You know what you stand for.
You could use some help to say it well.
Communication support for leaders and changemakers who need their message to resonate.
You have a clear sense of purpose. You care about the work you do and the people you do it for.
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But even with that clarity, it’s not always easy to express what you stand for in a way that feels true and resonates with your audience.
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This is where I come in...
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Through skilful writing, editing, and professional voiceover, I help individuals and organisations communicate with clarity and care.
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Whether you’re speaking to a team, a community, or the wider world, I’ll help you find the words - and the voice - to tell your story and land your message.
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My Services page shows lots of ways I've helped clients in the past or could help you in the future:
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​​Want to explore meeting your challenge together?
A contributor to the success of major brands
My
Mission
To help values-driven people and organisations have an even greater impact through the power of storytelling, engagement and connection.
​​Why clients choose me
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Great to work with. Nice guy, great communication, transparency
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High standards. Takes time to understand client’s needs. Delivers a high quality product.
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Trustworthy and dependable. To work closely with chief executives and other senior leaders, as I have done, requires an ability to forge relationships based on delivery, trust and mutual respect.
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Focused, disciplined, professional. As evidenced by a successful, multi-decade career in global businesses.
​How I choose my projects
Like you, I only have so much time. In deciding which clients and projects to work with, I think about these five things: Could I? - Should I? - Joy - Learning - Earning - in that order of priority.
1. Could I? (capability)
Does the project fit my abilities, skills, knowledge and current capacity, such that I will be able to deliver my client a high quality service, on time and to budget?
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2. Should I? (values and impact)
Do both client and project fit with my values? Ideally, is the project likely to deliver meaningful impact - making the world a better place in some way, benefitting people (not just financially)?
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Is there a good chance the project will bring:
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3. Joy
For me and others. I've always enjoyed my work and want that to continue.
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4. Learning
Supporting my own growth, helping me hone my skills or develop new ones, teaching me something interesting or useful.
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5. Earning
Offering a fair return on the investment of my time and effort.​​​
​* “Making the world a better place”? I mean anything that benefits people or the planet - the 17 Sustainable Development Goals are a great framework - so could potentially include scientific research; educational initiatives; action on climate; good health and wellbeing; reducing inequalities; industry, innovation and infrastructure and many more.
What I Believe
I believe that communication, done well, can build trust, foster inclusion, spark understanding, and move people to act.
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That’s why I choose to work with clients, whether individuals or organisations, who are driven by values. People whose projects have purpose: whether that’s informing, educating, welcoming, or empowering others.
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If your message helps people feel informed, included, supported or inspired, we’re probably a good fit.
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​My values
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Trust
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Truth
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Transparency
My measures of success
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Measurable impacts and outcomes that the communication makes happen for the client
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My growth and learning from the project.
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Level of fee charged (a measure of the intrinsic value of my services and the satisfaction of my client)
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Repeat business from the client (economic sustainability)
“truly velvet wording and voice”
"Using a skilled wordsmith has made a huge difference. Nigel has crafted some great wording for our website, member emails and YouTube channel, as well as recording a voiceover for a corporate explainer video. We’ve been delighted with the smooth and approachable style he has created for us, to say nothing of his truly velvet wording and voice...working with Nigel is always a pleasure."
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Christine Lambie, Video Producer and Head of Social Media, national educational charity
My
Story
Life never turns out quite as we expect
Like when I was a business student, applying for UK internships for my ‘sandwich’ year, I never thought I’d end up studying at one of France’s top business schools instead.
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Or, after ten years pursuing my dream career in marketing, I never expected to be put in charge of a frontline office of 140 staff providing critical services to thousands of households.
Or, that ten years later, I'd be developing and leading one of the largest corporate environmental partnerships the world has ever seen.
And I definitely wasn’t expecting the phone call at the office that Monday morning - the one that's 'every parent's worst nightmare' - telling me our 15-year old daughter had collapsed at home and paramedics were fighting for her life...​
Experience counts
I’m an internationally experienced business communicator, born, educated and based in the UK.
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For over 30 years, I worked with and for successful business leaders, including global and group chief executives, helping them hone and communicate their vision and brand.
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Now as a freelance executive ghost-writer and editor, I deploy the same skills to help a new generation of leaders, across a wide range of sectors, including corporate, education, charity and government.
Continuing to invest in my skills as a communicator, I am currently developing skills as a voiceover artist, offering a narration service for corporate videos, e-learning and audio books and guides.
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Seasoned professional
British-born and -raised, I’ve worked for over 30 years as a professional communicator, with some amazing colleagues and businesses, most notably at British Gas (10 years) and HSBC (20 years).
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My main task, in various ways, was to help business leaders communicate with their people. Along the way, I formally mentored more than a dozen fellow comms professionals (mostly women) from around the world, including Brazil, Canada, France, Hong Kong, Türkiye, UK and USA.
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My two decades at HSBC included a few years in the corporate sustainability function. While there, I had the privilege of developing and leading the world’s largest NGO-corporate partnership for the environment, the ground-breaking, five-year, $100 million HSBC Climate Partnership with the likes of WWF - so significant that Sir David Attenborough himself helped us launch it! (Years later, inspired by our work with Earthwatch and WWF, I continue to campaign to protect our rivers and chalk streams.)​
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Career highlights
Since most of my work has been in-house for internal audiences, samples of my work are hard to come by. But these are some highlights from my career to date:
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British Gas Southern, Southampton, UK – promoted to marketing manager for the Service business. One year managing a district office and staff of 140.
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British Gas Service and Centrica, London and Staines, UK – part of a communication and mobilisation team working at the heart of the transformation programme to establish the new Services business. Managed internal launch of the Centrica brand name.
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Midland Bank, Southampton and London – internal communications manager working with businesses to plan and execute effective strategies to engage and align their staff behind the vision, values and strategy
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HSBC Group, London – global head of corporate responsibility, responsible for sustainability reporting and community investment.
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HSBC Asset Management, London – seven years as global head of internal communications, working with the global chief executive and senior leadership team to communicate vision, values and strategy and manage change.
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Freelance and pro bono - since 2020, as well as working as a freelance ghost-writer and editor with a variety of clients across sectors, I have worked as a trustee of a national educational charity and as a non-executive director at Waterperry Gardens Ltd.
Europe-oriented
One of the most challenging and rewarding years of my life was spent studying at the Ecole de Management, Lyon, France.
It made me a life-long admirer of French business culture and savoir faire and gave me some grasp of the language. I’m also an intermediate-level speaker of German and Italian and a frequent visitor to see family in Italy.
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While by no means fluent, having some language ability is useful when it comes to editing or recording English language scripts for European clients.
Staying grounded
I feel truly blessed being a husband and a father of three grown-up sons, who inspire me every day.
The sudden death of their sister, our 15-year-old daughter, Elizabeth*, 20 years ago felt devastating at the time. While you can never really get over something like that, life does go on. And while so much was stripped away, it was so clear that what remained was unbreakable. Let's call it love.
Looking back, I think it probably made us more resilient, more compassionate and closer together as a family.
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One thing I'm pretty sure helped: I'm a longstanding student and practitioner of mantra meditation, mindfulness and Advaita Vedanta philosophy. I now help others, sharing what I've learned, as a volunteer tutor and coach.
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* Thanks to her willowy physique, her school friends called her "Lizzie Tree". We gave them this bench and a tree to remember her by.
Let's talk
Email me direct: nigel@nigelpate.com
Leave a message: +44 (0)1727 867645
Or use the contact form below