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Newsroom: key contacts

Members of the public should call the BIS enquiry line on 020 7215 5000.

To contact the press office out of hours (18:00-08:30), call 020 7215 3234/3505.

Management

  • Aileen Boughen - Head of News 020 7215 5972
  • PA to Head of News 020 7215 3701
  • Fiona Cookson - Deputy Head of News, press secretary to Vince Cable 020 7215 5973
  • Simon Steel - Deputy Head of News, Strategy and policy 020 7215 5938
  • Strategy and Planning 020 7215 5984

Business sectors, enterprise, small business and economy

Adam Smith - Chief Press Officer 020 7215 5955

This Press Office desk works to Minister for Business and Enterprise Mark Prisk on business sectors, enterprise, small business and economic development.

Business sectors

Matt Barker – Senior Press Officer 020 7215 5946

  • Overall responsibility for the desk
  • Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV)

Rebecca Murrell - Press Officer 020 7215 6403

  • Steel
  • Automotive sector
  • Low carbon - Green Investment Bank, renewables
  • Chemicals
  • Bombardier taskforce

Andy Aston - Press Officer 020 7215 6963

  • Manufacturing, excluding steel
  • Aerospace, Marine and Defence
  • Low Carbon - Energy Intensives, Carbon budgets, emissions trading
  • Construction
  • Retail
  • Cyber security
  • Olympic legacy
  • Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), Environmental regulations
  • Tata taskforce 
     

Enterprise, small business and economic development

Alex Hamilton - Senior Press Officer 020 7215 5976

  • Overall responsibility for the desk
  • Banks

James Platt - Press Officer 020 7215 5978

  • Access to Finance 
  • SME Finance Fitness campaign 
  • Funds, including Business Growth Fund and European regional development funding
  • Local Enterprise Partnerships
  • Enterprise Zones
  • Cities Minister
  • BIS local

Dan Palmer - Press Officer 020 7215 5303

Other Enterprise and SMEs policy, including: 

  • Global Entrepreneurship Week
  • Business Improvement programme, including Business Link, www.mentorsme.co.uk and Business Coaching for Growth
  • BIS interest in prompt / late payment and SME procurement
  • Enterprise education
  • BIS press office liaison with Start Up Britain, SME marketing campaign, etc.
  • Enterprise and small business statistics / research reports
  • Regional Development Agency transition / asset sales
  • Queen’s Awards

Higher Education and Science

Alison MacLeod - Chief Press Officer 020 7215 6140

This Press Office desk works to Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts.

Emma Griffiths - Senior Press Officer 020 7215 5982

Strategic oversight of the work of the Higher Education and Science Desk including Government Chief Scientific Adviser GCSA and preventing violent extremism.

Jenny Varnham – Press Officer 020 7215 5080

  • Widening participation and teacher quality in HE, including: NSP, student numbers, admissions, UCAS, school engagement and partnerships, NCEE, NSS, OFFA, retention, social mobility, quality, vulnerable people, Science skills and increasing take-up of STEM subjects 
  • Information Advice and Guidance including flexible learning, contact hours and value for money
  • High Level Skills including access to the professions, employer engagement, entrepreneurship, enterprise, foundation degrees, internships and graduate employment
  • EU/International/Research including EU policy, modern languages, OECD statistics, the Bologna process, Erasmus student mobility programme and immigration policy, REF

Michael Gibbs - Press Officer 020 7215 1635

  • HE Sector Shape and Structure including policy on Higher Education Institutions (financing and governance); Higher Education Funding Council (HEFCE – including budget issues); HE White Paper; Education Bill; voluntary giving; better regulation; reducing bureaucracy and degree awarding powers
  • Student Finance Policy and Student Finance Delivery including post 2012 finance reforms, student support policy, tuition fees, bursaries, debt, sale of student loan programme, EU students and ELQ impact. Press Support for SLC

Sally Catmull - Press Officer 020 7215 6577

  • Research Councils
  • Public engagement on science, National Science and Engineering Week and other science festivals, Energy Technologies Institute, and R&D tax credits
  • The Government Office for Science including Council for Science and Technology
  • The Office for Life Sciences
  • National Measurement Office
  • Animal testing and the NC3Rs
  • Space policy including the UK Space Agency and the Space IGT

Further Education and Skills

This Press Office desk works to Minister for Further Education, Skills, and Lifelong Learning John Hayes.

