LONDON — FTI Consulting has bolstered the growth of its UK public affairs team with seven new hires, which brings the team to over 20 people.

The new appointments feature Gemma Doyle and Tom Burton as senior directors; Mike Archer and Josh Cameron as directors; Rebecca Gladstone as s senior consultant; and Matthew Walters and Helen Humphrey as consultants. They will report to Alex Deane, UK head of public affairs at FTI.

While the firm is best known for its work in financial communications, and the M&A market in particular, much of it's 2016 growth came from public affairs. The firm saw its strategic communications revenues increase by 0.6% to over $191m in 2016, and was named the 2017 EMEA Public Affairs Consultancy of the Year by the Holmes Report, which also recognised the firm's strong Brussels operation. 

"I am very proud of our team. We have spent the last few years building an exciting and unparalleled offer to clients. These new hires are collectively a great vote of confidence in what we have built so far and seek to put us on the forefront of the market when it comes to insight on key political issues such as free trade agreements and the Brexit process," said Deane.  

Former Parliamentarian Doyle brings nearly two decades experience to the team and spent the last two years in consultancy. Prior to that, she spent five years at the House of Commons, first as a member of Parliament before becoming shadow defence minister. Doyle has also served as a political officer for the Labour Party, a conference producer for the Institution of Civil Engineers, and a parliamentary assistant for the Sottish Parliament. 

Burton will fill his new role in October aiming to strengthen the firm's financial services offering. He is currently head of government relations at Barclays where he's been for seven years, and chair of the British Banking Association's Digital Policy Committee. Prior to Barclays, he was senior account executive at Citigate Dewe Rogerson and before that was with Lloyds Banking Group. 

Meanwhile, Archer is currently a senior strategy adviser at the Department for Exiting the European Union and will fill his position at FTI later this year. His remit with the consultancy includes providing insight and a detailed understanding of the Brexit process to FTI's clients. 

Cameron joined the firm in April, 2017 and specializes in international trade, financial services and the tech sector. Prior to this, he spent nearly five years with the New Zealand Parliament, most recently as a senior advisor to Prime Minister Jon Key. Before that, he served as a senior ministerial advisor to the minister of health and nearly three years as ministerial advisor to the Minister of Defense. 

In October Gladstone will make her transition to FTI from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) where she has spent 18 months as a public affairs advisor. At ABI, she focused on developing relationships across government and parliament while working closely with politicians, civil servants and others in financial services. 

Walters joins after receiving a Masters of Arts in international relations at King's College London. At FTI, he works to increase client engagement with government and policymakers. Humphrey joined the firm in April, 2017 and is also currently a government communications intern at the Department for International Trade. 

"FTI's public affairs team sits within a broader international business advisory firm which allows us to offer clients a genuinely unique service, these hires reflect that," said Deane.