Henrietta Hirst

Henrietta Hirst is a seasoned communications consultant with more than 30 years’ experience advising companies on their international press engagement, corporate profile raising, crisis response and issues management. For the past 18 years, she has concentrated on advising asset management sector clients – from investing institutions to sector service providers – with a particular focus on hedge funds, private equity and other alternative asset classes. Henrietta joined Hydra Strategy as a Partner in 2018. She was previously an Operating Director and the Asset Management client group lead at UK/Dutch financial services PR consultancy, CitySavvy, prior to which Henrietta was Managing Director of Group Corporate Communications for United Pan-Europe Communications, Europe’s largest cable company, where she had responsibility for the company’s media relations and public image across 17 countries. Before moving in-house with UPC in 1999 (just before dotcom boom & bust), Henrietta was a Board Director at global PR agency, Ludgate Communications, where she worked with some of the consultancy’s largest quoted corporate clients, first in New York and later in the London office. Earlier in her career, Henrietta spent a year in Australia working for the Law Society of New South Wales. In addition to her investment sector expertise, Henrietta has considerable experience of working with professional service firms. Henrietta is a published author on corporate communications for hedge fund firms, has taught a number of communications modules on the Executive MBA programme at Cranfield School of Management, and has had two academic case studies published by the School. In addition to her work for Hydra Strategy, Henrietta provides strategic communications support to a small number of senior business leaders and companies as an independent consultant, and works in the charities sector on a pro bono basis. She is a Trustee of the Sydney & Phyllis Krystal Foundation in the UK. Henrietta is a MBA graduate from Cranfield School of Management.