This press release originally appeared in PR Week.

MHP Group has hired Lisa Hunter as Head of Strategic Communications. Hunter will bolster the agency’s integrated advisory capabilities helping senior leaders navigate complex issues and reputation challenges.

Hunter joins from the Government Communications Service, where she served as Deputy CEO. In this role, Lisa led communications for the funeral of Her Majesty the Queen, the Covid-19 Inquiry and the government’s management of recent industrial action – attending COBR meetings and advising Ministers, Number 10 and Permanent Secretaries across Whitehall.

Hunter’s career has encompassed senior roles across the private and public sectors, including the DWP, the DCMS, the ECB and Lloyds of London.

Hunter specialises in reputation and crisis management, and has led some of the most complex government communications projects in recent government history, including promoting pensions auto-enrolment and rebuilding public confidence in Universal Credit.  Lisa also established the crisis communications operating model now followed by all government communicators.

Reporting to Rachel Bower, Head of Brand & Reputation, Lisa joins a diverse roster of senior advisers that includes Keith Gladdis, Head of Strategic Media and ex Daily Mail News Editor, and Naomi Goodman, Head of Change and Employee Communications, another recent hire.

The move marks a return to the agency for Hunter, who left MHP in 2018 to take up a role as Director of Communications for the Department for Work and Pensions.

Commenting on the hire, Rachel Bower, head of Brand and Reputation, MHP Group explained:

“Lisa has worked at the highest level of government, managing some of the biggest stories in the country, delivering the kinds of complex, multistakeholder campaigns that we specialise in as a team, and which our clients are increasingly asking us for counsel on.”

Lisa Hunter, added:

“With MHP continuing to grow, I’m absolutely thrilled to be joining such a strong team with so many exciting plans for the future. With the lines between businesses, consumers, shareholders and policymakers becoming increasingly blurred, strategic communications is more important than ever to ensure messages cut through to the right audiences. I’m looking forward to working with Rachel and the team and using my experience across the public and private sectors to help MHP bolster its advisory offer.”