keep safe while they adapted.
Led communications for a high-profile, multi-site Government digital transformation programme across the UK and Europe
Supported an established change champion network with materials, guidance and hands-on coaching - giving local leads the confidence to land change consistently at frontline level
Coached and developed a civil servant communications team, individually and collectively
Wrote the award-winning internal submission that gave the Business Change team the recognition it deserved (2024)
The challenge: Winning hearts and minds in a sector that runs on passion, yet demands regulatory precision.
Built an internal PR & communications function from scratch in an organisation that had none
Managed external reputation across consumer review platforms, responding with care and sensitivity in a sector where pet owners are deeply emotionally invested
Led colleague communications for a new workforce management system - with empathy and care for a deeply people-centred workforce
Provided clear, visible leadership communication throughout Covid, maintaining colleague confidence at a deeply uncertain time
A sector like no other
2,200 colleagues. 300+ practices. One new communications function. And a pandemic thrown in for good measure.
When I joined this leading veterinary group, communications amounted to a single PR consultant writing and placing press releases. There was no internal communications capability, no consistent colleague narrative and no established way of engaging a workforce of 2,200 people across 300+ emotionally connected practices. My job was to change that.
Working closely with the leadership team, I built a communications function that could hold up under pressure - and there was plenty of it. The introduction of Quinyx, a new workforce management system, required careful, empathetic communication with a frontline workforce for whom change to their working lives was deeply personal.
When the Covid pandemic hit, I worked directly with the leadership team to maintain clarity, reassurance and visible leadership at a moment when colleagues across hundreds of practices needed both.
Throughout, I helped the organisation build genuine internal confidence and raise its external profile - work that contributed to a period of significant reputational growth ahead of a £1bn+ sale.
When everything changes at once
Helping 300 people make sense of change that touched every part of their organisation
Whole-organisation transformation is one of the hardest things to communicate. When structure, roles, culture and ways of working are all shifting simultaneously, colleagues can quickly lose their sense of where things are heading - and why.
Embedded within the transformation team at a national innovation agency, I worked as an integral part of the programme - not alongside it - helping leadership build a narrative that was honest, credible and grounded in colleague experience. Not spin. Not corporate messaging. A story people could actually believe in.
That meant working closely with senior leaders to shape messaging, develop engagement approaches and create the practical materials that helped change land consistently across the organisation - while keeping a careful ear to how colleagues were feeling throughout.
The result was a communications approach that gave colleagues the context and confidence to engage with significant change - and gave leaders a clear, coherent voice throughout a complex and demanding period.
The challenge: Every part of the organisation shifting simultaneously. Change that needed to feel honest, not managed.
Embedded within the transformation team to develop a narrative that was credible, human and grounded in colleague experience
Worked closely with senior leaders to shape messaging, tone and approach throughout a complex and demanding programme
Developed the practical materials and engagement approaches that helped change land consistently across the organisation
The challenge: Dozens of independently-minded practices. One shared identity still finding its feet. And a leadership team that needed a stronger, wider voice.
Worked closely with the CEO and COO to develop board-level narrative and leadership communications
Built and launched a SharePoint intranet from scratch - giving 500 colleagues across 23 practices a shared home for the first time
Developed a programme of internal communications designed to bring a disparate, acquisition-built workforce together under a single, coherent company identity
Shifted the organisation away from CEO-only communication, coaching managers across the business to communicate with confidence in their own right
Before the story can be told, someone has to build the stage
Creating the communications foundations for a newly launched veterinary community from the ground up
Kin launched in 2023 with a compelling vision - a different kind of veterinary community, built on collaboration, shared values and genuine belonging. What it didn't yet have was the infrastructure to bring that vision to life internally.
I was brought in to build it. That meant developing an internal communications strategy, creating the processes and frameworks that would give the organisation a consistent voice, and designing and delivering a SharePoint intranet that gave around 500 colleagues across 23 practices a shared home - a place for updates, resources and community connection.
A key part of the work was helping the organisation move beyond a model where all communication flowed from the CEO - developing a wider leadership voice and equipping managers across the business to communicate with clarity and confidence in their own right. Building that kind of distributed communication culture is as much about trust and coaching as it is about toolkits and channels.
Alongside the infrastructure, I worked with the Executive team to shape board-level narrative and develop the leadership materials that supported that shift.
Foundational work rarely gets the glory. But without it, nothing else holds together.