Alison MacLeod - Chief Press Officer 020 7215 6140

  • Overall responsibility for the desk 

Ashley Rogers - Senior Press Officer 020 7215 5971

  • Overall day-to-day responsibility for the desk  

Oliver Fry - Press Officer 020 7215 5979

  • Apprenticeships
  • National Skills Academies
  • World Skills
  • Work-based Learning
  • Growth and Innovation Fund
  • Sector Skills Councils
  • Industry Training Boards
  • English for Speakers of Other Languages
  • UK Commission for Employment and Skills & annual skills audit
  • Vocational Reform

Katie Kilgallen - Press Officer 020 7215 1861

  • FE Funding & Finance
  • Skills Strategy, FE Reforms & FE Fee Loans
  • NEETs
  • College capital building programme
  • National Careers Service, & Life Long Learning Accounts
  • Quality improvement, workforce reform and harnessing technology
  • Literacy and numeracy
  • Informal Adult Learning, offender learning, union learning
  • Bogus colleges and migration
  • Preventing extremism
  • Skills Funding Agency corporate issues

Employment relations, trade and postal issues, consumer, competition, corporate governance and intellectual property

Nic Fearon-Low - Chief Press Officer 020 7215 5078

This Press Office desk works to Minister for Employment Relations, Consumer and Postal Affairs Norman Lamb on postal affairs, employment, consumer & competition, company law, Shareholder Executive, corporate governance, Europe, trade policy, to Parliamentary Secretary for Business, Innovation and Skills Baroness Wilcox on intellectual property and to Minister for Trade and Investment Lord Green on trade and investment and ECGD.

Employment relations, trade and postal issues 

Josh Coe - Senior Press Officer 020 7215 5943

  • Overall day-to-day responsibility for the desk
  • Postal issues

Henry Tanner - Press Officer 020 7215 5947

  • Employment Relations policy
  • Support on Postal issues
  • Insolvency Service

Lucy Bell - Press Officer 020 7215 5361

  • Trade Policy, coordination of European business
  • Trade and investment and Export Credit Guarantee Department (ECGD)

 

Consumer, competition, company law, corporate governance and
intellectual property

Úna Flynn - Senior Press Officer 020 7215 5256  

  • Overall day-to-day responsibility for the desk
  • Corporate Governance
  • Executive pay
  • Narrative reporting and audit
  • Kay Review
  • Social enterprise
  • Every Business Commits
  • Company law
  • Women on Boards review

Ed Smith - Press Officer 020 7215 5945

  • Consumer policy and affairs
  • Consumer Credit and Personal Insolvency
  • midata
  • Competition matters
  • Competition landscape reform
  • Grocery Code
  • Product safety
  • Scambusters and loan sharks

Veena Mapara - Press Officer 020 7215 5614

  • Intellectual Property

Growth, regulation, innovation, strategic planning and corporate affairs

This Press Office desk works to Minister for Business and Enterprise Mark Prisk on growth, regulation, innovation, shareholder executive, strategic planning and corporate affairs.

Joe Upton - Chief Press Officer 020 7215 5969 

  • Top level oversight of the desk 

Nick Evans - Senior Press Officer 020 7215 3496

  • Day-to-day responsibility for the desk
  • Growth
  • Innovation and relationship with Technology Strategy Board 
  • Mid sized businesses

Jo Fletcher - Press Officer 020 7215 5303

  • Regional Growth Fund
  • Olympics coordination 
  • Support on growth, mid sized businesses and corporate issues 
  • Shareholder Executive and relationship with Land Registry, Met Office and Ordnance Survey

Aidan Steer - Press Officer 020 7215 5245

  • Strategic media planning (temporary for January 2012) 
  • Media handling for Permanent Secretary 
  • Support on regulation issues

Victoria Heath – Press Officer 0207 215 5950

  • Regulation
  • Corporate issues