Through our anonymous annual client survey, our clients describe Packer Forbes staff as being efficient, responsive, friendly and approachable. What this feedback doesn’t tell you is that every individual member of Packer Forbes’ team is exceptionally bright, motivated and driven to deliver excellent results. Most importantly their personal values will almost certainly match those of the organisation; they will be genuine, intuitive, inspirational, passionate and confident individuals.
As an organisation with Investors in People status, we take the professional and personal development of our staff very seriously indeed. This ensures that our clients’ accounts are run by staff who are well trained and supported and able to genuinely deliver insightful, strategic consultancy alongside flawless campaign execution.
Every team has a senior strategic lead and the work on each account is directed and overseen by one of the Senior Management Team. This provides the correct level of support for more junior team members but, most importantly, the reassurance to our clients of high quality strategic thinking and delivery on each and every one of our accounts.
Team Packer Forbes is bright and exceptional. The majority of our team possesses either a communications or a science degree – the one thing we all have in common is that we are all great communicators who love our job.
Click on the photographs below to view the biographies for our senior management team.
With 25 years' experience in the healthcare industry, Alexa knows how to develop innovative PR campaigns that offer a fresh perspective in an increasingly competitive and complex healthcare environment.
Alexa brings senior advice and strategic counsel to all Packer Forbes' accounts. She is proud of the agency’s ability to identify nuances between different audiences and environments so that customised PR programmes with measurable results are delivered.
Alexa attributes the company’s success to the Packer Forbes team members, whom she describes as having a diverse range of healthcare experience and a positive, creative and inspiring attitude towards their work.
"On a personal level I enjoy seeing my staff flourish as PR professionals in a continually evolving industry. One of my career highlights includes Packer Forbes being chosen three times as ‘Best Small Consultancy’ in the Communiqué PR and Medical Education awards".
Before setting up Packer Forbes, Alexa worked at Searle Pharmaceuticals as a medical representative. Her natural ability to communicate, build relationships and understand scientific data made the transition from sales to healthcare public relations a smooth one. After three years in sales, she moved into account management for Counsellor Public Relations (Holmes and Marchant), followed by a move to Shire Health.
At the same time as working as a medical representative, Alexa was a rowing finalist in the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and a medallist in the 1986 Commonwealth Games and World Rowing Championships.
Anna has been working in Public Relations for over 14 years, specialising in healthcare communications. She combines a thorough understanding of the pharmaceutical business with front line experience of project delivery. Anna has returned to agency life after seven years working in the pharmaceutical industry.
After graduating from Manchester Metropolitan University with an MA in public relations, Anna started her career with Capricorn Communications Consultancy. Initially focusing on Business to Business clients Anna played an instrumental role in refining the offering of the consultancy to focus on healthcare public relations and helped build the client base, which included AstraZeneca, Biocompatables, Diagnology, Novartis, Schering AG, Solvay Healthcare and Wyeth.
In 2000 Anna joined Pfizer UK Ltd as product public relations manager for the neurosciences business and two years later also took on public relations responsibility for the cardiovascular business, where she worked on the company’s largest brand – Lipitor. Anna then moved into a marketing role, working as a product manager with responsibility for launching a new CV treatment. During this period Anna also spent a brief secondment in sales.
In 2005 Anna joined the global R&D communications team at GSK as PR Director for the respiratory franchise. Key responsibilities included leading the public relations programme to support over 100 local operating companies to launch landmark clinical data and to launch a new allergic rhinitis medication. Additional activities included providing strategic communications and issues management consultancy across the respiratory franchise and providing communications support to the investor relations team on pipeline products.
Anna joined Packer Forbes having worked as a freelance consultant, where she ran an employee engagement programme for the speciality sales team at AstraZeneca and supported several healthcare public relations agencies with new business development activities and provided strategic guidance on redefining their product offering.
"Having known Alexa for ten years, a relationship which started when I appointed Packer Forbes to work on the Pfizer Alzheimer’s Disease product, Aricept, I jumped at the opportunity to join the team". Since joining Packer Forbes Anna has been working with the senior management team to develop and realise a new vision for the company, to help ensure the future growth and success of Packer Forbes.
Helen joined Packer Forbes in March 2006 and has over seven years’ experience in healthcare communications and biomedical science.
Unravelling complex scientific data and presenting it in a format that enables patients to more easily understand how it impacts on them is an aspect of work that Helen thrives on – and one that adds considerable value to the company’s PR programmes.
After graduating from Sheffield University with an upper second class honours degree in Biomedical Sciences, Helen spent a year working in the Worcestershire Community and Mental Health NHS Trust. Here she gained insight into NHS service structure while performing two audits of service provision. She also worked at an immunological laboratory in Sydney, Australia that specialises in the production of tropical and infectious disease diagnostics.
But it was Helen’s passion for communicating scientific results and making them resonate amongst different audiences which led her to work in healthcare communications.
During her PR career Helen has worked on a variety of communications activities across a broad spectrum of therapy areas including oncology, dermatology, gastroenterology, rheumatology and haematology. Before joining Packer Forbes, Helen led the implementation of international and UK-based PR programmes at Resolute Communications.
"Packer Forbes draws the best out of its people and with our good balance of scientific knowledge and creativity we are able to deliver inspiring PR programmes." On both a professional and personal level, Helen enjoys the satisfaction of team work and helping her peers and colleagues develop professionally and play to their strengths.
Annabel joined Packer Forbes in May 2005 and has over six years healthcare PR experience across a range of UK, pan European and international accounts.
Annabel graduated from Leeds Metropolitan University with an upper second class honours degree in Public Relations. As part of her studies, she spent a year working with Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS trust to assist in the development and implementation of its local communications strategy. Splitting her time between an acute hospital trust and a newly formed Primary Care Trust she was able to hone her media and issues management skills, working alongside key media outlets at a regional and national level as well as taking responsibility for a range of internal communication initiatives.
During her career in healthcare communications Annabel has worked across a range of disease areas including rheumatology, urology, cardiology, dermatology, hospital antibiotics and mental health. Her key achievements include the successful implementation of a global disease awareness campaign; heading up an award winning educational symposia event at the British Society of Rheumatology annual congress and launching the innovative Packer Forbes CONNECT programme.
Annabel is passionate about delivering high quality, tailored PR programmes, which meet commercial objectives and maximise opportunities presented by a rapidly diversifying NHS environment.
Annabel enjoys being part of the Packer Forbes experience: "Healthcare PR is often very challenging but we are truly committed to delivering a high quality service to our clients whilst enjoying the process along the way. At the root of all our successful programmes is a solid client relationship based on mutual trust, expertise and dedication."