With three decades of experience in communications, Stewart is happy to talk on almost any issue, but is particularly keen to share practical insights on:

• Measuring campaign impact: Focusing on the importance of evaluation in communications to demonstrate the real effects of campaigns, particularly in achieving business outcomes and driving behaviour change.

• Leadership communication: Helping leaders improve how they communicate their vision, both internally and externally, to align teams and engage stakeholders effectively.

• Crisis and reputation management: Lessons from managing high-profile and sensitive issues across the public and private sectors, with an emphasis on transparency and long-term reputation building.

• Corporate and B2B communication: Practical strategies for businesses to enhance corporate reputation and manage stakeholder relationships more effectively.

Naturally, Stewart can also talk about the benefits of professional membership organisations and the contribution of PR, public affairs and marketing communications generally.

Professional and personal background

Stewart began his career with BBC Radio Shetland before moving into public relations. His initial roles were with NHS Grampian and then the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, before he joined the City of Edinburgh Council.

Stewart then moved into agency, first with Weber Shandwick and then BIG Partnership, where he is responsible for its Edinburgh PR and public affairs teams.

His campaign and issues experience ranges from student finance to square sausages, container terminals to communicable diseases, fish farming to ferries, chemistry to crime, radioactivity to rewilding, lighthouses to life sciences and other forced alliterative pairs!

Jackie has represented Dumbarton Constituency since 1999 when the Parliament was first created. Prior to this she worked both in the public and voluntary sector most recently as a Community Economic Development Manager for a local authority. 

Following the inception of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, she served as Deputy Minister for Communities under then First Minister Donald Dewar, before being promoted to Social Justice Minister.

After the May 2007 Scottish Parliament elections Jackie returned to Labour’s front benches as Shadow Minister for Parliamentary Business. In 2008 she was appointed to a newly created position as Labour’s Chief of Staff in the Scottish Parliament before becoming Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Cities Strategy in 2009.

Jackie has also since taken on roles as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Equalities and Welfare and spokesperson for the Economy, Jobs and Fair Work. She was also the first woman to take on the role of Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Finance.

In 2020, she became Deputy Leader of Scottish Labour and is now Shadow Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care and Drugs Policy.

Dr. Emily Gray is Managing Director of Ipsos in Scotland. Based in Edinburgh, she leads a team of researchers in Scotland specialising in social research and evaluation for public, private and voluntary sector clients. Emily brings 19 years’ experience of quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods research, including 15 years at Ipsos.

Before joining the Scotland team in 2017, Emily held a succession of roles at Ipsos, including heading up the company’s central government research, followed by senior roles in its international social research team and public sector communications unit. Prior to her time at Ipsos, she worked as an academic researcher specialising in political communications.

Emily brings expertise in public opinion, Scottish politics, climate change and the environment and is a senior member of Ipsos’ Climate Change and Sustainability Practice. She also has overall responsibility for Ipsos’s work on the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey, one of the Scottish Government’s three flagship random probability social surveys.

Emily frequently comments on public opinion on current affairs on TV and radio, and was Ipsos’s lead spokesperson for the 2021 Scottish Parliament Election. She has led and contributed to many of Ipsos’s published reports in her areas of expertise. She is an experienced presenter who has presented Ipsos research and insight to many audiences in Scotland, the wider UK and internationally.

Andrew Henderson joined Pinsent Masons in 2016, before which he was Head of Public Affairs and External Relations at a new challenger bank being created from within one of the UK’s largest financial services companies.

Andrew has over 20 years’ experience in the public policy and strategic communications industry, operating across Edinburgh, London and the UK regions, and has advised a broad range of major PLCs, SMEs, third sector, and other organisations on their dealings with government, media and other influential stakeholders.

Educated in Politics at the University of Edinburgh, Andrew also has an MBA and is a member of both the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR).

Formerly a board member of Citizens Advice Edinburgh, and the Rock Trust, Andrew currently sits on the board of Edinburgh World Heritage.

