Team
Ben Verinder, Managing Director
Ben is a strategic communication and public relations expert advising boards, senior teams and communications professionals
He is one of 50 Founding Chartered public relations practitioners globally and a pioneering authority on AI in PR. He has been working in AI for PR since the publication of his two papers for the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) in 2018.
Ben has a background in communications – in print and digital journalism, software business development and in-house public relations at director level.
He is a founder member of the CIPR's AI in PR panel, the author of the first papers published by the CIPR on AI in PR (on AI and data ethics), a contributor to a wide range of publications on the topic, and creator of the ground-breaking AI and Reputation Leadership course.
He is a regular speaker on AI and PR, crisis and issues management, communication, reputation and research, and he delivers training and consultancy on these topics to a wide range of public and private sector clients in the UK and internationally.
Ben also has extensive experience of leading research projects and teams for a wide range of Chalkstream clients and his professional interests include specialist studies of the public relations industry.
Since 2018 he has been the author of the ‘State of the Profession’ series, alongside a number of projects investing the demography of UK PR practitioners using Office for National Statistics data.
Ben is a founder member of the CIPR’s Behavioural Insights Interest Group and Chair of the Socially Mobile assessment panel.
He has contributed to several public relations books, including 'Chartered Public Relations: Lessons from Expert Practitioners' and ‘Introduction to Public Relations’.
He holds an MA in Writing Poetry from Newcastle University and the Poetry School, and his poems have been published widely.
His debut pamphlet, Botanicals, was published by Frosted Fire in autumn 2021 and his second, We Lost The Birds, by Nine Pens in March 2023.
He is also the biographer of adventurer and writer Mary Burkett.
“I cannot recommend Ben highly enough.”
Rachel Jele, Head of Advocacy and Engagement, Stagetext
David Payne
Research Manager
David manages data analysis, respondent recruitment, fieldwork teams and research reporting. He is also the lead interviewer on specialist projects and helps design project plans and questionnaires.
David Payne has extensive experience in managing research projects over several decades, covering education, skills, learning and workforce development, business support and enterprise, community consultation, monitoring, evaluation and impact assessments.
David has a long track record in delivering successful research outcomes for a range of different clients, including awarding organisations, further and higher education institutions, sector skills councils, the NHS, local authorities, local enterprise partnerships, employer organisations, the voluntary and community sector and regeneration partnerships.
Rae Strathern
Researcher/Project Manager
Rae is a Prince 2 practitioner and qualified accountant. She has significant experience in IT project management and software engineering.
Rae helps design and deliver projects and has worked with a very wide range of education and skills clients.
Tony Bridges
Data analyst
Tony leads on analysis of large-scale data sets for Chalkstream.
Tony has a background in local Government.
He has helped clients such as Sector Skills Councils, Metropolitan Police, Association of Directors of Public Health, and the NHS, generate useful insight from big data.
Kathy Sharpe
Copy/Reports
Kathy is an award-winning copywriter and communications consultant with a background in the education, charity, not-for-profit, and arts sectors.
She has worked in communications for 18 years and is a member of the Professional Copywriters’ Network and the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.
Kathy specialises in copywriting, awards bids, proofreading, editing, external and internal communications, public relations, crisis / change planning, and marketing training.
Each Chalkstream training, consultancy or research project is bespoke to the needs of the client.
Which means that we often strengthen our team with associates who are specialists in their fields.