Strategic communications consultancy The Story Network has expanded its operations with the launch of a new Regional Growth Team, bringing together senior communications, public affairs and economic development specialists from across the country.
The expansion builds on The Story Network’s model of providing clients with direct access to experienced senior consultants, supported by a wider network of over 85 associates. The network has grown from a team of 3 when it launched in October 2022, making it one of the fastest growing agencies in the UK.
The new Regional Growth Team will advise businesses, investors, public bodies and non-profit organisations on communications, government affairs, stakeholder engagement and economic development, with consultants based across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.This wide regional network is complemented with deep experience of Westminster and Whitehall, and the politics and policy of central government.
The team has been brought together by Alex Bigham, with new additions Ian Moss and Gill Morris, bringing experience spanning government, politics, the Civil Service, infrastructure, regulation, corporate communications and regional development. Former Special Adviser to Tony Blair, Jo Gibbons, remains as a founder of the Network while Ed Owen has taken up a role as interim CEO of the influential think tank ThinkLabour.
Bigham is a former Lambeth councillor, political adviser to the Labour Shadow Cabinet, was seconded to the Department of Health and Social Care during the pandemic. Moss is a former senior civil servant who has held roles at HM Treasury, the Cabinet Office, DWP and Ministry of Justice, while Morris is a veteran public affairs leader and specialist in English Devolution.
Veteran lobbyist Gill Morris, creator and founder of Connect, Devo Connect and the Devo Agency, has led the way on devolution for over 30 years. Morris was the first recipient of the PRCA Outstanding Contribution Award and CIPR's Doug Smith Lifetime Achievement Award.
The news marks the agreement of a strategic partnership between The Story Network and The Devo Agency to deliver great public affairs and communications across the UK.
The expanded network includes specialists across the UK with expertise spanning infrastructure, housing, energy, climate change, planning, defence, regulation, health and social care, transport, sustainability, public consultation and economic development.
Public affairs consultants across the UK include former Special Adviser to David Miliband, Sarah Schaefer; former Exeter Council cabinet member Rosie Denham; Geri Silverstone, who ran External Affairs for Heathrow Airport and the National Trust; Nick Fincham, who was a director of Thames Water, and Rachel Shaw, former Director of External Affairs (and later Acting Chief Executive) at the Midlands Engine. They are joined by media specialists Emma Drackford, who led media relations for Hampshire police, and Zena James, who started her career at Burson-Marsteller and BITC.
The launch follows growth in The Story Network's work with clients operating at the intersection of national policy and local delivery. Recent assignments include supporting the AIIP, the biggest trade association group representing major investors in UK social infrastructure, as well as work for the Clean Cities Campaign and Mums for Lungs on transport, air quality and the transition to cleaner urban transport, and UKABIF, which is supporting government to develop a new action plan to improve brain injury care in the NHS.
The Story Network has also been developing its work around place and community engagement, including proposals to support local areas receiving significant new regeneration investment including through the Pride in Place programme.
Alex Bigham, founder of The Story Network, said: “The communications industry is too complacent. Some of the biggest economic and political changes happening over the next decade will be driven by what happens in our cities and regions – from infrastructure and housebuilding to devolution, defence, clean transport and the energy transition.
“Our aim is to combine the strategic counsel you would expect from a major consultancy with people who actually understand the places where investment and change are happening, at the same time as driving down fees by keeping overheads lower than traditional agencies.
“We don't think clients should have to choose between national expertise and local knowledge.”
The Story Network's model differs from the traditional agency structure by assembling senior practitioners around individual client requirements rather than maintaining large permanent account teams. The consultancy says this allows senior advisers to remain directly involved in delivery while drawing on specialist expertise in areas including media relations, public affairs, stakeholder engagement, crisis communications, consultation, digital and creative work.
Ian Moss added: “There is a lot of talk about growth, but growth ultimately happens in places. A new data centre, housing development or regeneration programme succeeds or fails partly on whether investors, government, local leaders and communities understand what it is trying to achieve. That requires national political insight, but it also requires local relationships and understanding of local dynamics. That's the gap we want The Regional Growth Network to fill.”
Gill Morris said: “ Devolution is happening. There are a lot of agencies who claim to have an established regional presence but don’t. The Regional Growth Network partnership with the Devo Agency means our collective of senior advisers and communications professionals who are based across all the English regions will be complemented by an even bigger network of great people. Unlocking regional talent and creating expert and experienced teams including some of the best communicators in the country. We understand the geography and politics and how to deliver Mayoral and strategic regional growth plans. Together we are ready to support clients on the BIG communications issues and challenges they face as the devolved landscape deepens. In the spirit of doing things differently we are working collaboratively joining both networks to create an unbeatable communications offer in all regions and postcodes.”
The Regional Growth Team currently includes senior practitioners covering London and the South East, the South West, the Midlands, North and North West, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with access to communications and public affairs associates in all regions and nations across the UK.
The expansion forms part of wider growth at The Story Network, which was established in 2022 as a collective of experienced independent communications practitioners providing senior strategic counsel without the overhead and account-management structures of a traditional large agency.
Bigham continued: “Throughout history, humans have told stories. These echo through generations crossing cultures and languages. These stories can be counter-factual and are based on an emotional response to people, places and groups. The most effective organisations are ones that engage effectively with customers, staff and stakeholders telling stories, often on an emotional level, driving loyalty and developing passion.”
The Network brings a distinctive approach that enables story-telling to breathe life into an organisation and its work. It has grown from an initial collective of three founders to a group of 86 consultants with a presence across the UK as well as advisers across European capitals and North Africa as well as the USA, Brazil, Canada, and South Africa.