Top Ten Reputation Managers

These days Stuart Leach specialises in advising HNW clients on litigation communciations and crisis management. But the former advertising executive turned barrister turned reputation manager has had a varied career.

It began in adland, where Leach was part of teams that launched the Red Bull brand and won a golden lion at Cannes. He was called to the Bar in 2004 before again changing course in 2013 when he took up a senior role at Bell Pottinger. That move followed a conversation with the late Lord Bell, who advised him to combine law with his strategic communication skills.

‘He supported me when I left the Bar,’ Leach tells Spear’s. ‘I was lucky to learn from him how to work with UHNW clients in difficulty.’

Leach established his own firm, Pagefield Global, in 2017 before joining Montfort last year. When Spear’s catches up with Leach over coffee he explains that, while some companies are simply law firms and other simply PR firms, the members of the team at Montfort have the range of expertise required to ‘take a holistic approach’.

Another way in which Montfort differs from some PR firms is that the firm doesn’t seek to charge for its work by levying long-running retainers. Instead, Leach says the firm’s fee-structure is ‘case-driven’. And, he adds, ‘There’s always another case.’