Forever Keele 17
graduating from Keele in 2005,
culminating in his current position
as Communications Director at
PepsiCo, based in New York.
I’m 36 and originally from Fareham,
Hampshire, and now living in New
York. I attended Keele between
2002 and 2005, studying Information
Systems and Music Technology.
After leaving Keele, I moved to London
and spent an initial period working
in compliance at Ernst & Young,
trying to figure out what I wanted
to do long term. Ultimately, after
many conversations with different
departments, I found a junior internal
communications position at the
company.
In 2008, at the beginning of the 2008
financial crisis, I moved to Lloyds
Banking Group. This proved to be a
brilliant communications development
opportunity, as I was involved in
communications that supported the
merger between Lloyds TSB and
Halifax Bank of Scotland.
In 2012, I jumped industry and
joined PepsiCo. The first three years
were spent supporting the Europe
communications team, before I moved
to a global, senior manager role in
2015. I then moved to New York in
2018 to take on a communications
director position at PepsiCo, with
responsibility for our global HR
communications and diversity and
engagement communications.
Most days are spent providing
communications consultancy to
stakeholders, but I can be working on
anything from a global communications
campaign to preparing talking points
for senior leaders to writing and editing
content for our internal and external
news channels.
Keele prepared me for my future as
it is unlike many other universities;
its dual honours curriculum doesn’t
take you down one path and you’re
encouraged to learn different subject
areas. It helped to build a mindset of
trying new things to see what you enjoy
doing, not just what you know.
Some of my fondest memories of
Keele are of the student union and
the cheap beer! But I also made some
lifelong friends at Keele and look back
at it as one of the happiest times of my
life. I also met my wife at Keele and
she’s now working in New York, too!
Keele alumnus Stephen Barber
has held a variety of roles since
graduating from Keele in 2006,
culminating in his current position
as Communications Manager for
BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing.
I attended Keele between 2003 and
2006, studying Politics and Sociology.
After leaving Keele, I moved to London
after earning a place on a two-year
graduate scheme with Orange.
During my time on the programme I
underwent a number of placements,
which ultimately helped me to identify
that I wanted to pursue a career
in communications. In 2008 I then
moved into a permanent role within
the company as Communications
Executive at EE.
In 2011, I then moved into a role in
corporate communications at ITV,
which formed a brilliant foundation
with which to build my career. After two
years in this role, I was then fortunate
enough to move over into the ITV
programme publicity team working
across entertainment and factual
programming on shows such as I’m
a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! And
Love Island.
In 2016, I jumped broadcaster
and joined the BBC. The first year
was spent as a publicist for factual
documentaries before moving over
to being a publicist for global brands
including Doctor Who and Top Gear.
This year I then moved into my current
role as Communications Manager
on Strictly Come Dancing where I
manage the Press Team behind the
UK’s biggest entertainment show on
BBC One. This role involves managing
the publicity campaign for the show
across multiple platforms, managing
appearances on TV and Radio shows
such as Graham Norton and This
Morning, and crisis communication
management.
Keele prepared me for my future as
I had the opportunity to get involved
in some incredible extra curricular
activities such as Model UN. This
undoubtedly helped me in my early
career as the skills in debating and
negotiation were so valuable when it
came to doing assessment centres for
graduate schemes. I would definitely
advise students to be open to every
opportunity that comes their way!
I was fortunate enough to live on
campus for all three years and it was
amazing to feel like part of the Keele
community.
Having graduated from Keele in
2013 with a degree in History
with American studies, Charlotte
Smith now works at Elements
Talent Consultancy, a role which
sees her currently deployed as a
Senior Research Partner at Spotify.
After graduating from Keele I moved
back home to London working in a
variety of recruitment roles in the
banking, finance and technology
sectors, before starting work in my
current role at Elements, a talent
consultancy business, where I am a
Senior Research Partner with Spotify.
My role at Elements working with
Spotify is great as I get to work
alongside the business as a trusted
consultant. I advise and aid the
business in building effective teams
that truly address their needs and
inspire meaningful change.
I am incredibly fortunate to be in such
an exciting role that allows me to work
in Spotify’s London and New York
offices. My role is both challenging
and rewarding as it regularly involves
solving problems that the organisation
is faced with.
I had a fantastic time at Keele and
have so many wonderful memories
from my time studying at the University.
Being from London originally, I loved
living in the countryside campus
environment and latterly moving out to
Newcastle-under-Lyme and Silverdale,
where I had so much fun. I loved the
community feel and I still reminisce
with many of my friends about Monday