Russ Brady, Head of Group Public Relations at The Co-operative Group

Russ has held a number of senior communication roles over the past 20 years. In his current role he is responsible for all Group Corporate & Financial PR activity within The Group and its core family of businesses in the Food, Insurance, Funeralcare and Legal Services sectors. A key part of this work is to support the revival of The Group’s corporate reputation following the crisis in 2013, triggered by the capital shortfall within its Bank. Russ led the in-house PR team during the crisis and is now responsible for the development and delivery of the corporate narrative through the Group’s rebuild period.

Steven Holliday, CEO at National Grid

Steve Holliday is Chief Executive of National Grid plc and was a Non-Executive Director of Marks & Spencer plc from 2004 to 2014. Prior to joining National Grid he was on the Board of British Borneo Oil and Gas and was responsible for the successful development of its international businesses in Brazil, Australia and West Africa. Steve spent much of his early career with Exxon, where he held senior roles in refining, shipping and international gas.

Andrew Caesar-Gordon, Managing Director at Electric Airwaves

Andrew is the owner and Managing Director of Electric Airwaves, the UK’s largest media and crisis training company. Prior to Electric Airwaves, Andrew spent over ten years as a government Special Adviser, public affairs consultant and ran a FTSE100 corporate communications team. A frequent guest speaker and podcaster, he has also written numerous articles on crisis and corporate communications and made two short films for Channel 4.