Portland has appointed Downing Street’s head of strategic communications, Mark Flanagan, to spearhead a new digital division for the company. He joins as a Partner later this month.
Flanagan – a regular in PR Week’s league table of leading UK PROs – has worked for the last three Prime Ministers. He is credited with overhauling the Government’s approach to digital communications. He was an external adviser on new media to Tony Blair’s No10 before joining the civil service shortly after Gordon Brown became Prime Minister. Since the general election in May this year, he has been part of David Cameron’s communications team in Downing Street.
As well as revamping the No10 website, Flanagan built a Government presence across social media including a Downing Street Twitter channel which has grown to over 1.8 million followers.
At Portland, Flanagan will head a new practice aimed at helping the independent company’s clients deliver dynamic, integrated communications campaigns. The new unit will have search, social media and mobile at its core whilst also offering expertise in eCRM, viral marketing, content creation and placement, as well as web design and build.
Before working in Government, Flanagan had a 20-year career in radio. He started out in local radio, going on to become head of regional radio and online for Chrysalis Group and finally Managing Director of London’s LBC – Europe’s largest talk radio station.
Portland’s Managing Director Tim Allan said: “Every reputational issue these days has a digital dimension, so we have decided to create the best possible digital comms offering. Portland has been growing fast in the last 12 months and we are investing further in the business. Putting Mark’s expertise and intelligence at the disposal of our clients will be a huge benefit. He has a superb track record at delivering effective digital communications, and there is nobody better to lead our digital team”.
Mark Flanagan said: “Portland is in the process of moving from a niche independent to being one of the UK’s major high quality communication firms. I am thrilled to be given a mandate to put digital at the heart of the business. This practice will be about integrating online profile, social, search and mobile into every level of our client interaction.”
Ian James, former Global Vice President at Aegis Media, who worked with Flanagan at Chrysalis, said "Mark totally understands the strategic role of digital and the tactical tools you need to deploy. His insights will be enormously valuable to Portland and their clients. Focusing around reputation and search is a very smart move."
Portland was founded in 2001 and now numbers over 70 staff, with headquarters in London and offices in New York and Nairobi. Clients include Google, Apple, Coca-Cola, McDonalds and the Kofi Annan Foundation.
