Northbourne Advisory has officially launched in Qatar, offering strategic advice to leaders navigating high-pressure environments and reputational risk. Founded by regional advisor Justin Kerr-Stevens and endorsed by Media City Qatar, the firm is already active across the Gulf, Australia, and Europe.

At its core, Northbourne delivers strategy, crisis management, reputation advisory, geopolitical insight, stakeholder engagement, and capability building. The firm also works behind the scenes to help organisations assess their internal communications infrastructure and build long-term capability. This includes reviewing in-house structures, clarifying roles and responsibilities, and equipping senior teams to perform under pressure through training, simulations, and strategic planning.

“Our approach is built around clarity, challenge, and action, ensuring clients receive judgment shaped by real experience,” said Justin, Founder and CEO. “We’re not interested in being everything to everyone. Our focus is tight for a reason. We support clients when timing matters, when trust matters, and when decisions cannot be left to chance.”

“We don’t parachute in with assumptions. We listen, we challenge, and we work side by side with our clients. The goal is not just to fix problems, but to leave teams stronger and better prepared for what’s next."

Justin brings close to three decades of experience across government, corporate, and institutional communications. He previously served as CEO and Managing Director of BLJ Worldwide in Doha, where he advised government entities and worked across strategic and reputational mandates. Prior to that, he was Partner and Middle East General Manager at Portland Communications, where he helped lead the firm’s international advisory work across the Middle East, Central Asia, and Europe.

His earlier career includes over a decade in senior roles with both the Australian and British Governments. In the UK, he worked inside the Cabinet Office and across departments including Health, Education, Innovation, and Environment. His work focused on strategic communications, public engagement, and crisis response at a national scale.

Taylor York has been promoted to National Head Earned & Owned Thinker at Thinkerbell. He has been at Thinkerbell Australia for the last five years and has helped grow the earned team by five times, and diversify its services into influencer, social and AI.

Taylor will now also oversee and integrate the agency’s owned offering across Thinkerbell North and South (Sydney and Melbourne).

“We’ve worked really hard over the last five years to ensure the earned team doesn’t become siloed and is quite literally spread across the entire agency. This is why our clients’ work is so prolific, as we shape and bend ideas with Tinkers from the start," Taylor said. 

"In my new role we’ve developed a new earned / owned product, that will continue to redefine our marketing sciences-backed agency model and help make the world a little bit more interesting. We’re also implementing AI to be more efficient and deliver better value for our clients."

Thinkerbell has also brought on Kathryn Furnari as National Head Media Thinker, with Garret Fitzgerald joining the team in Melbourne as Executive Creative Tinker.

W Communications has expanded its global footprint with the launch of a GCC headquarters in Abu Dhabi. The regional offer brings together three complementary brands:

• W GCC, which delivers creative services from Abu Dhabi
• Riyadh-based destination marketing arm Lotus Arabia, representing clients including Saudia and AROYA Cruises
• Hello Franses!, W’s celebrity and influencer division, which has worked with global sport and entertainment properties including Formula 1, Formula E and the Red Sea International Film Festival

The new office will be led by Joanna Della-Ragione (pictured, left), Managing Partner, W Communications GCC, who previously served as Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at Oxagon, NEOM’s first subsidiary, and held a senior role with the Diriyah Gate Development Authority. Joanna is also a former journalist with over 15 years’ experience spanning London and the Gulf.
 
“The Middle East represents one of the most ambitious, dynamic and creative regions in the world,” said Warren Johnson (pictured, right), Founder & CEO of W Communications. “With flagship clients already in Riyadh, and Abu Dhabi now established as our GCC HQ, we’re embedding in the region for the long term. This is a serious investment in talent, creativity, and partnerships in markets that are shaping the global agenda.”

Joanna added: “Across the GCC - from Abu Dhabi and Riyadh to Doha - cities are reshaping culture, tourism and lifestyle on a global scale. Having both Riyadh and Abu Dhabi in our network means we can partner with organisations across the region, combining global creative credibility with deep local cultural fluency.”

W first entered the GCC in 2020 as the agency of record for Diriyah Gate Development Authority in Saudi Arabia. Founded in London in 2009, W has offices in London, New York, Singapore, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.