HeadLand hires Fishburn Hedges MD Suzanne Morris

She follows Neil Hedges and Dan Mines, the former chairman and COO of the Fishburn Hedges Group, after the pair joined HeadLand's management team in June.

Morris had worked at Fishburn Hedges since 1997, advising businesses on reputation management across a range of sectors and audiences.

Fishburn Hedges will not immediately fill Morris’ MD role, with her responsibilities assumed by senior directors Rachel Woods, Martin Brown and Clare Anderson.

Chris Salt, HeadLand's co-founding partner and CEO, said: ‘These are exciting and fast-changing times at HeadLand. Suzanne is such a great talent and we feel privileged she’s chosen to join us. Her experience spans the full corporate spectrum including financial services, where particularly a fresh look at the advice communications agencies give is needed.

‘This is all part of our plan to broaden HeadLand’s offer into wider corporate reputation management, founded on an equal understanding of the City and the wider public.’

Morris, who is expected to start her new role in November, added: ‘I've had 15 fantastic years at Fishburn Hedges and been fortunate to work with great clients and alongside some incredibly talented people.  But I'm ready for a new challenge and I think HeadLand is developing an exciting new proposition at exactly the right time.’

As part of the internal changes at Fishburn Hedges following Morris’ departure, John Williams, who leads on strategic planning at Fishburn Hedges and was one of the agency’s original founders, will become chairman of public affairs, working alongside head of public affairs Dermot Finch.

Fiona Thorne, CEO of Fishburn Hedges, said: ‘Suzanne and I joined Fishburn within a few months of one another and are close friends so I, and everyone else here, will miss her. But after 15 years it’s understandable that she fancies a change and her departure allows us to take the next step in continuing to evolve and build our business and create opportunities for others within the agency. Similarly, we are excited by the idea of combining John and Dermot’s expertise, along with the rest of the PA team, to continue to build and evolve our PA offer.’

This article was first published on prweek.com