People profiles
Mark Thompson
Professional Background
- Highly experienced communications & engagement leader
- Former FTSE250 communications director, and change communications practice leader at FTI Consulting
- Expert in change situations and M&A integration; workstream leader on numerous domestic and cross-border transactions
- Diverse sector experience spans healthcare, energy, chemicals, industrials, technology, manufacturing, logistics, financial services, and private equity
- Published research with YouGov on the challenge for leadership engagement in times of financial crisis
- Collaborative partner; operates at leadership and grass-roots level to maximize engagement with change
M&A Skills & Expertise
- Skilled at communication that minimizes uncertainty and maximizes engagement & momentum during M&A integration
- Brings a ‘customer first’ approach to the change agenda, ensuring visible, accessible and responsive leadership throughout the integration process
- Equips leadership and senior management teams with compelling narrative & consistent messaging
- Stakeholder mapping & cultural due diligence
- Track record of delivering high impact, interactive digital channels
- Branded campaigns & content creation to maximize internal engagement
- Sentiment tracking and perception audits to inform communications effectiveness
Project Highlights
- Johnson & Johnson – led EMEA communications for the biggest change programme in J&J’s history
- Mondi Group – successful campaign to engage 30,000 employees and maintain customer confidence during Mondi’s £5bn demerger from Anglo American plc
- Smith & Nephew: $0.9bn acquisition of Plus Orthopedics – award-winning employee campaign to win support for the integration
- Alent plc: £1.35bn acquisition by Platform Specialty Products – led communications for the integration; helping to protect the customer franchise through rapid alignment of sales & technical teams and retain key talent
- RBS Group: £2bn carve-out of WorldPay – Led all internal communications during the transaction for this global payments leader
- Maersk €2.3b merger with P&O Nedlloyd – successful campaign to win stakeholder support for a politically sensitive transaction
- Lafarge Tarmac joint venture – Aligned leadership team on shared vision & corporate branding