Government's Olympic adviser Dan Timms joins Portland

Dan Timms joins the agency having led government comms during the sporting fiesta, first as head of strategic comms for the Government Olympic Executive and then head of government Olympic comms during the event itself.

During his time working on London 2012 he led the design of the ‘GREAT campaign’ – a multi-million- pound drive to promote the UK off the back of the Games.

Timms joins Portland as an associate director in its corporate team.

Godric Smith, former executive director of government comms, who PRWeek last week revealed is set to launch his own consultancy with London 2012 marketing head Greg Nugent, said of Timms: ‘Dan played a major part in the success of government communications for 2012 over several years – from leading the creative phase of the GREAT campaign through to wider strategic planning and messaging.

‘He is a real talent and Portland is lucky to have him.’

Timms has also worked as speechwriter and adviser to both Tessa Jowell and Jeremy Hunt, as well as high-profile media spokesman roles at the European Commission, the European Parliament and Oxfam.

He will report to Adrian Warr, partner for comms at Portland, who added: ‘There was no communications campaign bigger or more successful than London 2012.

‘So it was no surprise that Dan had plenty of offers. We are delighted that he is joining our team and know he will add a huge amount to what we offer our clients.’

Timms joins the agency’s corporate team just weeks after Dana Gloger, the former consumer affairs editor of The Mail on Sunday.

This article was first published on prweek.com