AMBITIOUS Agency Member

Member Bio

Key People

Lis Anderson

Lis is an experienced PR consultancy Director and MD with over 20 years in the B2B and B2C marketing communications industry. Agency side she has held Board level positions at JBP, also as a partner of Worldcom Public Relations Group, and Bray Leino (Speed Communications) before launching AMBITIOUS. Alongside her PR agency career, Lis also founded and ran Talking Heads for 13 years - a communications training network that delivered affordable courses delivered by practitioners for practitioners in the areas of social media, marketing communications, PR and crisis management. Passionate about the region and the creative industries sector, Lis is both active and involved in a number of organisations including a Bristol Creative Industries, where she is Vice Chair and is a Fellow of the Charted Institute of Public Relations.

Sarah Woodhouse

An experienced PR agency owner, Sarah has worked at a senior level in both the UK and internationally for leading agencies including McCann, Edelman and Cohn & Wolfe. After studying PR at Bournemouth University, Sarah joined the Press Office team at Harrods. Moving agency side, she stayed in London to join Edelman where she worked across a number of big brands, running strategic and creative campaigns and hardworking press offices for clients including Coca-Cola, Burger King, Microsoft, Unilever, Kimberly-Clark, Pillsbury, Kingfisher. This work included European coordination and UK domestic briefs. A move out to Hong Kong for seven years saw Sarah join leading Asia Pacific PR agency impactasia of which she become a co-owner. Sarah helped grow the business significantly across Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing and was involved in the successful sale of the agency to WPP's Cohn & Wolfe brand when she took on the role of Group Managing Director. At AMBITIOUS Sarah is the dynamo behind the agency’s new business development, working with prospects to develop PR programmes and agree KPIs. She is also the driving force behind Social Media Week Bristol. An event she made successful during her time in Hong Kong before helping to bring the concept to Bristol.

Helen Embleton

Helen has over 18 years’ experience of developing and delivering effective PR campaigns – working for both PR agencies and in-house as a senior PR Manager. Agency side, Helen worked at IMS Marketing Communications and Berkeley PR. Client experience includes everything from edtech and training providers through to environmental publishers and waste management firms. In-house, Helen’s experience includes seven years as PR Manager for Savills in the South West & Wales and PR Manager for logistics giant Wincanton. A stickler for client service, she’s incredibly organised and experienced at running busy PR campaigns – from planning to delivering results - generating media coverage and handling sensitive crises and issues for clients. At AMBITIOUS Helen is a Team Lead, heading up a range of clients across B2B, trade and corporate sectors. In particular, Helen has extensive property PR experience – from new developments to property agency. She is also a member of the South West Women in Property group.

Greg Halse

Greg has over 10 years PR agency experience having worked agency side across B2B, corporate, tech and creative industries. After studying for a Masters in Broadcast Journalism at Falmouth University, Greg joined London based Franklin Rae PR working with TV, film and entertainment sector clients including Fremantle Media Enterprises and The Royal Television Society. A move to tech PR agency Marlin PR gave Greg international experience working on Sage, Melbourne ITDBS, Bang & Olufsen and Sony Pro. He returned to the South West with a move to Cohesive Communications where he worked with a broad range of clients, such as social media aggregator Blurrt, IT service provider Logicalis UK and a number of cyber security vendors including iSIGHT Partners, FireEye and Fortinet.

Liam Britnell

Liam is an established senior PR consultant with eight years’ experience working across B2B and B2C clients. He has built up extensive knowledge working on award-winning integrated campaigns for household brands such as Booking.com, American Express and Qantas, as well as tech start-ups and fintech organisations. Liam has worked for PR agencies in the UK and New Zealand, as well as holding freelance and in-house roles.

Joe Wright

Joe leads our cutting edge digital communications offer. Leveraging data-driven insights, online reputation management techniques and creative content campaigns, Joe delivers high impact strategies for a range of clients. Joe’s honed his skills in two of London’s premier strategic communications firms, working on large international corporate mandates for the likes of bp, HSBC and Bayer, as well as on specialist projects for financial services institutions and foreign governments. He has his finger on the pulse of the latest industry trends and is passionate about innovation – he’s constantly striving to build and develop what AMBITIOUS can offer in the space.

Simon Boddy

Simon is an experienced PR professional, with a decade of agency experience working across a wide range of B2C and B2B clients. Throughout this time, Simon has worked across a wide portfolio of clients and sectors; ranging from events and festivals such as The Bristol Harbour Festival, Balloon Fiesta and Countryfile Live; to leisure and hospitality, local authority and leading outdoor brands.

Maria Dickson

Maria is a seasoned marketing professional with a track record of delivering strategic, integrated and impactful marketing campaigns across various sectors including consumer healthcare and not-for-profit. As well as many years agency side, Maria also led the national social and marketing teams for Girlguiding.

Chloe Tonkin

Chloe has joined us as a Senior PR Consultant and copywriter with over ten years working agency-side across B2C and B2B-focused sectors, in both the UK and New Zealand. Her experience spans technology, FMCG, travel, and more. Her primary area of expertise is in traditional earned PR and media relations, for which she’s received industry recognition.

Amy Ferrier

With 15 years’ experience across a wide range of television and film, Amy has a strong track record of delivering iconic and high-end video content. Amy is passionate about delivering beautiful and engaging films, on time and on budget.

Will Reid

Will works across a range of clients supporting with research, media relations and content creation. He is skilled in media research and journalist relations and has good knowledge of a range of media verticals.

Claire Snook

With more than 20 years’ experience under her belt in the media and PR, Claire brings together digital insights and traditional PR skills. She has worked with top global brands to local start-ups, and everything in between, for agencies and in-house.  

Zoe Bagnall

A seasoned professional in communications and campaign strategy, branding development and content planning, she also has strong media relationships across trade, national and local press.

Ernestine Allen

Following a decade of freelance PR working across sectors such as property, law and hospitality, Ernestine is using her experience across a range of clients. Her specialisms include media relations, stakeholder communications and social media management.

Luke Allsop

Luke has over six agency years’ experience delivering successful B2C and B2B technology campaigns. Skilled in delivering thought leadership campaigns, event-driven media moments and regional media coverage, including proven ability to analyse campaign success and deliver high-quality reporting to clients.

Eleanor Robinson

Bringing experience in charity communications and a flair for the written word, Eleanor is responsible for assisting our ESG and Sustainability projects: both internal and external. Eleanor supports a range of clients, providing press office support, research and content creation.

May Mower

May is a certified Digital Marketing Professional and oversees creative content across social and digital channels for the agency and client projects. Her specialisms include social media management, SEO and content marketing.

Key Clients