Freshwater, an integrated communications agency, has appointed John Morris as Senior Public Affairs Consultant to further strengthen the agency’s work in the transport and infrastructure sectors.
At Freshwater, Morris will provide expert counsel to a range of clients in transport, planning, infrastructure and public affairs. His strategic insight will bolster Freshwater’s award-winning public affairs division and will help drive new business for the consultancy.
Morris boasts a wealth of experience in stakeholder engagement, political communications and public affairs. Prior to joining Freshwater, he was Public Affairs Director at Birmingham Airport, one of the country’s largest airports serving almost ten million passengers per year. In this role, Morris built a broad constituency of support for a successful £70m runway expansion and lobbied for the airport to be properly served by the planned HS2 Birmingham Interchange station.
Previous experience also includes being Head of Public Affairs at Virgin Trains during its successful launch into the UK market in 1997. Between 1999 and 2004, Morris was Managing Director of Virtue Solutions that worked to launch Arriva Trains Wales and served at the same time as Managing Editor of Railway World magazine between 2001 and 2003.
Commenting on his new appointment, Morris said: “Freshwater has a strong background in the sector and I look forward to being a part of its future progress, particularly at a time when the railways - and infrastructure in general - is enjoying a high, and growing, public profile. As the focus on infrastructure increases, so do the opportunities for communications professionals to add serious value to organisations in both private and public sectors.
“Delivering strategies to help clients fulfil their objectives is something I am passionate about, especially in a sector that so acutely impacts the country’s prosperity and affects so many people.”
Freshwater’s Group Managing Director Angharad Neagle said: “We are really pleased to have John on board. His experience and insight will be of great value to Freshwater and our clients as we continue to grow. We’ve established ourselves as one of the leading public affairs consultancies in the transport sector and I have no doubts that John will help us build on that.”
Freshwater, employing 55 in London and Cardiff, provides integrated communications services for a variety of clients including Thompsons Solicitors, Welsh Government, Unite the Union, Specsavers, BT, the Cavendish Square Group of NHS Trusts, First TransPennine Express and HS2 East. Freshwater’s services include stakeholder engagement, political consultancy, digital and graphic design, media relations, video and events.