Adam is a Senior Director who joined Hawthorn in 2023. He was previously Global Banking Communications Lead at HSBC and, before that, was Head of Communications for the bank’s Global Banking & Markets division in Europe. Prior to joining HSBC, he worked at Credit Suisse for seven years, supporting the bank’s Global Markets business and communicating the bank’s strategy in the regulatory environment that emerged after the 2007 financial crisis.
Adam started his career in journalism, initially in the financial trade press and then at Dow Jones where he wrote on a range of topics, including financial markets, investment banking and asset management, for the newswires and the Wall Street Journal. Adam graduated from Hull University with a BA in Politics.
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.
Liz Bruce has 20 years of experience across corporate communications, finance, technology, and media and leads Hawthorn’s North America business.
She has held a variety of strategic communications leadership roles, including Head of Communications and Brand at Strategic Value Partners, a global asset management firm, and Head of Communications at the venture capital firm Greycroft. She was also the first Global Chief of Staff for Corporate Communications at Goldman Sachs during the Global Financial Crisis.
Liz began her career at Goldman Sachs in the investment banking division, advising consumer and retail clients on M&A and capital raises. Following her time at Goldman, Liz co-founded Fitzroy Communications, where she advised clients across a wide range of industries on internal and external communications challenges. Fitzroy was acquired in 2017 by Teneo, a CEO advisory firm, where Liz was a Senior Managing Director. Liz holds degrees in computer science and finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
James Davey is a Director at Hawthorn, focused on strategic communications for companies in the financial services sector. He advises alternative investment firms and high-growth businesses on fundraisings, M&A transactions, debt financings and a range of other issues.
With extensive experience working across private equity, growth & venture capital, private debt, high-yield credit, real estate and real estate debt, James combines an in-depth understanding of the market dynamics and communications landscape specific to each asset class with a wider perspective on the common threads affecting investors, managers and companies across the ecosystem.
James joined Hawthorn in 2015, having studied History at the University of Cambridge and spent a summer at the Humboldt University of Berlin. Since then he has worked with global, pan-European and UK-focused alternative investment managers, with fast-growing companies in the fintech and wider TMT sectors and with service providers such as corporate finance advisors, boutique investment banks and financial technology consultants. He also has experience of political advisory mandates with clients across sectors including healthcare, construction and geopolitics.
Outside of work, he enjoys playing football, watching most sports, reading history, film and chess.
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.
