Rob is an experienced senior executive providing strategic communications and reputation management counsel in support of major projects, transactions and challenging issues, with a focus on emerging markets. Over a 25 year career, predominantly in the energy sector, Rob has led or provided lead advisory on numerous acute and chronic reputation issues, often across multiple jurisdictions and under intense scrutiny. He has been part of the decision-making team for multiple >$1bn projects and transactions on all continents.

Rob has led integrated corporate affairs teams of up to 200 professionals with a focus on Europe, Middle East and African markets. He was Vice President for global corporate external communications at Shell when the energy major was Europe’s most valuable listed company. Rob previously served as a UK diplomat, advising UK Ministers on Middle East energy matters, including engaging widely with Ministries and National Oil Companies across the region. In the middle of his career, Rob built a successful reputation management consultancy business across the Middle East and Africa, based in Abu Dhabi, working for both government and private sector clients.

He has lived and worked in Qatar, the UAE, The Netherlands and the UK. Rob has a first class degree in Commerce from The University of Birmingham. Rob is a retained Senior Advisor to corporate intelligence firm S-RM and an associate Senior Consultant with both the management consultancy The Tantalus Group and the boutique strategic communications firm Aura Financial. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Middle East Association and an officer within the Staff Corps providing non-executive advice to the leadership of the British Army.