Edelman appoints Lloyds Banking Group's Nick Howard as engagement chief

Nick Howard joins the agency as a director, reporting to group MD for corporate and financial Alex Bigg.

Howard was previously retail comms director at Lloyds Banking Group, where he was responsible for all comms within its retail business. His role covered the Lloyds TSB, Halifax and Bank of Scotland high street brands, together with the mortgages, cards, current accounts, loans and savings businesses.

Bigg commented: ‘Nick brings a wealth of employee engagement experience from his time at Lloyds, during the most turbulent period in the bank’s history. In particular, his understanding of how to build employee advocacy and focus the activities of employees during tough economic conditions will be invaluable to our clients.’

Howard joined Lloyds in 2009 shortly after its creation, when Lloyds TSB acquired HBOS. He advised the retail CEO and board on internal comms and engaging employees during the largest financial services integration in Europe.

He said: ‘Edelman shares my views on employee engagement – that it is a vital reputational lever at the disposal of every organisation.’