A communications leader who has spent his career helping complex organisations find their voice, refine their messaging, and build stronger, lasting relationships with their audiences.
"I help complex organisations and industries tell their stories simply – turning technical, political, and nuanced activity into communications that genuinely connect."
James Ketchell is a senior communications leader with over two decades experience across the membership sector, trade associations, infrastructure, sustainability, not-for-profits, and creative industries. He has built a reputation for combining strategic clarity with compelling storytelling – helping organisations navigate the gap between what they do and how the world sees them.
His career has taken him from frontline PR to leading communications functions at some of the country's most respected trade associations. Along the way, he has managed campaigns on major industry-wide change, Net Zero in the construction sector, greenhouse gas emission reduction in maritime, improving rural connectivity, offshore wind contracting, promoting music tourism, and preserving our popular music history.
This breadth provides – he believes – his greatest asset: the ability to understand any brief quickly and shape a proportionate response that works across audiences, channels, and contexts.
James is particularly at home in the membership world – a sector he understands from the inside out. He knows how member relationships work, what drives engagement, how to communicate complex policy in plain English, and how to build content strategies to keep diverse audiences informed and invested.
He also brings an increasingly important perspective on how AI is changing the communications profession and works with organisations to understand what these tools mean practically – for teams, for content, for strategy – without losing sight of what good communications has always required: judgement, clarity, consistency, and a genuine understanding of audience.