Simon Brooke
Simon has 25 years’ experience in communications training and development. He is a media interview and presentation coach, as well as teaching both presentation writing and delivery. He is also a freelance journalist and editor working for most of the national newspapers as well as various specialist publications on subjects ranging from travel, business and management to marketing, education, the environment and property. Simon has over 17 years media coaching experience, having worked for a wide variety of blue chip clients including Visa, British Airways, RBS, GSK, Gatwick Airport, PwC, EDF Energy and Nissan as well as various law firms, charities, professional associations and health service organisations to help them to develop, test and communicate their corporate messages. As Head of Broadcasting at the Conservative Party, Simon trained senior politicians to appear on television and radio and to handle media interviews. Simon has worked in many areas of the media, having started his career in financial and corporate public relations at Broad Street Associates where his clients included British Airways and Saatchi & Saatchi amongst others, before joining the in-house PR department at W H Smith, where he specialised in investor relations plus issue and crisis management. The author of two novels and a book on management techniques published last year called Be Bulletproof How to Achieve Success in Tough Times at Work, Simon writes speeches, corporate brochures and promotional materials for a variety of organisations and helps executives write and deliver effective reports and presentations.
Gail Downey
Gail Downey is an experienced journalist and broadcaster who has used those skills to support clients with media training. She has worked across a wide range of sector from health to finance working with groups and individuals to help them build confidence and understand what to do in a crisis situation.
Gail has worked both in the UK and abroad running media training and presentation courses. She has worked as a broadcaster for both BBC radio and TV and ITV news including presenting business programmes and specialises in live broadcasting for networks all over the world. Gail is also a documentary filmmaker producing films for the BBC – most recently about stem cell research for rheumatoid arthritis.
Her media training has included helping organisations build their corporate communications strategy together with running digital publicity campaigns from the Department of Health to manufacturers wanting to reach a global audience.
David Fanthorpe
David has more then twenty years’ experience of public affairs consultancy. Unusually, he has worked on both sides of the political/policy divide: initially, after graduating from Oxford with a degree in Classics, he worked as a Whitehall civil servant and later as a senior adviser at Conservative Party HQ. He became deputy director of the Conservative Research Department and advised Party Chairmen and Ministers, briefing them for media appearances and writing briefing materials and policy papers. He has also been a local councillor and Parliamentary candidate, and chaired a local constituency party.
As a consultant he has advised a wide range of businesses, large and small, as well as public bodies and third sector organisations. He has a particular interest in Parliamentary procedure and the work of Select Committees.
Syerramia Willoughby Ohene
As well as providing media training, Syerramia is our podcasting maestro and one of our experienced business writing experts. She was a radio presenter and producer for BBC Radio Sport and BBC World Service Africa producing live programmes, sporting events, features and documentaries for a variety of BBC outlets.
Syerramia is also a guest lecturer in broadcast journalism at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
Gareth Sinclair
Gareth Sinclair’s career has encompassed senior management roles across the public and private sectors. Now, he manages Communicate Media and works closely with our trainers to ensure every aspect of customer relations and account management like clockwork.
He’s also one of our experienced presentation coaches, using speechwriters’ skills and actor’s techniques to help people from the C-suite down across all sectors to deliver compelling, professional and memorable presentations.
Siân Jones
Siân Jones is a highly experienced presentations, webcast, media and communications trainer who helps others exude confidence in the spotlight whether they are presenting on stage, on camera or on line. She prides herself in her ability to bring out the very best in individuals when it comes to making an impact. As a trainer, she utilises her 15 years experience presenting on camera, producing, writing and acting, giving her a unique perspective on what it takes to create and deliver compelling presentations.
Her training extends to hundreds of clients in the public and private sector in the UK and abroad. Siân coaches and trains CEOs and Senior Executives as well as conducting group workshops for larger corporate teams. A sample of clients include Nationwide, Ely Lily, Novartis, HSBC, NHS, Vodafone, BT, Marie Curie, Control Risks, NATO, Lockheed Martin, Porsche, Lewis Silkin, Berwick Partners, JP Morgan, Cap Gemini, Deloitte, Schroders and Cancer Research UK.