We’re getting ready to celebrate our 21st birthday in 2023!
We’re hoping to celebrate throughout the year – and to get the ball rolling we thought we’d share 21 facts about HarknessKennett that you may not know:
1. Our founding partners, James Harkness & Lisa Betteridge first worked together at WPP’s first startup company, Banner McBride in 1997
2. We were incorporated on 11 October 2002 and our first client was INVESCO Continental Europe
3. Nicky joined us in February 2003 and is now our longest-serving team member. Tanya joined our resourcing team in 2015
4. In 2004 we placed our first-ever interim, Sarah Jane Hale, at Vodafone Group, and we’re still working with Sarah today
5. We’ve received over 3,200 CVs from our extensive network of communicators and have placed talented comms pros into over 370 roles – including interim, fixed term contracts and permanent hires
6. We’ve worked in 27 countries, delivering 206 projects for our clients: everything from measurement in Vanuatu to training in Croydon
7. Our largest client has been Compass Group with 500,000 employees and our smallest is Woking Homes with less than 50 people
8. We’ve supported 44 charities with donations and sponsored the training of Canine Partners dogs Wisley in 2013 and Zavi in 2016
9. Every year we’ve worked with at least one charity to whom we’ve provided discounted rates
10. We’ve signed over 25,000 Christmas cards prior to switching to environmentally friendly ecards in 2016
11. We’ve contributed to our wider profession through supporting CIPR and IABC, judging, speaking and attending events
12. We started running networking sessions in 2013, designed to facilitate peer-to-peer networking and knowledge sharing. Since then, we’ve run 31 sessions, 5 of which were online during the pandemic, with over 600 attendees in total
13. Our alumni of HarknessKennett colleagues have gone on to successful careers in law firms, agencies, educational establishments, automotive and swimming pool companies!
14. Our team has raised over 20 children and been carers for parents in ill health
15. In the past 21 years between us we’ve owned over 100 dogs, cats, chickens, hamsters and fish
16. In our spare time we’ve sung in choirs, played in bands, supported youth groups, volunteered at vaccination centres, supported local food banks and as acted as trustees to charities
17. In December 2017, needing a more agile way of working, we moved to remote working – just over two years ahead of the pandemic; who knew we were so far ahead of the curve?!
18. With a focus on long-lasting business relationships, we’re delighted to still be working with many of the same clients and candidates that we were 10, 15 – even 20 years ago!
19. Our record for working with one individual in the most different client organisations is four – spanning everything from government departments to engineering and transport
20. We’ve successfully traded through three economic downturns, seven prime ministers and a pandemic
21. 88% of our work comes from repeat business and word of mouth referral – a stat that we take huge pride in!
Published by Nicky
You may also like:
How do internal communicators demonstrate they’re making a meaningful difference - not just generating clicks or impressions, but genuinely shifting understanding, behaviour, and business performance?
That question shaped our session on Wednesday 11th March, Designing Meaningful Measurement: Aligning Internal Comms to Outcomes That Matter.
On the wet and windy morning of Wednesday 19th November, we welcomed internal communicators, HR and business leaders to an in-person breakfast briefing in London to explore a topic that’s on everyone’s mind right now:
How is AI really changing internal communications – and what should we do about it?
On Wednesday, September 10th, we gathered virtually for a powerful session exploring neuroinclusive communication - an increasingly vital topic as organisations embrace cognitive diversity and strive to create truly inclusive workplaces.
Good internal communication is evident when people understand how their day-to-day work contributes to the firm’s goals. It’s called the Kennedy moment. When in 1962 Kennedy visited NASA for the first time, he asked a janitor carrying a broom what he did, to be told “I’m helping put a man on the moon.”
A packed room at the Sutherland Labs in Covent Garden gathered to hear what Being your Best in 2025 was all about. This was a different format from the usual HarknessKennett networking breakfasts which have over the years featured case studies and best practice on a range of issues across many sectors.
Unbelievably, October is already in full swing, but the good news is that it was time for another of our networking breakfasts! We love these sessions, and the enthusiasm that participants and speakers alike bring as they enjoy the opportunity to share great case studies and discuss strategies with peers (old and new) is inspiring.
For as long as I’ve been in comms, line managers have come in for a bit of stick. Lots of blame for poor communication is placed at the feet of these poor individuals who are expected to deliver against a staggering array of responsibilities – everything from performance targets to staff development, innovation to cost control – and in the middle of that we want them to ‘deliver communication’ as well. Line managers are often seen as a tricky middle layer where communication gets ‘stuck’, and which seems impermeable to frustrated comms teams and senior leadership. But is it fair to blame them, or should we be blaming the comms team, senior leaders….or someone else?
The power of an interconnected EVP and Employer Brand informed by research, colleague involvement, and cultural indicators, and that when brilliantly conceptualised, connected, and executed, it can unleash strategic, cultural, and reputational opportunities.
Today’s breakfast session was even more energised and interactive than usual, and no wonder with such an evocative subject at the heart of our discussions! Safe to say AI is here to stay, and we’re all only just starting to get to grips with it – what it can do for us, the pitfalls and all the governance issues it raises. Kudos to Katie Marlow and Lisa Pantelli for agreeing to present today – as finding anyone confident enough to share their thoughts on this topic was not easy! Katie shared insights into how she uses AI within her consulting practice, and Lisa provided a whistle-stop tour of definitions, and an overview of how she uses AI in her role as Director of Communications at Elsevier.
