During Steve Morris’s ten years as managing partner, Portland has grown from a team of 20 to more than 250. Clients include some of the world’s best-known billionaires, family offices, CEOs and philanthropists. Prior to joining Portland, Morris worked at Downing Street for communications – ‘a fantastic experience’, he says. ‘If you can deal with the British political lobby journalism, then you can pretty much deal with anything.’ When Spear’s sits down with Morris he is cheerful and affable. If you thought this firm was simply an arm of Blairism then this would be to underestimate the sheer range of work it conducts. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Ariane de Rothschild, Mo Ibrahim and Tej Kohli are all clients. Another significant figure at Portland is Victoria Dean, who leads its Brexit Unit. With an impressive CV including her tenure as the UK’s spokesperson in Brussels, as well as a brief spell in 2016 at the department for Exiting the European Union, she is ideally positioned to advise high-end clients on navigating the complex implications of Brexit. All in all, this is a highly imaginative firm which is going from strength to strength – and Morris deserves credit for that.
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