Reports

In every corner of the globe, organisations are operating in a new age of complexity, and the role of communications and corporate affairs is undergoing a notable shift. Leaders responsible for shaping and protecting corporate reputation have become central to strategy, with communications emerging as a strategic driver that fuels decision-making. Against this backdrop, the Global Communications Search Partnership (GCSP) came together – a collaboration among four leading executive search firms across the U.K., Middle East, U.S., Germany, and Hong Kong – to unite regional expertise with global perspective and offer a clearer view of the evolving talent landscape, the challenges facing these teams, and the qualities defining world-class leadership today.

Our inaugural Global Communications & Corporate Affairs Survey reflects that ambition. Drawing insight from senior leaders across regions and industries, the findings provide a global benchmark for the priorities, pressures, and levers of influence shaping the function.

This series brings together candid, personal interviews with some of the most senior corporate affairs and communications leaders in the UK and beyond.

In the 2025 edition, we sat down with leaders from organisations including BAE Systems, British Airways, Darktrace, DS Smith, M&G, pladis Global, the UK Government Communications Service, Unilever and the Wellcome Trust, among others. Each was asked to reflect on how the profession has evolved over the past 15 years, the skills that define a modern Chief Communications Officer, and what they wish they had known earlier in their careers.

The result is a rich collection of insight, advice and personal reflection – from the growing strategic influence of corporate affairs at the leadership table, to the impact of AI, the importance of resilience and emotional intelligence, and the value of authenticity. The series also offers a lighter side, with each leader sharing what they love about the job, their specialist Mastermind subject and what they would do if they weren’t in corporate affairs.

We hope the Leadership Lens proves both useful and inspiring for current and aspiring communications leaders, as well as the CEOs and Chairs who work alongside them.

Our latest report, Storytelling by Numbers, offers a compelling look into how investor relations professionals are not just financial translators, but strategic storytellers shaping the corporate narrative.

We interviewed 35 investor relations leaders and our survey was distributed to more than 150 participants.

The report underscores the importance of relationship-building, both internally with the C-suite and externally with investors, analysts, media, and even regulators. The best investor relations leaders are those who can build trust before it’s needed, ensuring that when challenges arise, the company’s narrative is already grounded in credibility.

In our report, If Only I’d Known That Then, we interviewed 30 leading communications professionals to understand their approach to taking on the top corporate affairs job.

We hope the advice in this report will prove useful to anyone about to embark on their first or next corporate communications leadership role, as well as those aspiring to get there in the future.  We believe it also provides some interesting insights for Chairman and CEOs looking to get the most from their corporate affairs leaders.

This research was conducted in partnership with strategic communications firm, Apella Advisors.

High performing corporate affairs teams play a critical role in helping organisations to be their very best.

In this report, we interviewed more than 25 corporate affairs leaders to understand their approach.

The paper explores four key themes and includes advice from the people we interviewed, along with a simple five-point plan, and some candid advice from the top.

This report looks at equity, diversity and inclusion in corporate affairs. It provides census and benchmark data for Chief People Officers, HR leaders and communications heads, and looks at the sentiment behind the data.

Based on a sample of more than 2,500 corporate affairs professionals working for some of the world’s largest companies, it also provides practical advice and recommendations to support diverse recruitment and executive hiring.

This report was produced in partnership with employee research and experience agency, Ipsos Karian and Box.

In this report we explore how private equity firms view reputation and their approach to communications and corporate affairs.  We spoke with more than 20 leaders, from global listed private equity companies to mid-market players, and asked them what was and wasn’t in their remit, where the function sat in the organisation, how the firm prioritised reputation, what they measured (spoiler alert, not much), how they were resourced, and much more.

We hope that this paper will prove useful to deal-makers and communicators in private equity looking to gain competitive advantage through reputation, as well as forward-thinking LPs (investors).

This research was conducted in partnership with Nepean, a management consultancy specialising in reputation.