A message from our CEO Melissa Davis as she announces the new partnership team at MD Communications for 2022.
It is with massive excitement and pride, I announce the enhanced partnership team at MD Communications for 2022 with a couple of new faces.
Steve Rudaini joined us recently after leading the Bar Council’s communications and marketing portfolio for over seven years where he helped to transform the Bar Council into a prominent legal membership body. Before that, he led the international communications for ACCA. I had the pleasure of working with Steve when I headed up the press team for the Law Society and I saw the phenomenal results he was able to achieve and how all the stakeholders loved him. Steve tells me a highlight was making him run for over half a mile, because our taxi was stuck in traffic, to catch a train back to London to ensure we got back in time for happy hour. Having fun and displaying resilience is a core requisite for us so we knew that Steve would be a great fit. Naming him as a partner in the business, 14 years after we first worked together, is a very special day.
James Hayhurst leads our international growth on marketing, brand and messaging work for law and accounting firms worldwide. Within that time, he has also created a highly popular course for partners in professional services firms on client relationships. Previously, James was the Global Marketing Director for Unilever and he has also managed some of the world’s leading ad agencies, leading on premium brands including Patek Philippe and Glenfiddich. James’s first stab at working within the legal sector was in 2000 when, while temping, he had a stint as stationery monitor for Clifford Chance… the post had been filled previously by someone who fell asleep in the stationery cupboard. Staying awake at work is a core requisite for us, so we knew that James was up to the job as soon as he told us that story!
Last year, Keith Hardie joined the partnership team after leaving BCLP to head up our innovation and business development teams. Linsay Leslie joined us in 2016 and became a partner in 2018, leading our client listening, bids, tenders and directories teams.
As we head into 2022 with a bigger, stronger team and several client wins already, I couldn’t be happier with how this one-person business in August 2010 has grown and all the friendships and phenomenal relationships that have been built along the way.
It’s times like this when I thank my beautiful Mum (who died in 2020) and my Dad, who built their own business after leaving school at 14 (because they needed to support their families). They taught me that resilience and sheer determination were the key to a successful business and that it would always be the people you worked with who would make or break you.
Thank you to the whole MD Communications team who have taken us into 2022 in a place of strength with a raft of wonderful clients who trust us to be a part of their journey and congratulations to Steve and James.
