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.

Ele has over 15 years’ experience working in corporate communications and public affairs, working across a range of sectors including retail, technology, manufacturing and healthcare.  Her expertise includes messaging and strategy, stakeholder engagement, campaign planning, issues management, and corporate responsibility communications.

Before joining Sermelo Ele was a Director at Burson-Marsteller, leading client teams of up to 30 consultants across 10 countries, she provided strategic counsel and delivered, business-driven communications programmes for global, regional and local clients.    She led teams for international organisations including, Aldi, Amazon, Johnson & Johnson, Danone Baby Nutrition, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, supporting them in identifying and utilising opportunities for communicating with key stakeholders.

Ele also led the global Burson-Marsteller team for the Global Infrastructure Investor Association, working with multiple stakeholders within the new organisation, to identify key priorities, develop communications and stakeholder engagement frameworks and deliver communications support through teams in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific.

In the healthcare sector, Ele has developed and delivered strategies for pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostic and wider advocacy clients from awareness campaigns to stakeholder engagement and product launches. She also has significant experience of assisting clients in navigating often complex regulatory and political processes and assisting clients in overcoming barriers to patient access.

Prior to Burson-Marsteller Ele headed up the London office of independent agency Morgan Allen Moore.  She held overarching responsibility for developing the team, managing key clients and research and intelligence gathering.

Ele has a degree in History, Politics and International Relations from Lancaster University. Ele is married with two young children, she loves both watching (mostly) and doing (occasionally) sport, particularly netball, and when she has time, enjoys reading a good book.

Daniella is a corporate communications and crisis management practitioner with over ten years’ experience. She has expertise in crisis and issues management, media relations, and the development and implementation of corporate communications strategies at UK and global level.

Daniella joined Sermelo in 2011, and prior to this she worked at Blue Rubicon for over five years as a senior consultant in the crisis management and media training team. Prior to joining Blue Rubicon, Daniella spent four years at Burson-Marsteller as a manager in the crisis and issues management team and corporate communications practice. Previous to this, Daniella worked as Account Director at MTI Network, a strategically focused public relations and crisis management consultancy offering services to international energy and transportation industries.

She provides strategic counsel to a number of global, European and national companies to protect corporate reputation and business interests that have been threatened in a crisis. Working alongside senior management teams she provides counsel on high profile events such as product recalls, plant closures, and industrial accidents. Her range of experience encompasses areas of oil and gas, transport and travel, food and beverages, household goods and pharmaceutical. She has worked with clients such as Cadbury Schweppes, Unilever, BHP Billiton, BP and GSK Nutritionals on issues management, corporate communications and corporate reputation campaigns.

Daniella also works with clients to prepare for possible crises. Daniella develops crisis management guidelines or manuals and facilitates desktop exercises and crisis simulations that validate the robustness of plans by replicating the stresses and pressures of a real crisis. In addition, she regularly trains clients in frontline training, messaging and media-interview skills.

Daniella has an Arts and Language degree from Monash University, Melbourne and then completed a post graduate degree with honours in International Business and Marketing at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. She speaks Indonesian, French and English.

Gillian has over 15 years’ experience working in corporate communications, including six years as a broadcast media spokesperson.  Her expertise includes messaging and strategy, campaign planning, integrated communications, spokesperson training and crisis and issues management.

Before joining Sermelo Gillian led the ABTA (The Travel Association) media team for six years. During this time Gillian acted as a media spokesperson for ABTA managing the industry’s response to crises including the Tunisia terror attacks, the Arab Spring revolutions and numerous health and safety incidents affecting British holidaymakers and travel companies. She conducted over 100 TV and radio interviews including BBC Breakfast, Sky News and the Today programme. She helped develop the communications strategy for high profile campaigns including A Fair Tax on Flying, which successfully lobbied for a reduction in Air Passenger Duty and the Stop Sickness Scams campaign, which called on the Government to clamp down on bogus holiday illness claims.

Prior to ABTA Gillian worked in leading consultancies Burson-Marsteller and Freud Communications providing communications advice and support to companies such as Accenture, SAP, Shell, Tiger Woods Dubai, PepsiCo, Eurostar and Swiss International Air Lines. Her industry experience spans travel, technology, food and drink, property and energy.

Having worked in-house Gillian understands the needs and demands of in-house communications teams and uses that experience to provide practical and insightful guidance to clients. She uses her first-hand experience of dealing with high profile crises and issues to help clients prepare for and manage crisis situations.

Gillian has a degree in Philosophy and Literature from Warwick University and an MA in Media Production from Royal Holloway. Gillian is married with two young children, she loves to travel and enjoys running, gardening and pilates.

James Hardy is an Associate Partner at Sermelo and joined the company in October 2020.  He has over a decade’s experience in corporate communications and has advised some of the world’s largest companies on reputation management, strategic media relations, issues, crises and public affairs in sectors including technology, finance, FMCG and media and entertainment.

Prior to joining Sermelo, James worked at Ketchum for eight years as a Senior Account Director working across the corporate reputation practice and led a number of multi-market cross channel communications campaigns. This has included advising FMCG companies on their sustainability communications and helping technology brands better position themselves as responsible innovators. James has also played a major role in advising executives on the development of thought leadership programmes, including managing their presence at the World Economic Forum in Davos for the past four years.

James has provided strategic counsel to a range of organisations to help navigate significant corporate issues. This includes helping navigate one of the UK’s largest consumer recalls for a white goods manufacturer and preparing a major broadcaster ahead of the 2017 and 2020 Olympic Games. James has also led on the preparation and training of communications teams in the manufacturing and food and beverage sectors.

With a passion for politics and policy, James has also worked across several public affairs campaigns, helping organisations manage complex policy issues such as Higher Education funding and the onset of the Sugar Tax. James has also helped prepare executives to engage in the political process including briefings with government departments and appearances at Select Committees.

Before joining Ketchum, James worked for the Prince’s Trust charity and The Conservative Party, advising on the communications strategy for the 2008 London Mayoral election.

James lives in London and is an avid sports fan.

Ben is a project lead on some of Sermelo’s large international clients. Since joining Sermelo in 2016, he has supported clients to help them achieve their communications objectives with a particular focus on copywriting, media relations, internal communications, social media support and account management. He has worked across a broad range of both business and consumer facing sectors including insurance, aerospace, mining, automotive, property, electrical goods and travel.

A key component of Ben’s role is developing and implementing multi-channel media engagement campaigns for clients, including FM Global, Andermatt Swiss Alps, De Beers, Norsk Hydro and Oerlikon. These campaigns have resulted in significant international, UK national and trade media coverage.

Ben has a degree in History and Ancient History from the University of Exeter.  Outside of work, he is interested in football, cricket, tennis, and is also a keen reader.

Sam joined Sermelo in April 2020, bringing with him over a year’s worth of experience in the world of corporate communications. Previously at W Communications he has worked on a diverse range of business-to-business clients, such as a Manchester based Venture Capital firm, a global adtech company, and an industry leading in-store solutions provider, primarily delivering content creation and media relations. Sam has also worked with a number of consumer facing companies, helping to increase brand awareness and public trust.

Sam’s role at Sermelo sees him continuing to utilise his content creation and media relations skills, applying them to clients like FM Global and International SOS.

Before starting his career, Sam completed two degrees at UCL with a BA in History and MSc in Public Policy. Away from work, he is a big film fan and also enjoys following many American sports, particularly the NFL.

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.