Toto Reissland is a Senior Director specialising in financial services and corporate communications. She advises public and private companies on all aspects of their strategic communications – including corporate positioning, internal communications, crisis situations and capital raising.
Over a career spanning fifteen years, Toto has a developed a strong track record of supporting companies at all stages of their growth to build and protect their reputation and help them navigate change.
Toto joined Hawthorn in 2024. Prior to this, she helped found the financial services practice at a London-based public relations agency. Toto studied English Literature at Cambridge University.
Outside of Hawthorn, Toto enjoys crime novels, making ambitious lists, rearranging her bookshelves and exploring the Yorkshire dales.
Patrick is an intern who graduated from Cardiff University in 2023 with a 2:1 in Politics and International Relations. Patrick recently completed an internship at a Scottish PR agency working with non-profit charities and sustainable energy clients. He also gained work experience at the British Council, the international cultural and educational opportunities NGO aiding with reports on refugee aid in Europe.
At Cardiff he helped run the Cardiff Boxing Society as Vice President, putting on three shows that raised money for Women’s Aid and Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. He also competed for the club on an amateur level.
Outside of work he is a keen writer and editor of poetry, running his own independent poetry publishing house during lockdown called The London Poetry Collective which published over 20 poets globally. He is also a keen fan of Arsenal football club, cooking and rugby.
Giulia joined Hawthorn as an Analyst in April 2024.
Prior to Hawthorn, Giulia worked in the Press Relations Office at Kering’s headquarters in Paris, and was directly involved with cultural, financial, and corporate communications for the Group. Previously, she had worked at the 78th Venice International Film Festival, where she managed client relations in a dynamic international community.
Giulia graduated from the University of Oxford with a degree in Classics, during which she especially enjoyed studying ancient philosophical texts.
She grew up in Milan and speaks Italian, English, and French. Giulia is passionate about fashion and modern art, and loves travelling in her free time.
Richard has grown and protected the reputations of globally renowned brands, prominent business leaders and high-net-worth individuals. He has worked across a range of sectors and counselled clients including Netflix, Snapchat, KPMG, Heathrow, Universal Music and many more.
A former journalist and broadcaster, Richard began his career at the Daily Telegraph before joining the production team at Sky News, where he eventually became an on-screen correspondent covering some of the biggest U.K. and international stories at the time, including the horse-meat scandal and Europe’s migrant crisis. After more than a decade at Sky, he moved to LBC as Chief Correspondent. Before joining Hawthorn, Richard was a Partner at Portland Communications.
He is the proud dad of three daughters and in his spare time he enjoys playing squash, watching Arsenal, playing geeky board games, and gorging himself on all things Beatles-related.
With over 20 years’ experience, Victoria has helped a host of private and public sector organisations achieve their business goals through communications, from disruptive startups, membership bodies and campaign groups to major global brands.
Before joining Hawthorn, Victoria was a Senior Partner at Portland where she advised businesses across a range of sectors, including those in highly regulated industries such as energy, aviation, finance and pharmaceuticals.
From Pfizer, Heathrow and Barclays to Index Ventures, the All-England Lawn Tennis Association (Wimbledon) and the NSPCC, she has helped many organisations simplify complex issues, manage high-profile crises, and deliver targeted and effective campaigns.
Complementing her broad experience, Victoria has significant expertise in the built environment. For over 10 years, she worked as a specialist in the commercial property team at FTI Consulting working with landlords, developers and architects, including British Land, SEGRO and the Crown Estate.
A keen runner and fitness enthusiast, Victoria can be found in the gym whenever life with her two young children allows.
Fiona McAra is an Associate Director at Hawthorn, specialising in corporate communications, alongside reputational management.
Prior to Hawthorn, Fiona worked at a financial and professional services agency, leading the eToro account, where she was also seconded twice. Having gleaned this in house experience, she brings stakeholder management expertise, alongside a deep understanding of ‘Corpsumer’ financial communications. She was also instrumental in developing and reinvigorating her agency’s client services offering, having gleaned valuable insights from her time working in-house.
