David is well known amongst Birmingham’s business community – especially as a keen supporter of the city. Indeed, so keen is he that he has co-written and produced Birmingham’s only wide-appeal independent guidebook to the city: The Rabbit Guide to Birmingham (available in all good book stores!).

His day job is running a well-respected Birmingham PR and communications company. He has some 30 years of experience in the development and implementation of communications and public relations programmes.

David is past-Chairman of business lobby group Birmingham Forward, a former trustee and director of Birmingham Settlement and a past chairman of the Institute of Directors’ Birmingham Business Breakfast Club. He has also served as a director of Marketing Birmingham and serves on the board of the Prince’s Trust in Birmingham and Solihull and is on the Council of Birmingham Chamber of Commerce.

Mark joined Clarke Associates in 2001. He previously spent 21 years working in journalism and edited three weekly newspapers across the West Midlands, as well as working on daily publications. Having worked on both weekly and daily newspapers, he is highly experienced in regional media - with a thorough knowledge of the media’s requirements - both regional and national. His contacts with the press are extensive.

Mark was responsible for many fund-raising and campaigning ventures across the regional press and has developed an extensive network of additional contacts with key influencers around the region. Applying his detailed working knowledge and wealth of experience of media requirements, Mark has also been heavily involved in the training of journalists and photographers.

Mark also sits on the board of Birmingham Forward, the lobbying group for the professional services sector.

Javan joined Clarke Associates in October 2011. He started his career with an IT focussed PR agency in Milton Keynes, before moving to lead the PR and Marketing function at a fast growing IT distributor based here in Birmingham.

With eight years delivering PR programmes in the tech sector Javan brings a wealth of experience from this market, and has extensive contacts with both press and key industry stakeholders.

Beyond PR Javan’s experience covers a wide range of marketing disciplines, including: email marketing, website development, Search engine and Pay Per Click marketing, direct mail, advertising, event management, sales programme development, branding and brand management. Having worked as part of the senior management team at a growing and fast moving business, Javan now brings significant commercial awareness and a focus on results to all that he does.

In his spare time Javan writes a travel blog (anenglishmanin) and is getting to grips with becoming a father!

Louise has almost five years’ experience in PR, having previously worked in both consultancy and client-side communications roles. Her career began at the full-service agency Wyatt International, where she handled B2C and B2B accounts as diverse as hotel groups, construction merchants and finance clients. Her key responsibilities included writing, analysis, research and reporting as well as supporting new business proposals.

As a member of the communications and press office team at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, Louise was responsible for pro- and reactive media relations as well as internal comms and community engagement. She offers strong writing skills, able to quickly transform information and ideas into readable copy for a variety of audiences and purposes. In her spare time, Louise is a freelance feature writer for a monthly international dance publication.

James is a young creative who has a real passion for design. He studied at Leeds University achieving a 2:1 degree in Visual Communications. After completing his degree, James worked as part of an in-house design team in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter before joining Clarke Associates.

James has a real passion for Birmingham and promoting the city as a vibrant artistic hub.

James is interested in all things new media and technology related and runs a successful design blog (CMYKern) in his spare time.

Alison has been part of the Clarke Associates team for more than ten years, working alongside both Karen
and Jill.

Alison organises and manages the administration of the all-important time sheet summaries and a number of periodical publications.

Alison is the one most likely to answer the phone in the afternoons!

Karen has worked for Clarke Associates for more than 21 years. In fact since the company’s inception! Karen manages the running of the office and is also PA to managing director David Clarke.

She handles a wide range of support and administrative tasks for other members of the team and is also the company’s key HR contact.

Jill has worked as part of the Clarke Associates support team for seven years, following her role as PA to the director of commercial banking at Natwest Bank.

She supports the tactical PR team and is an integral part of the day-to-day business.  

The early bird of the office, Jill is the one most likely to answer the phone in the mornings!

Claire joined Clarke Associates to look after all things financial.

Claire has worked as an accountant for more than 20 years and has experience with working with many different companies across a range of sectors.

At Clarke Associates Claire deals with the company accounts and manages the biscuit money!

One of the most experienced corporate communications practitioners in the Midlands, Ian spent 15 years in automotive industry PR and communications. He was corporate affairs director with commercial vehicle manufacturer LDV, and before that was corporate communications director with the Rover Group.

As a testimony to his specialist media relations and writing skills, Ian has won a number of awards for communications programmes. He lectures on crisis and issues management, and on the use of good internal communications to gain business advantage.

Before moving into PR he was a journalist on major regional newspapers. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and the Motor Industry Public Affairs Association.

David has extensive marketing and communications skills. He is a marketing specialist with widespread practical experience gained at a senior level across a variety of industries, in both consumer and business-to-business markets.

A career marketing professional, he has worked for major UK companies in national and international marketing roles and brings particular skills in brand development, customer satisfaction measurement and marketing audit processes as the key strategic pillars for sustainable competitive advantage. He has been established as a freelance consultant since 1999 and since then has handled successful assignments for a diverse group of clients in the Midlands - ranging from SMEs to multi-nationals.

David is a full member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), an Associate member of the Institute of Management Consultancy, a past member of the Market Research Society and the Strategic Planning Society and holds the diploma in marketing from the CIM.