DELIVERING CHANGE ADOPTION

Meet the team that bring a positive, forward-looking energy - exploring fresh possibilities to inspire change.

Jess Southwood

Associate

Chrissi Harcourt-Wood

Associate

Ceri Aiken

Managing Director

Emma Wood

Associate

Merve Ozbakan

Associate

Tesni Owen Hughes

Associate

Ceri Aiken

Managing Director

Jess Southwood

Associate

Chrissi Harcourt-Wood

Associate

Merve Ozbakan

Associate

Emma Wood

Associate

Ceri Aiken

Managing Director

Jess Southwood

Associate

Chrissi Harcourt-Wood

Associate

Merve Ozbakan

Associate

Emma Wood

Associate

Tesni Owen Hughes

Associate

Ceri Aiken

Managing Director & Client Lead

What I love about my work

Change is a constant, and supporting employees, leaders and business through change, ensuring it is well understood, delivered and adopted is where my passion lies.  I love the rigour of working with teams at every level of the business, learning constantly from new ways of working and finding the best ingredients to deliver impactful communications every time.

Industry Experience

Retail | Technology | Sports | Utilities

Headline Skills

Change Communications Strategy | Employee Experience | Brand Advocacy 

Client Highlights

Caffè Nero, Capgemini, Serco and National Gas

...and my CAKE of choice would always be...

Sometimes nothing beats a classic Victoria Sponge!

Ceri Aiken

Managing Director & Client Lead

What I love about my work

Change is a constant, and supporting employees, leaders and business through change, ensuring it is well understood, delivered and adopted is where my passion lies.  I love the rigour of working with teams at every level of the business, learning constantly from new ways of working and finding the best ingredients to deliver impactful communications every time.

Headline Skills

Change Communications Strategy | Employee Experience | Brand Advocacy 

Industry Experience

Retail | Technology | Sports | Utilities

Client Highlights

Caffè Nero, Capgemini, Serco and National Gas

...and my CAKE of choice would always be...

Sometimes nothing beats a classic Victoria Sponge!

THE CAKE COLLECTIVE

Our talented team of communications associates are known as the CAKE Collective - together we deliver change with impact, putting people at the heart of every decision.

Merve Ozbakan

Associate

What I love about my work

I’m endlessly curious about how things work and how they can work better. I love taking clients on the full journey from “what’s the real problem here?” to “look what we built together.” Every organisation has its own DNA, and I thrive on creating solutions that actually fit. Change excites me – I treat it like a muscle, so I try to flex it every day by doing something new.

Headline Skills

Change Management | Project and Programme Delivery | Digital and Operational Transformation

Industry Experience

Telco | Gas | Water | Banking

Client Highlights

Joint ventures of Three, EE (MBNL) and Vodafone and Telefonica (Cornerstone). Skewb Affinity Water, South Staffordshire and Cambridge Water, Cadent, and Liberty Global. 

...and my CAKE of choice would always be...

Chocolate Pistachio sponge cake from Bake Off!

Jess Southwood

Associate

What I love about my work

The opportunity to learn about people, their relationships, and their relationship to work.

Headline Skills

Facilitation | Leadership | Team Development

Industry Experience

As a consultant, coach and facilitator (with a particular focus on leadership development, team dynamics and creativity in business), I have over twenty years of experience working with teams through periods of transformation and challenge; designing and delivering programmes, workshops, conferences and employee engagement events.

Retail | Technology | Infrastructure | Utilities | Health | Fashion | Finance | Housing | Charitable | Publishing | Research | Media

...and my CAKE of choice would always be...

Lemon Drizzle!

Emma Wood

Associate

What I love about my work

Working with teams to create joyful and impactful campaigns that generate a buzz is my happy place. Any opportunity to turn something into a story – be it a podcast, a piece of written communication or a business change – also gets a loud ‘challenge accepted’ from me.

Headline Skills

Campaign Design | Project Management | Content Creation | Storytelling | Stakeholder Engagement | Facilitation | Corporate Podcasting.

BA Hons in Marketing & Communication and MA in Creative Writing.

Industry Experience

Third sector, Public Sector and Private Sector including Construction, Development, Infrastructure, Transport, Energy and Utilities.

Client Highlights

SEEDA, Post Office Ltd, Fully Charged Show, Transport for London, NSPCC and National Gas

...and my CAKE of choice would always be...

Carrot Cake (with walnuts, obviously).

Chrissi Harcourt-Wood

Associate

What I love about my work

I love the balance (and tension) between the intellectual challenge and creative challenge – working with sometimes highly complex subject matter and applying creativity to bring that to life for each audience in a way that turns the complex into something easy to relate to.

Headline Skills

Education and Communications Content Design and Creation | Change Program Design | Human Performance Technology (HPT)

Industry Experience

Consultancy | Energy | Private Healthcare | Technology | Airport Management | Finance

Client Highlights

Capgemini, RPS Group Plc, BP Oil UK, Gatwick Airport Limited,  BAA, General Healthcare Group/BMI Healthcare.

...and my CAKE of choice would always be...

Coffee and Walnut!

Tesni Owen Hughes

Associate

What I love about my work

I love turning complex, high-stakes projects into conversations people can actually connect with. Whether it’s helping communities feel heard or guiding clients through sensitive engagement, I thrive on bringing clarity, empathy and strategy together to create real understanding and impact.

Headline Skills

Strategic Communications | Stakeholder Engagement | Consultation Delivery | Content Creation | Copywriting | Community Relations | Change & Issues Management | Confidence Coaching

Industry Experience

Energy, Infrastructure, Renewables, Property and Development, Utilities, Public Sector, Transport

Client Highlights

National Grid, Lightsource bp, Green GEN Cymru, Grenergy, Barratt Homes, ESSO

...and my CAKE of choice would always be...

Banana bread – always!