Throughout her career she has experience working with clients operating in a range of sectors, such as energy, healthcare, tech, financial and professional services.
She holds a Classics degree from the University of Nottingham.
Fiona is a keen golfer, and when she’s not on the course, she can be found walking her dog, or cheering on Chelsea Women.
Stephen Atkinson, a partner at Hawthorn, leads the financial services practice, specialising in advising clients on financial and corporate communications.
He focuses on guiding individuals, in house teams, Boards/CEOs and leaders on reputation, deal flow, fund raisings, narrative building, corporate relations, stakeholder management and crisis management activities. He works with a broad range of clients including retail banks, fintech companies, private equity, private debt, asset management and corporate advisory companies. As is the norm at Hawthorn, Stephen also consciously works with a variety on non-financial companies and not-for-profit organisations to ensure our clients benefit from the broadest possible range of experience.
Prior to joining Hawthorn, Stephen worked at Standard Chartered Bank where he held a variety of leadership and communications roles including Group Head, Investor Relations and Communications and then served as the Group’s Corporate Affairs Director for five years with responsibilities for all communications activities of the Bank including media, investor relations, internal communications, public affairs, sustainability, reputational risk management and brand management. Stephen also served as the Regional Head of Private Banking for the AMEA region and as the Group’s Chief of Staff.
Ross Hawkins joined Hawthorn from the BBC, where he was a political correspondent, working for its flagship programmes on television and radio. After beginning his career as a newspaper reporter, he spent almost twenty years in broadcasting, covering general election campaigns, Parliament and the impact of political decisions on industry.
He advises on public affairs and corporate communications. Ross graduated from Oxford University.
Jon Wynne-Jones leads work on Hawthorn’s corporate clients, with a particular focus on the media industry. He is responsible for providing reputation management, including promoting campaigns and thought leadership, as well as helping clients navigate challenges to their image.
Jon believes in the importance of personal connections, acting as a trusted advisor to senior business leaders and using his extensive network to build partnerships.
Jon has a rare mix of experience, having worked in-house, at global agencies, and as a national newspaper journalist. Prior to Hawthorn, he was the head of external communications for dmg media, with particular responsibility for the Daily Mail. He also worked for the WPP agencies, Burson-Marsteller, and Hill and Knowlton after 15 years as a national newspaper journalist for titles including The Telegraph, The Mail, and The Independent.
Jon enjoys playing sports, even if to a very average level, and watching them, particularly Arsenal and the Chicago Bears, as well as traveling, reading, and country pubs.
John established Hawthorn in 2013 and has built the business into one of the leading independent consultancies in London with operations in New York and the Middle East.
Over the past 10 years, he has advised a broad range of individuals and businesses including NatWest, Forbes, Kering, ION and DLA Piper. In addition, John has advised on some significant fund raisings, M&A as well as issues and litigation support. He has been a top recommended advisor by Spears for 8 years and has been recognised by Chambers for his work in litigation support.
John is a member of the Royal Albert Hall philanthropy board and supports the work of Gemini Untwined.
Henry is a corporate and financial communications specialist with over 10 years’ experience advising listed and private businesses, from start-ups to FTSE 100. His areas of expertise include natural resources, business services, and emerging markets.
He has advised clients on a range of communications challenges, including IPOs, crisis situations, and cross-border M&A, including handling several politically sensitive transactions.
Henry joined Hawthorn having served in the global communications consultancy Bell Pottinger and began his career at Pelham Public Relations.
Gordon Carver is a Senior Director specialising in Corporate and Leadership Communications. He advises teams across a range of sectors including luxury, retail, technology and financial services.
A former journalist, Gordon uses his experience from more than 15 years in news, multimedia and communications to guide organisations to craft and tell their story. Working closely with both leaders and communication teams, he devises communications programmes that deliver strategic and reputational impact for clients.
Gordon joined Hawthorn in 2019. Prior to this he led the Corporate team at global agency Porter Novelli (Omnicom Group). He has extensive experience in media strategy and issues management, helping organisations from FTSE-100 firms through to scale-ups in navigating the complex media landscape. Some of his past clients have included: British Telecom, eBay, Hewlett Packard, Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline, Bayer, The Economist Group, UHY Group and Pinsent Masons.
