The Sandpiper Group has appointed Aliyah Dar (pictured, left) and Isabelle Trick (pictured, right) to senior advisory roles based in Dubai and Singapore, respectively.
From Dubai, Aliyah will spearhead the next stage of growth of Sandpiper's public affairs offering across the Middle East, supporting clients as they navigate the region's ambitious national transformation agendas and deepen their engagement with government and institutional stakeholders.
Aliyah has 20 years’ experience in economic and policy advisory roles in the Middle East and Europe, including a senior strategy role at a Dubai-based investment firm and more than a decade in the UK government, including as Chief of Staff to His Majesty's Trade Commissioner for the Middle East and Pakistan. Prior to joining Sandpiper, she led the UAE operation for Global Counsel.
From Singapore, Isabelle will further grow Sandpiper's public affairs capabilities across Southeast Asia and Asia Pacific, advising clients on engaging with governments, regulators, and policymakers, and helping them anticipate and respond to policy change.
Isabelle brings political risk experience advising private equity firms, institutional investors, and multinational corporations across the energy, financial services, healthcare, and technology sectors, with a deep focus on emerging markets, Asia, Europe, and Africa. She also joins Sandpiper from Global Counsel, where she headed Investor Services and Global Macro projects, following earlier experience directing an international non-profit organisation.
Both will work closely with Sandpiper's leadership and teams across Asia Pacific and the Middle East to deliver integrated counsel that brings together public affairs, strategic communications, and research, supporting clients through regulatory change, market entry, and moments of heightened political and public scrutiny.
Kelly Johnston, Chief Operating Officer of Sandpiper, said, "Public policy is now one of the defining factors shaping how businesses across Asia Pacific and the Middle East grow and protect their reputations. Isabelle and Aliyah bring deep expertise and strong relationships in two of the most important hubs in our network. Their appointments significantly strengthen our ability to help clients understand the policy landscape, engage constructively with governments, and turn regulatory complexity into strategic advantage."
Aliyah Dar, Associate Director, Public Affairs, Sandpiper, said, "The Middle East is undergoing extraordinary transformation, creating significant opportunities for organisations that can engage thoughtfully with government priorities and national visions. I'm excited to join Sandpiper and to help clients build the relationships and insight they need to succeed in the region."
Isabelle Trick, Associate Director, Public Affairs, Sandpiper, said, "Singapore sits at the centre of the region's policy conversations, and clients increasingly need advisors who can connect the dots between regulation, reputation, and investment. I'm delighted to join Sandpiper and look forward to building on the firm's strong foundations across the region."
Sandpiper strengthens team with senior appointments in Dubai and Singapore
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The partnership will surface Truescope media intelligence inside the Telum Media platform, so communications teams can see which journalists are covering their issues and pitch them without leaving the workflow.
Between them, the two companies now cover the five parts of media intelligence. Truescope brings media monitoring, social listening and media analysis. Telum Media brings the media database and distribution. For communications teams, that means one connected workflow, from finding the right journalist to measuring what the coverage achieved.
The partnership will initially focus on Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore, with additional markets to follow.
For Telum Media, the partnership reflects a sharp surge in journalists demanding greater relevance in the outreach they receive from PRs, and follows its recent launch of Distribution tools within the platform.
“The ‘spray and pray’ approach to sending media releases should be consigned to the past – that’s what thousands of journalists have been telling us through our Journalist Interest Surveys,” said Telum Media Executive Chairman, Michael Webster.
“The focus is on precision-led targeting and more relevant outreach, and this partnership with Truescope will help communications teams identify and select relevant media based on demonstrated coverage and current editorial interests."
“Having this integrated into the Telum Media platform means teams can research, plan, personalise and pitch without switching between disconnected systems.”
For Truescope, the partnership follows its entry into the Australian market on 1 October 2026, and conversations with more than 30 communications, PR and public affairs leaders across Australian government, corporate and agency teams about what they need from a media intelligence service. Truescope monitors broadcast, print, digital and social media, and runs Truescope AI as part of the service: Truescope Assistant, which answers questions about what happened in the coverage, and Truescope Analyst, which explains what it means, with citations on every output.
Truescope CEO, John Croll, said the integration puts coverage data and journalist data in the same place. Truescope and Telum Media solve complementary parts of the PR workflow, and clients increasingly want monitoring and journalist intelligence to work together without compromising quality.
“PR and Comms teams want the best monitoring and the best journalist data. Until now that has meant two systems and a lot of copying between them.”
“With this partnership, a comms manager can access specialist capabilities, data quality, and innovation of both Truescope and Telum Media. They can see who is covering their issue, understand how that coverage is moving, and pitch the right journalist without leaving the workflow. That is time back, and a better hit rate”, John said.
Find out more about the Telum Media - Truescope partnership.
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