Fiona is one of the most highly-regarded lawyers in Scotland for public, parliamentary and administrative law. She has a deep working knowledge and expertise across a range of legal areas including public and regulatory law, data protection, freedom of information, human rights, corporate governance and parliamentary affairs.

With a background in both contentious and non-contentious matters, she is highly experienced in a wide range of sectors, with a particular focus on education as well as the public sector.

She has in-depth knowledge and first-hand insight of how Governments and Parliaments work on a day-to-day basis, alongside extensive experience of legislative procedures and public sector governance.

She has worked in the Scottish Parliament, UK Parliament and the US Senate in legal and political roles, and in higher education. She was a member of the Scottish Government’s Human Rights Leadership Task Force and sits on the Law Society of Scotland’s sub-committees on constitutional law, human rights, privacy law and its freedom of information working group.

Fiona is ranked by Chambers in Band 1 for both Administrative & Public Law and Parliamentary & Public Affairs. She is ranked within Legal 500’s Hall of Fame for Parliamentary & Public Affairs, and as a Leading Individual for Education Law.

Andy has over 20 years of experience in politics and PR in the public, private and charity sectors and, since co-founding Message Matters, in consultancy.

His expertise is in strategic communications and corporate positioning, helped by long-standing relationships across the political spectrum and throughout the media. He is also a regular independent political commentator on the BBC and STV, has a regular column in The Herald, and is co-host of Holyrood Sources, the most listened to Scottish politics podcast.

Billy McLaren was appointed as Lobbying Registrar in October 2016 following the passing of the Lobbying (Scotland) Act in the Scottish Parliament in 2016.

Previously Billy worked in Westminster, supporting the UK’s Attorney General as Assistant Private Secretary and then in Whitehall and Edinburgh, as part of Donald Dewar’s private office team when Secretary of State for Scotland and then Scotland’s First Minister.

He led a project team coaching civil servants to provide focused briefings for Scottish Ministers, creating, updating and storing this key material on an IT system developed and implemented to operate across all Scottish Government departments.

Following that, he worked in Glasgow on policy, evaluation and IT projects delivering programmes under a £350 million package of European regional development and social funds for Scotland.

Billy was recruited in 2009 to the Scottish Parliament, as Head of the International Relations Team.

From 2011 to 2016 he served as the Principal Private Secretary to the Scottish Parliament’s Presiding Officer (Speaker) during the Parliament's first ever five-year session.

Stuart Nicolson worked in the Scottish Government for 15 years, most of which was spent as a senior advisor in the role of head of communications and senior spokesperson for two First Ministers of Scotland.

His time in government encompassed some of the most era-defining moments in recent Scottish and UK politics, including the 2014 independence referendum, the Brexit referendum of 2016 and its aftermath, and the governmental response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Background

Neil's previous background combines significant experience of regulation and complaints, and of the Scottish legal services market.

Neil sat on the Council of the Advertising Standards Authority for six years, involved in both the governance of the organisation and in adjudication on complaints within the £20 billion UK advertising industry. He was the Senior Independent Director and Chair of their Audit and Risk Committee.

Prior to this he had been appointed by the Privy Council to sit on the General Dental Council, the regulatory and complaints body for 104,000 dental professionals in the UK. He served two four-year terms on the Board as well as chairing the Remuneration Committee.

Previously Neil worked with the Law Society of Scotland for 11 years, latterly as their Director of Representation and Professional Support. He has held several other Executive and Non-Executive Director roles in organisations and charities spanning the legal sector, healthcare, consultancy, and oil and gas.

He holds a Law degree from Edinburgh University and a Masters in Quality Management from Birmingham University.

Current appointments

Neil currently sits as a non-executive director on the Standards and Regulation Board of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. The Board sets the standards for over 130,000 members and candidates operating in the development and management of land, real estate, construction and infrastructure across more than 140 countries globally.

Neil is also Chair of Norton Park, a charity and social enterprise which owns property in Edinburgh and runs this as a business hub for charities (with around 20 tenants) and as a third sector conference centre. He is Chair of Albion Equity Ltd., a property ownership company which is part of the Norton Park group.