We have valued the work of Athene over recent years to help us cope with very turbulent times at the school. This has included assisting with the Press over the arrest, court case and subsequent imprisonment of our former Principal, a case that was complex and damaging to the reputation of the school.
Through the dedication and understanding of our colleagues at Athene they have assisted us with the management of this situation and ensured negative press has turned into positive support for the school. This culminated in the development and implementation of the ‘New Building, Strong Future’ campaign which enabled us to secure £2million towards our site refurbishment. They continue to support for our cause and have been a steady voice that has ensured our work is celebrated in the local and wider community.
Sarah Wilson - Headteacher for Sawtry Village Academy
“Athene Communications has been fantastic to work with and have made a tremendous difference to our reputation with the community. We have already begun to feel the rewards of our improved reputation, as demonstrated by twice as many parents recommending the school on Parent View this year, and finding out we are now 40% oversubscribed.”
Andy Christoforou - Headteacher for Abbey College
"The media training was very useful, providing information about how to really think about what your key messages are and how to convey this in a conversation with the media without being side-tracked by questions.
I felt really well prepared for the nominee video and the acceptance speech thanks to Athene’s training session. It made me feel more confident ahead of the awards and ensured that I captured all the key points in my speech"
Eslie Vrolijk - for Royal HaskoningDHV - Media Training
“Athene has taken the lead in organising and delivering all our annual conferences, proactively suggesting the theme and working hard to secure high quality speakers to deliver events people are keen to attend. The annual conference is a highlight of Larkfleet’s year and plays an important part in helping to demonstrate our commitment to delivering new homes across the region. Athene always go the extra mile to make sure that everything runs smoothly on the day, with each event receiving great feedback from attendees.”
Daryl Kirkland - Larkfleet’s Group Land Director for Larkfleet Homes - Annual Conference
From the very start, we’ve been totally committed to Tresham Garden Village being different from traditional housing developments. We’ve been determined to speak, and more importantly listen to the views of the community we live and work in.
Athene quickly built relationships with the right people, reacted to changes as they came along and have been incredibly easy to work alongside. As well as the relationship management, the materials created were engaging and the media coverage included BBC Look East, local radio and a range of print media. It has been a pleasure to work in partnership with them, and we look forward to welcoming them to Tresham Garden Village in the future.
Mark Coombs - Estate Manager for Tresham Garden Village
“We were very pleased with the great ideas that the Athene team created for the Your Journey Starts Here campaign.
"They had a thorough knowledge of Peterborough and its stakeholders and were able to manage and deliver an excellent campaign working against tight timescales that really helped us to communicate our message and job opportunities to the people we wanted to.”
Ben Ford - Head of Customer Experience for Addison Lee
“The Trust needed to gauge how its core values and messages are perceived: in schools, in the community, and from a business and strategic perspective. We have a huge range of great news stories and activities that we wish to share by a variety of channels, so this was a way of gauging what we are currently doing well and giving us the tools and data to improve in the future. We are delighted with the way Athene Communications approached the brief. Their knowledge of the education sector and cultural ability to work with our staff and stakeholders really shone through. Their final report and communications plan was exactly what we were looking for and in many ways exceeded the brief. Their speed of response and efficiency in delivering the project is a tight timescale was also most impressive. I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending them to other education providers.”
Dr Andrew Campbell - CEO, Brooke Weston Trust for Dr Andrew Campbell, CEO, Brooke Weston Trust
“Athene Communications delivered an extremely thorough piece of research that has had a direct impact on our approach to teacher recruitment and retention. Their consultative approach with teachers really helped us understand what we are doing well and where we need to focus our efforts going forward. We are pleased that the research has also directly led to the development of firm initiatives around internal communications (being implemented by us and by Athene) which I’ve no doubt will help support employee engagement across the Trust. Athene has long been a valued partner to CMAT, and I would definitely recommend them as a thoroughly great team to work with.”
Sue Turnbull - HR Director, CMAT for Sue Turnbull, HR Director, CMAT
“The strategic approach adopted by Athene Communications for Market Square Group’s social media channels has proven to be very effective to our business.
“Market Square Group look forward to continuing the relationship with Athene Communications and seeing further benefit to our business during the next season.”
Paul Kennedy - Director, Market Square Group for Market Square Group
Athene worked closely with us from the very early stages through to the granting of planning permissions. We particularly appreciated their fast speed of response, their eye for detail, and their extensive experience in this field.
The local insights provided to the project team through Athene’s Community Audit proved invaluable, and the benefit of having a clear strategy for approaching community engagement for each site was an essential part of our success. The value added by Athene in demonstrating a best practice approach to community engagement makes them an ideal partner for a developer.
Jonathan Selwyn - Managing Director for Lark Energy
I have now worked with Athene for over 11 months and find the company to be extremely knowledgeable in their understanding of Best Companies. They have guided us through very patiently and have always sought to give us advice whilst working with us constructively.
Louise Ash - Head of Organisational Development for Gatwick Airport
I would thoroughly recommend Athene for its work in supporting our organisation in achieving an improvement in The Best Companies Survey. We achieved a ‘One star’ rating and a place on the Sunday Times Top 100 list. Athene’s consultants helped us leverage the things we were already doing – finding new ways to communicate them and also suggested new approaches to engage different parts of the organisation. Much of this work continues to impact how we consider communications beyond those related to the survey. The Athene team offered excellent support to those leading the work on the survey and tailored the approach to the specific needs of our organisation. We’re now all clear on how to communicate our commitment to employee engagement!
