RIYADH — Brunswick has opened an office in Saudi Arabia, appointing Tariq Al Buhosi as head of the office and Ikram Al Yacoub as general manager. Al Buhosi was previously a director with PwC Consulting in the Middle East and a director at law firm Harasani and Alkhamees. Al Yacoub was previously managing editor at Al Arabiya News Channel, where she also led the business team.

LONDON — Also at Brunswick, Wolfgang Blau has joined as managing partner of the firm’s Climate Hub, based in London. Blau (pictured) is co-founder of the Oxford Climate Journalism Network at Oxford University and an advisor to the United Nations Climate Division, UNFCCC. He is also the former president international and global chief operating officer of Condé Nast, where he initiated the company’s first global carbon audit and chaired its sustainability group. Prior to Condé Nast, he was The Guardian's executive director of digital strategy. As part of Brunswick’s business and society practice group, Blau will have responsibility for the development of the Climate Hub worldwide.

LONDON — Instinctif has made two senior appointments in London to expand its sustainability and emerging markets offering. Helen Dodd has joined as head of reinventing responsibility, the business's integrated sustainability and ESG advisory service, from Unilever, where she held senior communications positions in the global and UK and Ireland communications and corporate affairs teams. She has also worked in the NGO sector with the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition and held consulting roles with Open Road and Luther Pendragon. At the same time, Kim Polley, a managing partner in the business' Johannesburg office, has relocated to London and has taken on the role of senior emerging market advisor in addition to her existing client responsibilities.

NEWCASTLE, UK — Healthcare marketing communications agency Onyx Health has announced international growth plans following the promotion of Trevor Pill to managing director. The 30-strong agency aims to expand its client base in the UK, Europe and New Zealand, which already includes companies such as Bayer, Clinigen, Nova Laboratories and Foot Science International, and establish a presence in the US. Pill, who joined Onyx six years ago and has been an executive director since 2021, takes over the helm of the agency from founder Karen Winterhalter, who is stepping back from the day-to-day running of the business she founded almost 20 years ago but will remain as a director, focusing on business development.

LONDON — APCO Worldwide has appointed James Nason as head of public affairs for the UK. Nason, who has worked across the energy and environment, transport, financial services and culture sectors, joins from Instinctif Partners, where he co-led the 25-strong UK public policy team. In his new role, Nason will join the firm’s London leadership team and lead APCO’s engagement with political and policy leaders and influencers, working with the agency’s public affairs leaders in Washington, DC and Brussels. The agency has also hired Jo Tanner as a senior director in London. Tanner was previously CEO of iNHouse Communications, which she co-founded 16 years ago, and a senior advisor to the UK government.

LONDON — Venture capital firm Balderton Capital has appointed Rachel Bremer as chief marketing and communications officer, with a remit to support the company and more than 100 companies within its investment portfolio. Bremer was previously a partner at advisory firm Milltown Partners for three years, where she worked with global technology companies and high-growth start-ups. Before joining Milltown, she was global communications director at ASOS, where she ran corporate and consumer PR, public affairs, influencer marketing, and she also spent five years at Twitter as international communications director.

LONDON — Scientific communications firm Envision Pharma Group has appointed Meg Heim as its new CEO. Heim has worked across the pharmaceutical, medical device and health technology sectors, latterly as Sanofi’s VP and global head of scientific engagement strategy, operations and project management. In her new role, she will be responsible for delivering the agency’s five-year plan that aims to position Envision as a global leader in scientific and commercialisation strategy and solutions; medical affairs; and lifecycle planning.

LONDON — Ocado Group has promoted communications director David Shriver to the new role of chief reputation officer. He will focus on building, protecting, and measuring reputation to create sustainable value for the stakeholders of the online grocery fulfilment technology company. Before joining Ocado in 2017, Shriver was a managing partner at Tulchan Communications.

LONDON — Management consultancy Bain & Company has hired Lewis Woodward as an executive vice president with responsibility for leadership of external relations worldwide. In the newly-created role, based in London, Woodward will be responsible for the firm’s global external communications activities, leading the media relations and corporate affairs functions, as well as overseeing crisis and issues management and client events. He will report to partner and chief marketing officer Erika Serow. Before joining the firm, Woodward was global head of brand and communications for real estate and investment management business JLL.

LONDON — B2B agency Jargon PR has begun strengthening its US presence through the appointment of Vivian Kelly as head of US strategy. Originally from the UK, Kelly moved to Washington, DC in 1992 and has run her own strategic communications company for the past 25 years, working with B2B technology companies.

LONDON — PR agency Here Be Dragons has promoted April Hogan to head of new business. Hogan joined the firm two years ago after previous roles at BCW, Splendid and Edelman, and will work with founder Paul McEntee and the senior leadership team help grow the agency.