Who We Are

Jonathan Jordan is Senior Partner and Founder of Sermelo. He has over fifteen years of experience in helping companies anticipate and respond to changing market dynamics, be they driven by technology, digital, shifts in consumer attitudes and behaviours, or new regulations or globalisation.

Based in London, Jonathan has worked extensively with clients with operations in the Americas, Europe, the Middle-East and Asia-Pacific, and has headed a number of award-winning campaigns. He has particular authority and interest in the digital economy and in helping organisations address issues related to ethical sourcing, environmental responsibility and sustainability. He has worked with clients in the automotive, energy, professional services, health, defence and aerospace, financial services, natural resources, energy, technology and FMCG sectors.

Prior to founding Sermelo, Jonathan was the Chief Executive of Burson-Marsteller’s UK operations, which included the consumer agency Communiqué PR and Marsteller, a market leader in digital and integrated marketing. Under Jonathan’s leadership, the firm enjoyed sustained growth, pioneered a number of award-winning integrated campaigns and was recognised by PR Week as the International Consultancy of the Year in 2008.

Jonathan joined Burson-Marsteller in April 2003 from Fleishman-Hillard where, as a Senior Vice President, he spent nearly five years as head of their technology, media and telecommunications practice. Before working in public relations, Jonathan spent more than three years as a journalist and served for over four years as a weapons engineering officer in the Royal Navy. He holds a 2.1 Bachelor of Science Honours degree in Electronic Engineering with Business Management from King's College, University of London.

Jonathan sits on the Executive Committee of British American Business. He is also a Fellow of the Public Relations Consultants Association, co-chair of its Qualifications Board and a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations. Jonathan's hobbies include coaching rugby, football and sailing, and he is married with three young children.

Maria is a senior communications professional with wide experience in project managing global integrated campaigns. Her expertise spans employee and stakeholder engagement, internal communications, issues management, website communications and media relations.

Maria joined Sermelo as a Senior Consultant in January 2011. Currently, she leads account and project work for a number of clients across a variety of industries, including retail, insurance and technology. In her role, Maria provides external communications and stakeholder engagement strategy counsel to clients, as well as supports Sermelo’s owner in the daily operations of the agency.

Maria began her career at Burson-Marsteller’s New York office. Working with clients such as Food Lion, Cintas and Pitney Bowes, she used proprietary research tools to identify gaps in their use of communications channels, allowing more effective engagement with employees. She provided counsel on developing internal communications strategies. She also counselled clients such as Mirant on how to develop Corporate Responsibility (CR) plans, including how to communicate these with employees and implement them at a local level. Maria moved to the Burson-Marsteller’s London office in June 2007 where she was the account lead for a number of client teams, including ProCurve Networking by HP, Shell Global Solutions, Kimberly-Clark, Henke and the Engineering and Technology Board.

After leaving Burson-Marsteller, Maria joined the Carbon Trust Standard. As PR and Stakeholder Communications Manager, she was responsible for designing, developing and implementing public relations strategy and activities, as well as maintaining relationships with key customers, opinion influencers, Government, NGOs and trade bodies.

In October 2009, Maria was named one of PR Week’s ‘29 under 29’, an exclusive annual ranking of the brightest young talent in the UK’s PR Industry. Maria is currently reading for an Executive MBA at London Business School with expected graduation in July 2012. She graduated magna cum laude from Ithaca College with a Bachelor of Science in Organizational Communications, Learning and Design and a Certificate in International Business, with a Minor in Advertising/Public Relations and German. As an undergraduate, she also studied abroad at the Ithaca College IES Centre in Vienna, Austria. Maria is fluent in Bulgarian and a beginner in German.

Sara Benwell is a communications professional with experience in media relations, social media engagement, content creation, thought leadership campaigns, launches and events, and stakeholder engagement. She has excellent media relations skills with expertise in Consumer, B2B and Financial PR. She has previously worked across a variety of B2B and consumer clients, tackling a range of different issues.

Sara joined Sermelo as a Consultant in September 2011. Currently, she works on account and project work for a number of clients across a variety of industries, including retail, insurance, health, technology and digital. In her role, Sara provides external communications, social media strategy and stakeholder engagement counsel to clients, as well as day-to-day account management function across her accounts.

Sara began her career at Lansons Communications, where she specialised in financial media relations. Sara specialises in developing issues-based media relations campaigns and was part of the team that launched Metro Bank, the first high street bank to launch in over 100 years. She also managed day-to-day interactions with national, specialist, business and broadcast media on behalf of a number of investment and financial services clients.

Sara completed an internship at Burson-Marsteller, where she undertook research assignments for a number of multinational clients. She graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2009 with a BA in Philosophy. Her hobbies include skiing, cricket and netball. After leaving University, Sara spent a year living in Greece, as well as travelling in Serbia and France. Sara speaks French at a conversational level.

Tom Clive is a communications professional with extensive experience in copywriting, brand and communications strategy development, brand engagement and internal communications. His particular strengths are balancing strategy with creativity and aligning messages to business objectives. He has worked on campaigns across print, digital and live events for clients such as Sky, British Gas and QinetiQ.

He began his career at Avvio Design Associates, where he handled many kinds of challenging engagement projects, ranging from reducing absenteeism, and strategy engagement to change management, as well as reward and recognition schemes. He also worked on providing creative solutions for all of the different communication channels in today’s business world. He worked alongside a creative department including digital designers, graphic designers, 3D designers, writers, developers, artworkers and an in-house event production team.

Tom joined Sermelo in January 2012 to apply his skillset in copywriting, integrated communications, and engagement to address some of the most pressing challenges facing multinational organisations. He has also developed a good understanding of social media and the associated risks and opportunities it presents as a business communications channel.

He graduated from the University of Exeter in 2010 with a BA in English Literature. Outside of work, his hobbies are golf, football and tennis, although he is a keen follower of all sports.

Amanda is responsible for Sermelo’s finance and business operations and joined the company in April 2010. Amanda previously worked for almost a decade at the Reader’s Digest, where she was responsible for the European production of various editions of the flagship title, as well as other publications such as Moneywise. Her role included responsibility for a multi-million Euro P&L, procurement, supply chain management and distribution.

Amanda started her career as a sports journalist, covering events such as the World Student Games for The Times and she spent two years in sports marketing, where she worked closely with a number of charities at events such as The London Motor Show and Skate for Life. She remains a passionate sports fan and is a keen skier, having spent a season working in the Alps.

She graduated from the University of Manchester with a 2.1 in History and Politics and holds the CAM certificate in Communications and Marketing.