Meet the Twelve Comms Team
Twelve was founded in 1995 by directors Graham and Nicky Smith. Nicky from The Guardian and Observer Newspapers where she worked for nine years; and Graham who started out from the standout London PR agency of the eighties, Paragon Communications; before becoming a director of Chambers Cox PR.
Graham Smith
Graham founded Twelve in the mid nineties after a decade delivering PR campaigns for some of the UK’s most influential organisations and honing his craft working both in-house and in leading London agencies.
Graham founded Twelve in the mid nineties after a decade delivering PR campaigns for some of the UK’s most influential organisations and honing his craft working both in-house and in leading London agencies.
With clients going back over 25 years, Graham is relentlessly focused on delivering high impact results. A powerful creative and strategic force, clients also value his straight talking and incisive counsel.
Graham loves folk music and plays piano and piano accordion. He is a somewhat below average beekeeper (they keep swarming); and an RHS qualified gardener.
Nicky Smith
Nicky is our research sage. Joint founding director of Twelve and, we believe, the only PR practitioner in the UK who is also a full member of the Market Research Society.
Nicky is our research sage. Joint founding director of Twelve and, we believe, the only PR practitioner in the UK who is also a full member of the Market Research Society.
An expert in the use of research to campaign, inform, empower, entertain and engage, Nicky is master of the penetrating question, tables and stats and will spot a compelling story in the numbers a mile off.
With a publishing background at Haymarket and The Guardian and Observer newspapers, Nicky has initiated, researched and authored numerous groundbreaking and highly influential reports. Some, like The Guardian’s ‘GradFacts’, are still going strong today, others like the ‘Age at Work’ report played a major part in shaping government legislation.
Outside of work Nicky embraces the ‘Good Life’. An active member of her rural village community, she edits the village newsletter and sits on the Flower and Produce Show Committee. A school governor for a decade, she also founded the village choir, and supports the Chipping Norton Music Festival and Choral Society.
Number crunching can sometimes be a welcome distraction…
Jess Friend Bartlett
Jess is Twelve’s account director and in 2022 celebrated 10 years at Twelve!
Famous for being super organised – a vital agency skill – this attribute is even more evident than ever as a new mother.
Jess is Twelve’s account director and in 2022 celebrated 10 years at Twelve!
Famous for being super organised – a vital agency skill – this attribute is even more evident than ever as a new mother.
Jess won the Outstanding Young Communicator Award from the industry’s trade association in 2016 and has a natural affinity for all things digital.
Passionate about working across environment, education and enterprise sectors Jess has an eye and ear for a good PR story. She is also a driving force behind the success of cannedfooduk.com, and loves tin cans!
When not at work, Jess is a true champion of Cotswolds via her blog the Weekend Tourist (weekendtourist.co.uk) which tracks and reports on the full Cotswold food, drink and entertainment scene.
Catherine Stuart
Catherine has a gift for creative content that makes you think ‘I wish I’d come up with that’!
This, and her meticulous attention to detail and skills in community building are valuable assets in her social media role at Twelve.
Catherine has a gift for creative content that makes you think ‘I wish I’d come up with that’!
This, and her meticulous attention to detail and skills in community building are valuable assets in her social media role at Twelve.
After volunteering for an INGO primarily focussed on conservation, Catherine is focussed on environmentally responsible businesses as well as those which intersect with her passion for food, wine, arts and culture.
