Communications and public affairs consultancy 56° North said it has strengthened its senior team with the appointment of corporate communications specialist Lesley McPherson as associate partner.
McPherson will join 56° North’s senior team of managing partners Anthony Thompson and John Penman, and Paula Sutherland, partner – creating a client partnership proposition offering strategic communications advice, public affairs insights and financial services expertise.
Based in Edinburgh with a roster of UK and international clients, 56° North won Best Medium Consultancy at the UK PRCA Public Affairs Awards 2025.
One of Scotland’s fastest growing professional services firms, 56° North’s client list includes Santander and Nationwide, as well as private bank Hampden Bank, Glasgow 2026, and Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
The appointment comes at a pivotal time for the firm, following a series of significant new client wins across the financial services sector and sustained growth in demand for its corporate affairs, strategic policy and crisis and change expertise.
“Lesley is a corporate communications leader with extensive experience from senior roles in banking, life assurance and local government, having served on executive committees and advised at board level,” said 56° North.
“Her expertise spans corporate communications strategy, reputation management, crisis communications, stakeholder engagement and culture change.
“Her career highlights include over five years as Director of Communications at the Co-operative Bank, three years leading the communications team at City of Edinburgh Council, and more recently, Communications Director at Nottingham Building Society. Her early career was with Aegon UK.”
56° North Managing Partner John Penman said: “This is a key period of development and expansion at 56° North and we’re thrilled to be working with several major new financial services clients.
“Lesley brings significant strategic expertise in corporate affairs, crisis and change and we are delighted to welcome her to our senior team.
“We’ve seen strong growth in our client base more broadly over the past year, and Lesley’s appointment reflects our ambition to continue scaling the business while delivering the outstanding service our clients expect.”