Having studied English Literature (BA) and Journalism (MA), Gordon is constantly seeking out the story and motivation behind individuals and organisations.
Outside of the office, he’s a keen cook and busy father of two who can be found traipsing his sons across the parks of London most weekends.
Francesca Eaton is a corporate and technology communications specialist at Hawthorn. She works with businesses at all stages of growth, devising integrated campaigns that build and protect reputations and create excitement around technology and its impact.
Francesca takes an insight-driven approach, designing communications strategies alongside leadership and marketing teams that drive changes in behaviour, build advocacy, and engage key audiences. Working across Hawthorn’s portfolio of technology clients, spanning sectors including financial services, space, healthcare, and retail, Francesca focuses on campaign planning, executive profiling, thought-leadership positioning, and stakeholder engagement.
Prior to joining Hawthorn, Francesca worked at Edelman and Team Lewis. She has advised major multinationals, B2B technology specialists, and both start-ups and scale-ups. Before embarking on her career in technology communications, she studied Politics at Durham University and completed an MA in Fashion Journalism at London College of Fashion.
Outside of Hawthorn, she enjoys exploring new cities, being by the seaside, skiing, and all things fashion and interior design.
Charlotte Juckes is a Director, Strategic Communications. She has over eight years’ experience advising on crisis and corporate communications and campaigns, with a specialism in working with consumer-facing global businesses, including in the finance, media, luxury and retail sectors.
Charlotte takes a creative and multidisciplinary approach to deliver high-impact communications and engagement strategies that generate positive outcomes. She has consulted on communications programmes for individuals, national and multinational companies, governments and executive teams spanning a range of industries and issues, with extensive experience advising on narrative development, executive positioning and profiling, building reputational resilience, issues management and industry engagement. Selected client experience includes Forbes, NatWest, Yoox Net-A-Porter, and Kering.
Charlotte has been with Hawthorn since the firm’s early years. She has strong experience advising on issues and strategies related to DEI and gender equality in the UK and internationally, having joined Hawthorn following a Master’s degree in Women’s Studies at Oriel College, University of Oxford, where she received a Distinction for her work on women’s media sources.
Outside of work, Charlotte loves to travel, read, and venture into the great outdoors as much as possible.
Victoria is a corporate and financial communications specialist advising companies at all stages of growth. With a focus on the financial services space, Victoria works across private equity, venture capital, wealth / fund management and banking, to deliver multi-faceted communicated strategies that help companies manage stakeholders and meet their reputational objectives.
Victoria is also an experienced financial communications specialist, supporting clients at every stage of their public journey, from pre-IPO narrative building and profile raising, to ongoing financial calendar support, stakeholder engagement, media handling, deal support and crisis management.
Victoria joined Hawthorn in 2016, from Man Group Plc, one of the world’s largest alternative asset managers, where she worked across the firm’s communications and investor relations functions. Prior to joining Man Group, Victoria worked at Rathbone Investment Management in the communications and marketing team.
She graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a Masters degree (Hons) in History. Outside of work, Victoria is a mum of two, and enjoys travelling with her sons, cooking for the family, as well as reading and interiors.
Sarah Sands joined Hawthorn from the BBC, where she was editor of the Today programme, Radio 4’s flagship news and current affairs programme. She was previously editor of the London Evening Standard, the first woman to edit The Sunday Telegraph and deputy editor of The Daily Telegraph.
Sarah is the Deputy Chair of the British Council and former Chair of the Gender Equality Advisory Council for G7 (2021). She is an Associate of the Imperial War Museum, Trustee of the Science Museum, and Board Member of Channel 4 and the Berkeley Group. She is a Patron of the National Citizen Service, an Associate at the IWM and former Trustee of Index on Censorship.
Sarah is an honorary fellow of Goldsmiths College, University of London, Lucy Cavendish College Cambridge and a visiting fellow to the Reuters Institute.
