Planned Transition at London Communications Agency sees Alastair Gornall appointed chairman

• Founder and Executive Chairman Robert Gordon Clark steps down from the Board to take on Senior Advisor role.

• PR Industry heavyweight Alastair Gornall becomes Non-Executive Chairman of £5m agency.

• Co-Founder and MD Jonny Popper becomes majority shareholder and Chief Executive, with increased shareholdings for Board Directors Jane Groom and Chris Madel.

• LCA plans for further expansion, following three years of fee income growth.

London Communications Agency (LCA) – the leading property focussed public relations & public affairs agency – today announced a corporate restructure that sees Founder and Chairman, Robert Gordon Clark, who set up LCA 22 years ago, move into a part-time Senior Advisor role, and Co-Founder & MD, Jonny Popper, become the majority shareholder and Chief Executive, with increased shareholdings for fellow Board Directors Jane Groom and Chris Madel.

LCA also announced the appointment of PR industry heavyweight Alastair Gornall as Non-Executive Chairman. Alastair was founder of Scope Communications and Consolidated Communications Group (PRWeek’s Agency of The Year 2001); a former CEO of Reed Exhibitions Ltd and recently Non-Executive Chairman of many media companies including Blue Rubicon (Teneo), Hanover International Communications, Hume Brophy, Seahorse Environmental, Dods Group plc, Longitude Research and Finn PR.  

Alastair will chair a board comprising Jonny Popper, Jane Groom, Chris Madel, Suzi Lawrence and Jenna Goldberg.

Speaking about the change, Robert Gordon Clark said:

“LCA is now a fifty-plus team with a client list far bigger and more impressive than I dared imagine back in 1999.  I am delighted that the next generation is taking LCA forward and look forward to continuing to work with my wonderful colleagues in the role of Senior Advisor.

 “London remains a dynamic, evolving city and I know that LCA will continue to work on many great projects, for amazing clients in the years ahead.”

LCA Chief Executive Jonny Popper, said:

“This is a significant milestone for LCA, and I’m delighted that Robert will continue to work with our clients and staff in his new role, building on the last 22 years of growth and success.

“Alastair Gornall joins us at a fascinating time, as London and the UK emerges from the pandemic with so much change ahead. We have ambitious and exciting plans and I know that Alastair’s huge experience of assisting successful media brands to grow will add substantial value and fire power to our existing senior team.”

Alastair Gornall, LCA’s new Executive Chairman, said:

“I have long admired LCA and the quality of their people, clients and projects. I am very excited about the opportunity to develop the business over the next few years and enhance our capabilities whilst continuing to deliver great results for our clients and supporting the development of our staff.”

LCA’s planned transition follows the recent appointment of Paddy Hennessy, Sadiq Khan’s former Head of Communications at the Greater London Authority, who started in the position of Senior Advisor on 31 August 2021.

Notes for Editors:

LCA is an intelligence-led PR company with five core services:

• Consultation & Planning Permission: Effective community and political engagement to enable development for the public and private sectors.

• Corporate & Public Affairs: Protecting and enhancing reputation and strengthening relationships with political, business and stakeholder audiences.

• Consumer & Lifestyle: Raising profile of brands, spaces and places through integrated campaigns across traditional and social media.

• Social & Digital: Skilfully managing and optimising your social and digital channels from strategy through to delivery.

• Design for Print & Digital: Creative, engaging and informative design across multiple platforms.

Key clients include Landsec, Argent, Quintain, Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, HB Reavis, The Earls Court Development Company, British Land, The National Gallery and Broadway Malyan.

LCA is multi-award winning, securing ‘Agency of the Year’, ‘Consultancy of the Year’ or ‘Specialist Agency of the Year’ from all of PR Week, the Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA), the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) and the International Building Press (IBP).