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LONDON — Former Instinctif Partners senior executive Rishi Bhattacharya has set up a new agency, Impact & Influence, to offer “communications that creates value” to younger CEOs and fast-growth businesses.
After nearly five years with Instinctif, Bhattacharya left the firm at the end of March. His most recent role was as managing partner and co-head of corporate and capital markets, as well as setting up the firm’s “impact investing” offer for investors wanting to invest in businesses not only to make money but to do good.
Bhattacharya also spent nine years at Edelman, advising clients in the energy, tech and financial services sectors, including being head of energy and industrials in EMEA. Before moving into communications consultancy, he was a broadcast political journalist during the Blair years.
The new agency will specialise in the area of impact investing, as well as the “sweet spot” of “creating value for the next generation of CEOs,” Bhattacharya said. Launch clients include firms in the financial services and energy sectors.
He told PRovoke Media: “There is something special about the next generation of younger CEOs leading younger companies that are going through fundraising rounds as they start to scale. They understand social media, and there is a great opportunity to provide them with great advice on how to use comms to create value for themselves and their company.”
Bhattacharya is joined at the agency, which will have a virtual structure, by director Nicola Forsyth, who has held in-house comms roles with HSBC, TSB Bank and OVO Energy as well as being head of content for Green Traveller, a sustainable travel website. She has also worked in agencies including Edelman, Teneo Blue Rubicon, Third City and Seven Consultancy.
He said launching a new agency during Covid-19 was as much of a blessing as a challenge: “Lockdown has actually made the understanding and appreciation of the virtual agency model much easier. There is a huge amount of disruption at the moment, with clients asking what they actually need and can afford, and we can offer a premium product without overheads.”
Impact & Influence’s advisory panel includes Anne Groves, former global head of PR at law firm Clifford Chance; Chris Kelsall, the former COO for HSBC Global Banking in Europe, and Richard Sambrook, former BBC director of global news.
After nearly five years with Instinctif, Bhattacharya left the firm at the end of March. His most recent role was as managing partner and co-head of corporate and capital markets, as well as setting up the firm’s “impact investing” offer for investors wanting to invest in businesses not only to make money but to do good.
Bhattacharya also spent nine years at Edelman, advising clients in the energy, tech and financial services sectors, including being head of energy and industrials in EMEA. Before moving into communications consultancy, he was a broadcast political journalist during the Blair years.
The new agency will specialise in the area of impact investing, as well as the “sweet spot” of “creating value for the next generation of CEOs,” Bhattacharya said. Launch clients include firms in the financial services and energy sectors.
He told PRovoke Media: “There is something special about the next generation of younger CEOs leading younger companies that are going through fundraising rounds as they start to scale. They understand social media, and there is a great opportunity to provide them with great advice on how to use comms to create value for themselves and their company.”
Bhattacharya is joined at the agency, which will have a virtual structure, by director Nicola Forsyth, who has held in-house comms roles with HSBC, TSB Bank and OVO Energy as well as being head of content for Green Traveller, a sustainable travel website. She has also worked in agencies including Edelman, Teneo Blue Rubicon, Third City and Seven Consultancy.
He said launching a new agency during Covid-19 was as much of a blessing as a challenge: “Lockdown has actually made the understanding and appreciation of the virtual agency model much easier. There is a huge amount of disruption at the moment, with clients asking what they actually need and can afford, and we can offer a premium product without overheads.”
Impact & Influence’s advisory panel includes Anne Groves, former global head of PR at law firm Clifford Chance; Chris Kelsall, the former COO for HSBC Global Banking in Europe, and Richard Sambrook, former BBC director of global news.