The room at today’s breakfast session was packed with IC pro’s – all keen to hear fresh ideas around the thorny topic of how best to support your leaders to deliver effective communication.
We’re regularly asked by candidates and clients alike about the current ‘state of the market’ – and often that’s a hard question to answer! With another new year just around the corner, experience shows that a lot of people may take the opportunity for some reflection on their career aspirations during the festive break – and companies may be gearing up to start their candidate searches in the new year.
We’re regularly asked by candidates and clients alike about the current ‘state of the market’ – and often that’s a hard question to answer! With another new year just around the corner, experience shows that a lot of people may take the opportunity for some reflection on their career aspirations during the festive break – and companies may be gearing up to start their candidate searches in the new year.
Once regarded as a specialism, having the skills to support change initiatives is now arguably a pre-requisite for our everyday toolkit as communicators! With the help of a little Slido interaction, Phil and Lou really brought the conversation to life and it was great to hear so much discussion around the topic. Here are their top tips for making sure your change comms hit the mark:
We were delighted to get together with some of our network last week for a breakfast session on the role of IC professionals in supporting ESG. Huge thanks to our client, Hyve for hosting us in their fabulous Paddington offices!
ESG can help organisations articulate, live and breathe a sense of purpose and meaning that is good for our people. And it’s good for business too - affording genuine competitive advantage, not just some standardised thing that’s indistinguishable from others in the same industry.
I’ve been taking a look at structure, culture and power sources within organisations and how this impacts internal communication. In this final blog of three I’ll be looking at organisational power sources. Whilst this isn’t meant to be an academic paper, you’ll find here a brief overview of some of the models, and the references are listed at the end if you want to go and find out more. Obviously – there are lots of models out there – and this is not an exhaustive review of them all!
I’ve been taking a look at structure, culture and power sources within organisations and how this impacts internal communication. In this second blog of three I’ll be looking at organisational culture. Whilst this isn’t meant to be an academic paper, you’ll find here a brief overview of some of the models, and the references are listed at the end if you want to go and find out more. Obviously – there are lots of models out there – and this is not an exhaustive review of them all!
I’ve been taking a look at structure, culture and power sources within organisations and how this impacts internal communication. In this first blog of three I’ll be looking at organisational structure. Whilst this isn’t meant to be an academic paper, you’ll find here a brief overview of some of the models, and the references are listed at the end if you want to go and find out more. Obviously – there are lots of models out there – and this is not an exhaustive review of them all!
As a business that’s worked a lot with partnerships and professional services, I took that there’s much learning not only within the sector to be shared but also with other organisations on how engagement and collaboration can make for better communication.
We’re hoping to celebrate throughout the year – and to get the ball rolling we thought we’d share 21 facts about HarknessKennett that you may not have known about:
It was a real treat today to be back face-to-face at one of our breakfast sessions after more than two years of running them virtually. It was a reminder to everyone just how important it is to meet ‘IRL’ (in real life) and was a living example of the benefits of face-to-face communication!
It’s not new news that front line managers are key to successful internal communication, particularly during periods of change, but the challenges of implementing effective line management communication is something that many organisations still struggle with.
I was delighted to be asked to present at the CIPR Inside and CIPR South West group on Workplace Wellbeing on Wednesday 18th May. Unusually, I was asked to present as a trustee of iprovision and not in my usual day job as a comms pro. I’ve been a trustee of iprovision since March 2019 and it was a great opportunity to showcase some of the great work iprovision does.
More people are leaving their jobs voluntarily than at any time before; it has become apparent that nearly half of the employees who voluntarily left the workforce during the pandemic aren’t planning on coming back*.
Here at HK ‘Workshop Day’ always brings great excitement – and last week’s was no exception. We were particularly pleased to be able to share a joint case study with our client Susan Quain, Associate Director of Global Digital Channels at Fidelity International. During last year and despite the ongoing challenges of the pandemic, Susan and her boss joined forces with our Associate Director Chris Crofts and HK Partner James Harkness to deliver a bespoke training programme to build a world class communications team.
Well, the end of 2021 is not the one any of us had hoped for, with Covid-19 once again reinventing and causing chaos. So here at HK, with our Christmas meet-up on ice and in a bid to stay positive, we’ve taken a few moments to reflect on the last 12 months. At the end of this second crazy year, we know that we still have much to be thankful for. So, in the words of Ian Dury, here’s our reasons to be cheerful….
Like me, I’m sure most of you still revert to the old school days’ habit of clearing your desk in preparation for the new school year. Not only can it serve as a boost of inspiration, that sense of a fresh beginning can do wonders for your productivity levels, positive mindset and creativity.
Part of this trend towards inhouse recruitment is about cutting costs, but when I look at the findings from the report by Thomas International I take some comfort that our business would not be trading if 57% of the people we placed were ‘not working out to some degree’.
Work-life balance has taken on a whole new dimension in the last 15 months or so. Whilst many were seeing working from home as possibly the only silver lining of the pandemic, others now struggle to draw a line between home and work, and feel like they live at work, not work from home. So as communicators, how do we help to develop a new approach to work that is healthy for individuals and beneficial for organisations?
On a cold June, morning, we welcomed around forty communicators to a workshop on a theme that is very topical at the moment: How Internal Comms can spark AI adoption.
We were joined by Becky Williams, Communications Consultant and Coach, and Paul Middleton, Internal and Change Communications Consultant (currently contracting at Flutter Entertainment); who shared with us how comms teams can start adapting, reduce fear, encourage safe experimentation, support leadership role‑modelling and build momentum that spreads beyond the early adopters.