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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Kitty Hamilton has spent more than 10 years specialising in media training and crisis management. She previously headed Blue Rubicon's Crisis Management Unit and worked at Regester Larkin, a reputation strategy and management consultancy before joining Sermelo.

Kitty has specialised in advising clients on a wide range of crises and issues including, bombings, shootings, terrorist attacks, negative campaigns by non-governmental organisations (NGOs), environmental spills, country evacuations, suicides and deaths in service, class actions, restructuring, health scares, product contaminations, product recalls, counterfeit, fraud and pandemic. This has added to her experience as a trainer and she has provided crisis training for a broad range of clients in the Energy, Transport, Food, Pharmaceutical and FMCG sectors.

She is a former BBC journalist with nearly ten years' experience including Radio 4's flagship PM and Today programmes, 5 Live and BBC News 24. During her time at the BBC, Kitty covered a wide range of stories including the Paris bombings, “Budget Specials”, US mid-terms, German elections as well as the Oscars.

Kitty Hamilton has also worked at the European Commission and witnessed the mass resignation of the Commissioners, the Coca-Cola product contamination and Belgian dioxin scare. She is fluent in English, German, French and Italian and graduated from Magdalen College, Oxford with and honours degree in Modern History.

Ben joined Sermelo in October 2016 having graduated from the University of Exeter in History and Ancient History that same year. Ben’s history degree has given him an appreciation of the many difficulties that can be associated with communication, as well as developing his analytical and research skills.

Ben has previously undertaken work experience within a variety of different industries and sectors, including stockbroking and commercial law.

Outside of work, Ben has a keen interest in sport, being a passionate Manchester United fan, and a keen follower of cricket, rugby, tennis and Formula 1.

Rosanna joined Sermelo in April 2018, having previously worked in communications at SSE. Whilst working at SSE, Rosanna gained a valuable insight into the importance of creating and maintaining effective internal and external communication channels.

Rosanna graduated with a Politics and International Relations degree from the University of Aberdeen, during which she spent a year studying abroad at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Rosanna also expanded her experience in politics by undertaking an internship at the Scottish Parliament, where she learned to effectively build relationships with key stakeholders.

Rosanna has always been a keen traveller, and enjoys attempting to cook the food she has encountered during her travels.

Scott Walker is a policy, public affairs, corporate sustainability and strategic communications specialist. He started his career as a consultant in London working at the world’s largest communications agency, Fleishman Hillard (which merged with GPC) serving a number of major international clients such as the BBC, Vodafone, Channel 4, BSkyB, News International, and Marks and Spencer, amongst several others.  He then moved 'in-house' and managed government, corporate, regulatory affairs, and policy on behalf of the UK music sector.

He has completed a BA (Hons) in Politics and Government and a Masters in International Relations, both from the University of Kent, UK. In addition, he holds a Law Degree from BBP Law School. He concluded the Executive Master's in Public Administration (MPA) at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) while working as a freelance policy consultant to businesses, NGO's and academia on various topics related to corporate social responsibility, ethics and compliance, and digital media. He set up and helped a Professor instruct a strategic corporate responsibility course for executive students at Columbia University for several years, which involved overseeing consulting projects with Time Warner, Merck, Colgate, Crown Worldwide, and Oracle, amongst several others. He has also been a counsellor for Social Risks, a New York City based consultancy that advised private, public and NGOs on processes for internal and external reporting and monitoring of social risks and strategies for engaging stakeholders.

Returning to the UK in 2009, he set up a consultancy - Nylon Consulting - which provides advice to a range of clients - corporates, charities, and consultancies - across different sectors, both in the UK and overseas. He also acts as a training facilitator and works as advisor to Kaleidoscope Futures, a strategy think tank which advises organisations on sustainability issues.