HONG KONG – Mei Yan has joined Brunswick Group as senior partner for China. The leading corporate communications partnership also announced the appointment of key personnel for the opening of an office in Singapore in August, which will be its fourth base in Asia and its 22nd globally. It has also named a new office head in Hong Kong.
“We are thrilled Mei Yan has joined Brunswick to support our rapidly growing business in Asia, which already has an outstanding team of 80 colleagues in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and now Singapore,” said Alan Parker, founder and chairman of Brunswick Group. “Yan has a sterling reputation in the media industry and commands a high degree of respect throughout the Chinese business community. Brunswick’s clients and media around the world will have the opportunity to draw upon her outstanding knowledge of the Chinese market to provide even stronger cross-border strategic communications support.”
“I’m extremely excited to join the Brunswick team at a time when Chinese companies are playing an increasingly active role in international business,” said Yan, who brings 25 years of experience from the media and business sectors to Brunswick. “The challenges and opportunities for Chinese companies going global and multinationals coming to China have never been greater, and I look forward to working with the Brunswick team to provide strategic communications advice to help them succeed.”
During her career, Yan has held China-based senior management positions at News Corp and Turner International Asia, and most recently Viacom International Media Networks Greater China, where she served as managing director and chief representative. She was previously a journalist with ITN and then CNN, where she and her teams won multiple Emmy awards for reporting on the Gulf War and the unrest in Somalia.
Yan’s appointment coincided with Brunswick’s announcement it will open an office in Singapore to support clients in Southeast Asia. Brunswick already has a number of clients in the Lion City and other Asean countries, and several of its senior advisers have experience in the market.
Kate Holgate, a partner in Brunswick’s London office with nearly 13 years of experience with the firm, will be relocating to Singapore to lead the development of the operations and recruitment of a local team. In addition to Kate, Will Carnwath, a director in the London office, and Arif Shah, an associate in the London office, will be seconded to Singapore.
Holgate joined Brunswick in June 2000 and has worked on a full range of retained clients in both the listed and private sector, as well as on major capital market transactions. She is an IPO specialist, having advised on some 20 IPOs across a number of international stock exchanges. Before joining Brunswick, Holgate spent six years in the corporate finance division of Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, where she worked on capital market transactions, including flotations, mergers and recommended offers and hostile offers. Before moving to investment banking, she was a member of the British diplomatic service and served as spokesperson and head of the press office at the British Embassy in Ankara.
Brunswick also announced further investments in Asia with the appointment of Susan Ho as Hong Kong office head and the promotion of St John Moore in Beijing to the partnership.
Ho joined Brunswick in 2011 following a long career at Standard Chartered Bank in its retail and corporate banking business, as well as technology and marketing functions. She was global head of brand and architect of the bank’s brand promise “Here for good”. Prior to banking, Ho worked for several US-based marketing agencies covering clients in the technology, financial services, tourism and retail sectors. She began her career in New York, and has since honed her global experience in London, Hong Kong and Singapore. She is Malaysian-Chinese and advises the Royal Academy of Arts in London on their Asian focus.
“Hiring Yan and relocating Kate Holgate to Singapore, reflect the increasing importance of Asia to Brunswick and our clients, and the growing role for strategic communications in helping support business challenges here,” said Tim Payne, managing partner and head of Brunswick Asia.
