Henry Playfoot – Insight and strategic advice

I advise leaders who need honest feedback and clear thinking to unpick brand, strategy and communications problems.

Who

I learned my craft running campaigns at the UK Dept of Health, rebranding BBC Radio 4, and leading digital and communications agencies. I was also founder and CEO of a spectacularly unsuccessful tech startup.

What

I asked some clients how they’d describe what I do and what they value most about my work.

Here’s what they said.

Work

In the spirit of show, don’t tell (and showing off), here’s a few current and recent projects.

Telia Company
Advice & strategic counsel
2022 – 2023
Advising and supporting Allison Kirkby and senior leadership at leading Swedish Teclo. CEO comms and profile, media engagement and announcements, internal comms, culture and identity (values, tone of voice), and corporate narrative.
Waythrough
CEO and Exec Support for Merger
2023-24
Waythrough is the result of the largest charity merger in UK history. Advising CEO and Executive team, work included vision, values and promise (to people using services), communications principles and strategic comms for launch and beyond, as well as support for name and brand.
Change Grow Live
Ongoing advice and strategic counsel
2018 –
Working with the CEO, Deputy CEO and Executive Directors at one of Europe’s leading charities to define, articulate and communicate its approach, culture and operating model to audiences from policy makers through to staff and people who use their services.
Bloomsbury Institute
Ongoing advice and strategic counsel
2017 – 2023
Working with the CEO and Academic Principle and senior leadership team to deliver and embed a ground-up rebrand for this unique higher education provider.
Costa
Strategic counsel
2021 – 2022
Working with the UK & Ireland and Global executive teams to explore how the world’s second largest coffee brand can take its community work to the next level and use its global footprint and resources as a force for good.
Oxford
Strategic counsel and facilitation
2020 – 2022
Helping the MD and senior team at a leading global consultancy rethink their identity and positioning to more effectively and authentically communicate what they do in a market that’s littered with buzzwords and bullshit.
Sky
Ideas, messaging, strategic counsel
2018
Shifting the needle on ocean plastics by taking Sky’s Ocean Rescue programme from campaign to action with sector-leading supply chain commitments, global partnerships and advocacy and a £25m innovation fund.
The School of Life
Brand development & positioning
2017 – 2019
Defining and positioning The School of Life’s brand partnership and innovation offer for international business clients who want to apply the best ideas from philosophy, psychology and culture.

When to call

Most people call me when they’re at a crossroads – growing, merging or changing direction.

Identity

Vision/mission/purpose/values/promise. These foundational elements can all-too-often sound tired, bland or hollow. I can help you make them meaningful and embed them across everything you do.

Brand & positioning

Your brand and positioning are out of step with who you are and where you want to be. You get bored when describing what you do and hate looking at your website.

Strategy articulation

You know what you want to do – more or less – but you need to crystallise your thinking and find the right words to make everyone sit up and take notice.

Language & tone

Language creates your culture and shapes how people perceive and experience you. You need to align what you say and how you say it with your values, ways of working and ambitions. It sounds simple. It’s not.

Truth to power

From taking the temperature of your people and buyers of your services through to setting up participatory design/co-production, I will listen, make sense of the signals and tell you what you need to hear.

Leadership

As a leader, every word you say matters. From all staff emails to interviews, keynotes and videos, I can make sure your communications connect and resonate with everyone.

Social Proof

Of course I’m going to tell you I’m great. So here’s some quotes from people like you.

Quite remarkable. Henry was instrumental in Change Grow Live effectively developing its strategy, communications and culture. A bravura performance.
Professor Mike Pringle CBE FRCGP FRCP
Ex-chair, Change Grow Live. Former President of the Royal College of General Practitioners
We’d spent a very long time trying to understand and define our proposition. It wasn’t working. Henry challenged our thinking and kept us focused as we explored fundamental questions about who we are and what we need to be. His facilitation made us feel decidedly uncomfortable (thank god) and then inspired (halleluiah). He’s been great to work with and helped us get to the clarity and focus we’ve been looking for.
Andrew Watson
Managing Director, Oxford
Working with Henry gave me a platform to begin the launch of the next big idea within our multi academy trust. The challenges and reflection that Henry provided gave me clarity and a deeper understanding of the ideas I needed to convey and he really helped me to identify the barriers the Trust faces. Henry commits and meets deadlines; he is inspirational, down to earth and truly delightful to work with.
Sarah Finch
CEO, Marches Academy Trust
I’ve always seen marketing and comms consultants as a necessary evil. As it turns out, Henry’s a bit different. He saw what needed to change, challenged us to rethink how we express our values and identity, helped us land on Believe in People – a principle that now underpins everything we do – and got us to see language as a tool for cultural expression and transformation. He can be stubborn and doesn’t seem to understand organisational politics, but that’s probably a good thing.
Mark Moody
CEO, Change Grow Live
We didn’t want a superficial re-styling – we wanted a process that went deep and articulated the values, purpose and goals which are central to our academic community. Henry expertly facilitated the many conversations which were needed, bringing his creative magic, energy and experience to bear on every aspect of the re-brand. I am immensely grateful to Henry for the leadership he brought to this project.
John Fairhurst
Chief Executive & Academic Principle, Bloomsbury Institute
Super cool, delightfully blunt, on the ball, fun to work with, powerful thinker yet able to balance the smallest detail. Henry has been a game changer for me in our work to date, he’s a rare find and it feels a privilege to work with him.
Dr Sam Collins
Founder & CEO. Aspire
Henry’s input into our overall positioning was invaluable. He immediately got to grips with the fundamentals of The School of Life’s unique approach and elegantly honed our ideas so they made the desired impact. Having an independent voice in the room is so important – I look forward to working with Henry again soon.
Ewen Haldane
Business Director. The School of Life

Contact

8 Berwick St
London
W1F 0PH