What I do.
How I can help.

To work closely with chief executives and other senior leaders you need to build relationships based on trust and mutual respect.

This is probably the most important ability I developed over more than three decades in senior communication and marketing roles for major international businesses.

Today, strong relationships remain at the heart of the work I do as a freelance communicator.

Drawing on the skills and experience gained as a communications specialist, facilitator, ghost-writer and editor - and also developing new skills as a voiceover artist and narrator - I offer English language communication services to a new generation of leaders across multiple sectors and countries.

I don't employ other people. While this sometimes means capacity constraints stop me taking on new projects for a while, it also means, if we do work together, it will be with me alone.

You can see details of my professional experience below, together with, in case you're interested, more about me as a person.

If you are:

A business leader facing a tricky internal communication challenge or needing the help of a ghost-writer to help craft your internal messaging
A European hospitality venue or visitor attraction needing an editor to improve your English translations or a narrator for your English audioguide
A non-fiction author or producer seeking a narrator for your audiobook or documentary
Or you have any similar challenge you think I may be able to help with,

please get in touch and we can arrange a conversation.

If I can help, I will!

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.

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...

A contributor to the success of major brands

Big Picture

I’m an internationally experienced business communicator, born, educated and based in the UK.

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.

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 as a voiceover artist, offering a narration service for corporate videos, e-learning and audio books and guides.

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 one of the world’s most international financial services companies, HSBC (20 years).

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 from around the world (including Brazil, Canada, France, Hong Kong, Türkiye, UK and USA), most of them women.

My two decades at HSBC included seven years in corporate sustainability. As well as having responsibility for the Group's annual sustainability report, I developed and led 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 and launched by Sir David Attenborough, no less!

In recent years, I’ve served both on the board of trustees of a national educational charity and as a non-executive director at a leading garden visitor attraction. In 2023/24, I was privileged to be the comms lead in a talented team leading a successful campaign to elect a new member of parliament.

I continue to work with a select number of clients as a freelance copywriter, editor and narrator.

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:

British Gas Southern, Southampton, UK – various regional marketing roles, culminating in marketing manager for the British Gas Service business. One year managing the Southampton district office and staff of 140.

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 a national business infrastructure and operating model for the new Services business. Culminated in managing the internal launch of the Centrica brand name.

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

HSBC Group, London – global head of corporate responsibility, responsible for sustainability reporting and community investment. Developed, gained Board approval for and oversaw the HSBC Climate Partnership, a $100 million global partnership with WWF, Earthwatch, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and The Climate Group, launched by Sir David Attenborough in 2007.

HSBC Asset Management, London – seven years as global head of internal communications, working with the global chief executive and other members of the senior leadership team to communicate vision, values and strategy and manage change.

Freelance and pro bono - since 2020, as well as working as a freelance ghostwriter 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. I am excited to continue developing the range of skills available to my clients, most recently in the area of voiceover work.

European to my core

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 means I can generally ‘get by’ speaking a bit of French. I’m also an intermediate-level speaker of German and Italian and a frequent visitor to see family in Italy.

Why is this relevant? Well, being able to pronounce words in these languages, more or less correctly, can be useful when it comes to recording English language scripts for European clients. And, while by no means fluent or a translator, I can often use my editing and copywriting skills to improve a translation into English and bring the story to life!

Family and community

I feel truly blessed being a husband and a father. My wife, a health professional, does amazing work in the community and we have the joy of seeing our three adult sons making their own ways in the world. I recently had the honour of acting as the celebrant at my niece's wedding in Tuscany.

I am a longstanding student and practitioner of mantra meditation, mindfulness and Advaita Vedanta philosophy. Coming round to the view that our true nature, or being, is actually peace, happiness and love, and that we share that being with everyone and everything, it seems only reasonable to seek to reflect this underlying oneness through one's life. On two evenings a week, I also tutor groups and help others with their own practice.

It's often in the most challenging times that one catches a glimpse of any progress. The sudden death of our 15-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, 20 years ago felt devastating at the time. Looking back, I think it has probably made us more resilient, more compassionate and closer together as a family (but who really knows, right?). It was certainly a reminder of the importance of a balanced life, being kind to one another and investing in mental health through things like meditation.

Politically progressive, I’m an active member of the Liberal Democrats and was part of a brilliant team delivering a successful 2023-24 campaign to elect Victoria Collins, our second female member of parliament in my part of Hertfordshire.

I also campaign on environmental issues (especially chalk streams, a passion I gained from working with WWF), prison reform and fair pay for nursing.

My wife and I sing in a local choir.

“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."

Christine Lambie, Video Producer and Head of Social Media, national educational charity

What I do. How I can help.