Robin Etherington Email & Phone Number

Former bid engagement advisor to CalMac Ferries

Associate at 4 Communications and owner and director of REPR Ltd. Assignments include being an advocate for HS2 Ltd, Transport Focus, rail franchise advice, other rail operating groups, rail franchise advice. BBC, background briefings on rail issues. I am also leading a volunary initiative to turn unused Network Rail land into community gardens and I carry out mentoring for the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.

I concentrate on interim assignments and recently I have been working for the following:HS2 Ltd, advocacy workAbellio, UK rail franchise bid support, InterCity West Coast and Greater Anglia including bid writing and editingKeolis UK, stakeholder audit and PR planning, rail bid support, plus bid writing and editingStephen Hammond MP, former Shadow Transport Minister (rail industry advice)Senator Francis Grignon, of France, and French Embassy, London (rail privatisation advice) (This work is subject of a written recommendation by the Senator)Serco-NedRailways (Support for Copenhagen Metro franchise bid)Local Government Association (better engagement with rail companies)

My main role was to support rail franchise bids by devising and delivering public affairs, stakeholder engagement and consultation programmes. I have an excellent record of garnering support from a wide range of stakeholders based on empathy and trust. I have also been involved in crisis management, brochure and film production, media relations and web management. I have advised senior members of the Labour and Conservative parties on rail issues.In my spare time, I run PR courses for PMA Ltd, of London, I am an active member of the CIPR's goverment affairs group, and am leading a neighbourhood campaign to improve conditions in the street where I live.

reprltd specialises in interim management roles in internal and external communications as well as PR training courses. Although I worked full-time for my own company for only three years, it continues to trade, and in my spare time I provide training courses.Past interim assignments have included:Thameslink 2000 - consultation managementMidland Main Line - media relations and intranet developmentRoyal Mail, London, change management and internal communications.

Railnews was one of the largest-circulating staff journals in the UK with a print-run of 130,000 copies a month. I was editor, which combined editorial and business development goals, during the final stages of rail privatisation, the greatest reorganisation of the network for 50 years. The tabloid newspaper, typically 52 pages or more each edition, played a key role in keeping rail staff fully up to date during one of the most uncertain periods in the industry's history.I increased advertising and reader subscriptions by 10 per cent a year in real terms; negotiated and implemented improved supplier contracts to enhance the quality of the product, its delivery and commercial strength; revolutionised production and design of the paper, using latest desktop publishing technology, increasing pagination, improving productivity; won a merit award in 1996, for internal newspapers published more than ten times a year, from the British Association of Communicators in Business.I managed a staff team of seven, built up a network of freelance contributors, and was responsible for three major supplier contracts, printing, advertising and distribution. The business had an annual turnover of £800,000.

This was the external communication of the £64 million Birmingham Cross City electrification project, and its fleet of new trains, from inception to completion. I was responsible for issues and crisis management, media relations, acting as spokesman, environmental issues, organisation of media events, exhibitions, forums,displays and political lobbying. Also covered were customer and community relations work. The latter included a safety campaign in local schools which was recognised with a Regional Railways quality commendation. The PR programme, which recieved very positive news coverage, reached 90 per cent of its target audience. As the work came to an end, I moved over to the Central Trains internal communications brief, and became part of a steering group that prepared the subsidiary for privatisation. From this post, I was head-hunted by the British Railways Board to take over the editorship of Railnews.

I oversaw the production of both news and features pages, and was responsible for the selection of news material. I successfully managed the transition from old printing methods to desktop publishing. I also acted as unofficial transport correspondent one of my exclusives being confirmation that the East Coast main line was to be electrified. I was behind the idea of publishing goodwill messages, similar to classified advertisements but free of charge, for service men and women serving in the Falklands war. Copies of the paper were airmailed to the Falklands and distributed free. As far as I know, the Sunday Sun was the first, and perhaps only, newspaper to offer such a service. Another of my ideas was to stage an annual domino competition, the finals of which were held on a High Speed Train during a journey from Newcastle. This event highlighted the pleasure of train travel. The train on which the competition was played, carried a special headboard 'The Flying Spotsman'.

This is an English-language daily produced in the main for British and American expats working in Saudi Arabia. I ran the sub-editing team in the absence of the chief sub-editor, assigning work to colleagues. I also selected the material to be published, discussed the coverage each day with the editor, supervised the printers, and designed pages.

I produced news magazine programmes, wrote and presented bulletins, and carried out reporting duties. A secondment to the BBC Television newsroom in Leeds is also included. There, I was responsible for writing and editing scripts, editing film, and commissioning the filming of news events.

My role was to edit news articles, rewriting where necessary, and producing headlines and captions. I did some page layout, and supervised printers in the completion of pages

editing and presenting news bulletins, and general and sport reporting

English Literature, English Language, Geography, Physics, Chemistry, Ri, Politics

Education record