This award recognises the consultants in our network who consistently deliver great work and are trusted by clients’ time and again. Being shortlisted is a real achievement and reflects both the quality of their work and the impact they make.

Cast your vote before voting closes on Friday 10 April. Please note that each person can vote for one nominee.

1.Vote for Independent Consultant of the Year

Michael Clarke

Michael Clarke is a public affairs and media relations expert who works a lot in healthtech and pharmaceuticals, leveraging his experience at NHS England, the Department of Health and Social Care and Cabinet Office. He began his communications career as journalist at the BBC and Daily Mail before entering government communications and then the corporate sector. Although he started out in radio cutting magnetic tape with a razor blade, he tries hard to keep up with new technology, platforms and channels. Despite the accelerating pace of technological change, he’s still convinced that well-told stories about relatable people will cut through, as they always have done.

Matt Needham

Matt Needham is a journalist-turned communications professional specialising in media relations, crisis communications, reputation management and social media.With a background in journalism, he brings a practical understanding of how the media works and how organisations can engage with it effectively to build and protect their reputation.
Matt supports organisations with everything from day-to-day press office activity and social media content to major campaigns, research reports and documentary storytelling.Known for his straightforward and practical approach, he helps brands tell clear, compelling stories while navigating complex communications challenges.Alongside his communications work, Matt also runs one of the UK’s leading enterprise programmes for student engineers and scientists, supporting the next generation of innovators to develop their ideas and commercial skills.
He also delivers engaging, practical media training sessions designed to help people feel confident when speaking to journalists and the wider public.

Nadia El Mealeem

Nadia El Meallem is a London-based PR and communications consultant specialising in fashion and lifestyle. With over 20 years’ experience in the industry, she has worked with leading global and luxury brands, including Selfridges, LVMH and Fabletics, as well as independent and innovative clients such as Roarsome, One Scoop Store and Lectra. Nadia combines strategic insight with creative thinking to help brands and services secure high-profile media coverage and tell stories that resonate with their audiences. Passionate about purpose-led, innovative brands, she thrives on turning bold ideas into impactful results. Nadia is honoured to be nominated for The Work Crowd’s Independent Consultant of the Year Award.

Gareth Davies

Gareth Davies is an independent communications and digital strategist with more than 20 years’ experience helping global brands turn cultural insight, creativity and digital media into measurable business growth. Through his consultancy, BVRHSN Communications, Gareth partners with organisations to design integrated strategies spanning social, influencer, earned and performance media.
Previously holding senior leadership roles at Golin, MikeWorldWide, WE Communications and MSL, he has built and scaled multi-million-pound digital practices, led cross-market teams across EMEA and developed strategic frameworks adopted by global clients.
His work combines strategic thinking with hands-on execution, delivering tangible impact, growth in audience, significant share-of-voice gains and thousands of new inbound leads for clients.
Gareth has advised and delivered work for brands including Mars, Unilever, Ferrero, Google, Adobe and Sainsbury’s—helping organisations build influence, relevance and sustainable growth in a digital-first world.

Danielle Leach

Danielle is a strategic communications leader and executive reputation specialist with a track record protecting and promoting brands and leaders under scrutiny. She has over two decades of experience across agency and in-house roles including Google, Ericsson and H&K and operates as an independent trusted advisor to brands, agencies and leaders through her firm Reputation Rise. She is a Folgate Advisor. Danielle brings a sharp, strategic approach to proactively managing reputation, risk and opportunity in rapidly evolving industries, high stakes organisations and international markets. She has deep expertise in global account leadership, strategic communications, executive reputation, thought leadership campaigns, storytelling and issues management, helping many of the world’s high impact purpose-led organisations at pivotal moments.

James Smith

James Smith is an independent marketing consultant who helps brands and agencies build the operational systems that allow great marketing to happen at scale. For fifteen years he has helped turn creative ambition into operational reality. As a Partner and Head of Operations at BBH, he built the infrastructure that kept one of the world's best agencies at its best. For global brands including BT, Disney and Nokia, he led transformation programmes that made strategy stick. That experience gives him an unusually clear view of what it takes to create and deliver great marketing globally. Having completed two executive programmes at Oxford Saïd Business School in Artificial Intelligence and AI Governance, James works at the point where creative operations, marketing technology and organisational change meet. He helps teams become as operationally strong as they are creatively and commercially ambitious, because no transformation is complete until it changes behaviour.

Sarah Goodyer-Haslam

Sarah is a specialist PR and communications consultant with more than eight years' experience supporting brands across sectors including property, sustainability, finance and food & beverage. She works with agencies, brands, and founders as a trusted senior consultant, bringing strategic insight, sharp copywriting and strong media relationships.
Her philosophy is simple: listen first, then activate. Sarah believes in taking the time to truly understand a brand's vision and goals before jumping into action - because good strategy starts with listening and insight, rather than assumption. Her work spans PR strategy, media relations, thought leadership, expert commentary, brand messaging and long-form content - supporting everyone from agency teams to business leaders and founders. Her approach is rooted in genuine curiosity, meticulous attention to detail, and a belief that good PR should always do more than generate coverage - it should also build credibility and create meaningful impact.

Gareth De Gante

Gareth is an independent sustainability consultant recognised for helping organisations turn ambitious climate commitments into practical, credible action that strengthens both environmental performance and brand reputation. With over 20 years’ experience implementing sustainability across a range of industries, they specialise in strategy development, policy implementation, and environmental reporting. A key differentiator in Gаreth’s work is their ability to simplify sustainability, a complex and rapidly developing field, into clear, practical actions that organisations can confidently implement. Drawing on previous experience delivering change as an in-house sustainability manager for businesses both large and small, they bring a pragmatic understanding of organisational realities and commercial priorities. Their work has enabled clients to reduce emissions, strengthen climate resilience, and embed sustainability within governance, operations, and long-term decision-making. Known for combining technical expertise with pragmatic delivery, they consistently translate complex sustainability challenges into clear, actionable solutions that create lasting value.