5654 hires new Directors as it strengthens client advisory offer
Abigail Scarlett, Juliet Patterson, Emily Canfor-Dumas
Corporate Affairs Consultancy 5654 & Company has appointed three new Directors to broaden and deepen its strategic communications and political advisory expertise.
Emily Canfor-Dumas, Juliet Patterson and Abigail Scarlett have joined the firm as senior leaders to support clients earn reputation and support in a complex and competitive corporate affairs landscape.
Together they bring decades of experience in politics, media and consultancy, advising some of the UK’s more prestigious companies in high pressure situations. Their appointments further strengthen the 5654 team which has grown to 45 consultants since it was founded in March 2020.
Emily joins from Portland Communications, where she spent six years working on corporate and crisis communications, advising clients including Diageo, Coca Cola and Snapchat, having previously worked in broadcast journalism and documentary production. Juliet was hired from Pagefield, where she provided public affairs advice, having previously worked for the Labour Party as an adviser to then Shadow Business Secretary Ed Miliband and before that in several government departments. Abigail is a public affairs expert who joins from Brunswick where she offered expertise on policy and regulation having previously been a Private Secretary at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
5654 & Company Founder, Ben Thornton said:
“5654 was founded to help businesses earn reputation and support. I’m delighted to welcome Emily, Juliet and Abigail to our team - senior hires who further strengthen our offer for clients.
“In a complex world, the organisations who thrive are those who successfully build reputation and mobilise meaningful support – across the public, the media, and politics.
“At 5654, we’ve brought together a brilliant team of consultants dedicated to delivering great work for clients. The experience, connectivity and creativity these new Directors bring make us even better placed to offer clients the best advice so their businesses can thrive.”
Emily Canfor-Dumas said:
“5654 & Company is going from strength to strength and it’s a fantastic time to join the firm. I’ve had a great start, and I’m looking forward to working with the talented team here to grow our corporate communications offer.”
Juliet Patterson said:
“I’m really excited to join the team at 5654 & Company which already enjoys an excellent reputation for quality, thoughtful work. I plan to apply my experience from Westminster, Whitehall and the consultancy world to deliver meaningful results for our clients in a fast-changing political environment.”
Abigail Scarlett said:
"I'm proud to join 5654 as it continues to grow. The team's energy, expertise and ambition are already clear, and I'm looking forward to using my agency and government experience to continue strengthening the firm's capabilities across public affairs, corporate communications and crisis management".
Notes to Editors
About 5654
5654 & Company is a corporate affairs consultancy, founded to help companies act to earn reputation and support. We work with businesses who are contributing to the UK. We specialise in communicating with political, regulatory and investor audiences – and those who influence them.
Our senior team is drawn from the highest levels of politics, the media and business, supported by a first-class team of consultants.
In partnership with our clients, we create insight-led campaigns designed to support commercial objectives, delivered across media, political, investor and marketing communications channels. In addition to our corporate affairs capabilities, we offer dedicated practices focused on the built environment and local community engagement, and health and life sciences.
Website: http://www.5654.co.uk
Email: hello@5654.co.uk
New Director Biographies
Emily is a corporate communications and media relations specialist, advising clients across a range of sectors on reputation management, brand and profile building and crisis communications. Emily has worked with clients including Diageo, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, The All England Lawn Tennis Association (Wimbledon), Pfizer, Snapchat, Barclays, The Scout Association and NSPCC.
Prior to joining 5654 & Company Emily spent over 6 years at consultancy Portland. She began her career in television broadcasting, where she worked as an Assistant Producer in long-form documentary production and current affairs at the BBC, ITV, CNBC and others.
Juliet has advised frontbench politicians including then Shadow Business Secretary Ed Miliband and Shadow Transport Minister Daniel Zeichner. She was also seconded to work as a press officer for Sir Keir Starmer when he was Leader of the Opposition.
She previously worked for the Government across the Transport, Education and Business departments.
She led high-profile media announcements on rail, autonomous vehicles and zero-emission transport, briefed Secretaries of State ahead of press appearances and played a key role in crisis communications teams. She joined 5654 & Company from communications consultancy Pagefield where she advised businesses across sectors including transport, technology, infrastructure and consumer goods, including Hitachi Rail and Pernod Ricard.
Abigail is an experienced public affairs and policy specialist. She joins 5654 from Brunswick Group where she supported international organisations to understand and shape the policy and regulatory environment. This included assessing 15 European government's approaches to the climate and environment, and advising on AI policy.
Abigail was previously Private Secretary to the Permanent Under Secretary at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. She spearheaded a partnership programme to increase communication channels between the government and private sector, led on cross-government engagement, and supported the UK to host the G7 and COP.