Colin Byrne is one of the UK’s most senior strategic PR practitioners with over 20 years' experience in media relations, corporate and political communications and issues management. He has managed national and international press offices and advised senior business, public sector and political leaders on reputation management, media and presentational issues.
Colin started his PR career at the Automobile Association and the National Union of Students before going to work for the Labour Party on the 1987 general election campaign. In his subsequent role as Labour’s chief press officer, a post he held until the 1992 election, Colin worked with the shadow Cabinet, including current Prime Minister Tony Blair MP and Gordon Brown MP, on media relations. He returned to politics briefly in 1997 when he worked for Labour’s election manager, Peter Mandelson MP, on a number of strategic projects connected with Labour’s press campaign for the general election.
In 1992 Colin sought broader PR horizons and joined Prince Charles’ international CSR NGO, The Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum, as its first communications director. He spent four years traveling the world with The Prince of Wales helping organize parts of HRH’s overseas programs, managing international media teams to promote HRH’s interests in business and sustainable development, and working with international firms on their CSR strategies.
After a brief period as PR manager at the National Farmers’ Union, Colin was headhunted to Weber Shandwick as an associate public affairs director in 1995. He joined the board in 1996 and became the MD of the new Weber Shandwick Public Affairs consultancy the following year. After building Weber Shandwick’s public affairs division into an industry leader he was promoted to be CEO of the new enlarged Weber Shandwick after its 2001 merger with BSMG.
Colin leads a number of large corporate and public affairs accounts with his client experience including Shell (issues and crisis management), IKEA, Asda-Walmart, the BBC, Nestlé (a global issues management campaign), Oracle, BNFL, Coca-Cola, the Department of Education and Skills, and work for President Putin of Russia and the British Government.