This press release originally appeared in PR Week

MHP has made two appointments that will further support its financial services team’s focus on key growth areas: fintech and payments, asset management and sustainable finance, and insurance.

Gemma Lingham joins the business as a director, working alongside director, Matt Village to lead the fintech and payments team.

Lingham previously served as head of fintech at FleishmanHillard and has expertise in open banking and payments technology with previous clients including Trulayer, CrowdCube, Swan and Western Union.

Lingham said: “It’s a hugely exciting time to be joining the practice on the back of a sustained period of impressive growth. Both the client and talent base are first class, and I look forward to working with Nick, Matt and the wider leadership team to continue building a market-leading fintech proposition.”

Charlotte Merlin-Jones also joins MHP, as an associate director from Edelman Smithfield, where she specialised in asset management, property and mortgages.

She will join the asset management and sustainable finance team, whose recent client wins include asset manager First Sentier Investors.

Merlin-Jones said: “At a time when the financial sector is under the spotlight, the ability to combine deep sector knowledge with a forward-thinking approach that delivers creative multichannel campaigns has never been more important. I look forward to experiencing the full power of MHP’s integrated proposition while working with an extremely talented set of new colleagues.”

In the last 12 months, the fintech and payments team has won briefs from brands, including Fiserv, Feedzai, Xapo Bank, Wamo and Laser Digital. This month, MHP supported Irish unicorn Wayflyer on its new £1bn funding deal with Neuberger Berman.

MHP’s head of financial services, Nick Woods, said: “Our ability to attract the industry’s best talent has been crucial to our success over the past three years. Gemma and Charlotte are two brilliant examples of this and bring with them deep expertise which will further accelerate our growth and continue our development of sub-sector specialisms.

“This capability, coupled with our integrated approach and a commitment to helping clients tell bigger stories has never been more relevant in a sector that continues to be reshaped by technological, societal and economic forces.”