The Building Societies Association is seeking an external affairs
manager to head its PR following the resignation of Pam O’Keeffe to
become assistant director of group media relations at Barclays.
The vacancy, which comes into effect towards the end of next month, is
the most senior PR position at the BSA and will report to director
general Adrian Coles.
The PR department is a two-person team whose role entails running the
press office and publicising to building societies the importance of
competition within the financial services market.
The BSA is seeking a straight replacement for O’Keeffe to start as soon
as possible after her departure on 19 November.
At Barclays, O’Keeffe will report to group media relations director
Maria Darby, who joined earlier this year.
’It is a revamped position. Barclays is strengthening the role of group
media relations to ensure a more consistent message across the four
groups,’ said O’Keeffe.
The four groups are retail financial services, BGI Global Investor,
Barclays Capital and corporate banking.
O’Keeffe was previously at APACS, which carries out clearings for major
banks and building societies. Prior to that, she was an account
executive at Westminster Strategy.
The Building Societies Association is the trade association for the UK’s
70 building societies. It acts on their behalf to forward the industry’s
views to Government and the media, while also providing information and
advice on a wide range of areas from employment legislation to financial
development.
