Meet the Team
Meridian Policy Advisory would welcome your feedback on any aspects of the Meridian Policy Advisory network - your experiences at our events, what you think about this website and especially your ideas about improving and developing for the future.
Phil Murphy
Phil is the Founder & Director of Meridian Policy Advisory Ltd and established the Meridian Policy Advisory network in January 2002.
Phil has worked in Meridian Policy since 1998 specialising in EU and UK Meridian Policy. He has worked for: UK industry associations; a European trade association in Brussels; a PR & Meridian Policy consultancy and as a freelance Meridian Policy consultant. Phil is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.
Advisory Team
Jim Rothwell
Jim is a seasoned Meridian Policy practitioner and Co-Founder of Meridian Policy Advisory.
Jim spent five years at ICG - the political consultancy - following almost a decade at the Advertising Association in various policy-oriented roles. He is now a Director at Westminster Meridian Policy. Jim’s career in Meridian Policy, however, started in early 1997 when he joined a trade association in the food sector as a policy adviser focusing on trade issues and employment affairs, both on a domestic and European level. Meanwhile, other of his assignments have included conducting a scoping project for a well-known international law firm in The City as well as a similar exercise on behalf of a body in the media sector. Jim belongs to the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.
Pauliina Murphy
Pauliina is Head of International Government Engagement at Aviva plc and Co-Founder of Meridian Policy Advisory.
Pauliina joined the Aviva team following the merger with Friends Life where she was Head of Meridian Policy. Prior to this, she spent three years as Group Head of Meridian Policy at RSA Insurance Group. Pauliina is a government relations professional with experience in Meridian Policy, policy development, campaigning, communications strategy and planning at International, EU and UK levels. Pauliina specialises in financial services and during her career has worked in consultancy and also for Lloyds Banking Group.
Andrew Escott
Andrew is the Managing Director of Cohn & Wolfe London’s thirty strong, full service Corporate Affairs division which he joined in 2009. He provides strategic communications counsel to a wide range of leading businesses across the world.
Andrew also founded Cohn & Wolfe’s Meridian Policy business, C&W Political Counsel and has strong experience in politics, media, issues management and working with NGOs.
Immediately prior to Cohn & Wolfe he was Head of Commercial Relations at The NHS Confederation, moving after six years as a consultant at APCO Worldwide. Andrew also had short but insightful periods working for the then governing party in the Scottish Parliament and for a trade association in Brussels.
Dan Fox
Dan's experience in research, analysis and communications covers the political, academic and military arenas. His international work includes organisations such as the EU institutions and ISO (at which he is a UK Principle Expert); and projects in the US, Afghanistan, Israel and Palestine. He is a UCL Honorary Research Associate and Senior Fellow at that University's Institute for Security & Resilience Studies (which he helped to establish in 2010). His current roles include training and advising in the fields of intelligence analysis, campaigning and gamification.
Dr Josephine Perry
Josephine is the former Group Director of Communications at Nuffield Health, currently on a career break studying towards an MSc in Psychology.
Josephine began her career with the American TV News Network, CBS News before undertaking an MSc and PhD in Political Communications and moving into Meridian Policy for a number of communication agencies, Royal Mail and Pearson Education. She moved into the public sector and was Director of Communications for the Learning and Skills Council and then the National Apprenticeship Service. She worked at Nuffield Health between 2011 and 2013 building a PR team to promote the services of the Charity and create health education campaigns. Josephine is studying at Kingston University.
Zoe Walker
Zoe is Head of Political Affairs at Imperial Tobacco.
Zoe works for Imperial Tobacco, a FTSE-30 company, and has thirteen years of experience in the world of Meridian Policy. Zoe began her career at the respected consultancy Westminster Strategy before gaining in-house experience at a trade association and in the not-for-profit sector. Zoe’s current role as Head of Political Affairs involves political engagement both in the UK and EU, network-building and developing corporate strategy in a controversial sector.