Well the time has finally come; Vanessa is leaving us to pursue a new life in Australia. When she told me I obviously said, ‘well it seems a bit extreme to go 12,000 miles to get away from me’… but of course the reality is Australia has long stolen Vanessa’s heart, particularly after marrying her Aussie boyfriend Mitch a couple of years ago.

It is of course very sad to see Vanessa go, but I quite understand the allure of Australia and the chance to pursue new adventures. We’ll all miss her enormously, as over these last seven years, she has been a wonderful business partner, from whom I have learnt so much, and I wish her and Mitch lots of luck and happiness in their new life in Australia.

As soon as Vanessa told me of her plans last year, it obviously left me thinking, what next for Atlas? I spoke to various people, considered my options and am glad to say that a fantastic opportunity suddenly arose to team up with someone whom I have worked on and off with for the last 14 years. We had even talked about creating a company together eight years ago but as so often is the case, the best things come to those who wait.

Leon created Atticus Communications only three years ago and they have rapidly established themselves as a rising force in the public affairs/ corporate communications world. Once we got chatting it soon became apparent that there was a real opportunity for us both given our situations and so began the conversations that have led us to today where we have formed a new company – Atticus Partners – combining not just our names, but also the best of our teams and service offering. Political and market forces shape reputations and partnering with Atticus allows us to meet client needs in a more integrated and sophisticated way. It also allows us to invest in our international credentials, whilst increasing our at-home capacity, doubling the size of our team. I am very excited about the potential of this partnership for our team, our clients, and our future growth.

The new agency will provide clients across a multitude of sectors and geographies with increased capacity and a widened expertise, whilst still delivering a bespoke, boutique approach to every client’s needs. In keeping with the best traditions of Atlas, our evolved and expanded team will continue to see every brief as an exciting new challenge. The pursuit of excellence will guide us to deliver the best possible work utilising the full breadth of our impressive team.

As a combined force, Atticus Partners has already welcomed several new business wins including Liminal Space, Registry Trust and Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide, and made a series of new hires to support our continued growth. These include Patrick Adams, former Senior Parliamentary Assistant to Lord Kamal, Alex Tiley former YMCA Policy Manager and Aliona Hlvico, former Ukrainian regional politician and Strategic Relations Manager at the Henry Jackson Society.

Our newly minted collective of creative communications experts have overseen corporate transformation, managed global risk, responded to crises, spearheaded client strategy, and led legislative change. Individually, Atlas Partners won PRCA Public Affairs Agency of the Year in 2019, and Atticus Communications, New Consultancy of the Year for PR Week’s Corporate, City & Public Affairs Awards 2021. With your support over the next few months, as we transition to new emails, social channels, new contracts, new CRM database and all the other administrative joys of a merger, we look forward to laying the foundations for future award wins!

In the meantime, you can follow us for updates on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram as usual…

Best wishes,

Charlie