Meet our new Director of Communications and Marketing

28 Jun 2018

Sally Sykes delighted to return to the city she started out in – and holds dear

Our new Director of Communications and Marketing, Sally Sykes, has returned to the city she loves and the University where she had her first ever job – Manchester.

Sally began her career organising events at our conference centre and halls of residence before moving into public relations for a range of industries, from construction to global chemicals company Ciba-Geigy to a spell in fashion. That took in the first batch of reality TV programmes, showing behind the scenes in fashion, and national PR for celebrity and designer ranges by Vivienne Westwood, Katharine Hamnett and Workers for Freedom.

She then landed her first full public affairs, corporate communications and general manager role leading the team at Manchester Airport, where her skills in crisis management and policy development were used to deal with lobbying around the airport’s second runway - including Europe’s largest environmental protest - and the response to 9/11.

From there her career took her to AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, the Health and Safety Executive, the board of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, and BMI Healthcare.

A graduate of Leeds University and a former President of the CIPR, Sally’s last role was leading communications for the West London Mental Health NHS Trust, whose area included Broadmoor high security hospital.

She’s now excited at the prospect of working for the University: “I was delighted to come back to Manchester this month and take on the exciting challenge of leading the Division of Communications and Marketing for The University of Manchester.

“So far, I have met everyone in the Division individually and heard about the varied backgrounds and skills we have in the team.  I have also met colleagues in the Faculties, chaired my first Communications and Marketing Leadership Team and started a round of meetings with key stakeholders and senior leaders.  We had our conference in my third week here and that was a great opportunity to meet many more colleagues working in communications and marketing disciplines across the University. The content and organisation were excellent – well done to everyone involved.

“I have been deeply impressed by the quality of our people and the work we do.  Everyone has shown enthusiasm, professionalism, commitment and creativity in their work.  I can also see areas for improvement in greater alignment, consistency and joined-up working, but we will be building on strong foundations and a great deal of willingness to work together for the good of the University, staff and students.  We are also finalising the next version of our Communications and Marketing Plan, with objectives and priorities that will form our work for the coming 18 months to two- year period.

“Thanks for welcoming me to the Division and to the University, and I look forward to working together in the future.”