Katherine Easter - Director of HR and Organisational Development for Pension Protection Fund
This innovative website was exactly what was needed so thank you to Athene Communications and their partner agencies for all their hard work. Athene understood the brief and produced a high quality output with minimal input required. The recruitment of teachers in Peterborough has long been a problem and we are already seeing the positive impact this is having with lots of traffic to the website and vacancies being filled.
Jonathan Lewis - Service Director for Education, Resources and Corporate Property for Teach Peterborough
It really is great having Athene Communications as an extended arm to the team. They have done an outstanding, professional job taking the time right from day one, taking the time to get to know our work and delivering excellent work which has helped us to raise our reputation in target publications and online.
Cerri Harper - UK Marketing and Communications Manager for Royal HaskoningDHV
We have been really pleased with the work Athene Communications has carried out. The success of the launch of the ABAX Stadium and Peterborough United partnership could not have happened without them. It is great to see ABAX getting coverage in the press as the company looks to grow in the UK.
Sandra Lindberg - Marketing Manager for ABAX
Athene Communications has helped us to increase our level of proactive communications to raise the profile of our work across our regional offices. We have seen a good, consistent level of media coverage and are now moving towards the next stage of aligning this PR work with our more strategic business aims.
Rebecca Covington - Marketing Manager for Bulley Davey
Athene Communications made a real contribution to a range of events in which they acted as the PR lead for Peterborough City Council. They produced clear and focused strategies to effectively communicate our key messages to the media and the public. This helped to significantly increase visitor numbers. Hard-working, with a great knowledge and very approachable – I really enjoyed working with them.
Annette Joyce - Head of Commercial Operations for Peterborough City Council
Athene Communications really helped us build awareness of Gateway Peterborough in the media and in the regional business community, and the coverage we received from the official opening of the site was fantastic. They produced clear strategies to effectively communicate the many benefits, both strategic and locally, of the site right from the very outset.
Charles Blake - Development Director for Roxhill Developments
I’ve always seen Athene Communications as the ‘go to’ agency for the handling of positive news stories that will enhance our reputation. The team has a good understanding of what we want – promoting our academic achievements and quality opportunities around the student experience – and the academy as a whole. They have generated internal engagement around the value of PR. This has included delivering media training for the senior leadership team and colleagues which created a real buzz. They also develop our prospectuses which are carefully written and produced to a high standard.
Dennis Kirwan - Principal for Ormiston Bushfield Academy
Athene’s role with Nene Park Academy has evolved in line with our development as a school. As the new leadership in the school was established PR was very important in ensuring that the perception of the school in the community reflected the positive changes which were taking place and encouraged pupils to come here. Now we have nearly 200 pupils in Year 7 and so we are emphasising the wider student experience and extra-curricular opportunities available. Athene have been very good at communicating our messages through a range of external channels and we have benefitted from a number of added-value opportunities given their reach beyond education. A particular highlight was the support Athene provided around our new building, securing Professor Lord Robert Winston to officially open it. They have also promoted our fitness facilities and football training to the community (NPA Sport and Leisure, and Mick George Training Academy) through media and social media to support our wider income-generation strategies.
Steve Howard - Principal for Nene Park Academy (CMAT)
Athene has a very good understanding of our school, our competitors and primary catchment area, as well as wider knowledge of the education sector. In the last year we’ve had a number of positive news stories in the local media – this is a huge difference from where we were in the previous 12 months – and Athene have also been particularly effective in helping us to respond appropriately to requests from the media.
Sarah Wilson - Principal for Sawtry Village Academy (CMAT)
Athene Communications has supported our fundraising initiative for arts, science and technology and brokered meetings with a number of businesses. The team have also provided media relations support, including publicity of our exam results, and achieved some good coverage to help us reach local stakeholders.
Andy Daly - Principal for Swavesey Village College (CMAT)
The work of Athene Communications has helped us to double our Year 7 pupil numbers in the last 12 months. A lot of work was undertaken quickly and efficiently around our conversion, launch and re-branding.
They have excellent relationships with the press, which has helped get our word out there, and in dealing effectively with media requests. Their understanding of the local community and key stakeholders also helped to galvanise positivity and goodwill very quickly. It’s been a very positive experience – Athene definitely knows about the education sector and we always trust that the team will do a good job.
Anthony Partington - Principal for Stamford Welland Academy (CMAT)
The community engagement strategy focussed our efforts and ensured that all stakeholders were managed effectively. Delivery of the community consultation itself was exemplary and ensured that local people not only had the opportunity to comment on the proposals, but were enabled to do so.
Nick Worboys - Assistant Director of Development for Longhurst Group
Athene worked closely with us from the very early stages through to the granting of planning permissions. The local insights provided to the project team through the Community Audits proved invaluable, and the benefit of having a clear strategy for approaching community engagement at each site was an essential part of our success.
This proactive approach to community engagement set us apart from other developers trying to do a similar thing – the belts and braces approach meant that we anticipated the issues before they arose and subsequently enjoyed a smoother planning process. When issues were raised by local people – ranging from the colour of a fence or request for a private road sign, to major concerns such as the impact of construction traffic – they were managed early and effectively.
Jonathan Selwyn - Managing Director for Lark Energy
Athene not only provide a thorough service for each development, but are also professional and friendly with their approach. The community engagement work has certainly helped to support our planning applications and we look forward to continue to work with the team.
Mark Mann - Planning Director for Larkfleet Homes
It has been a real pleasure working with the team at Athene Communications over the last six months and we look forward to continuing to work with them on the £100 million North Westgate development. I have been impressed by both their wise advice and careful preparation – whether handling the media, talking to key stakeholders or arranging events. Their input has been invaluable in helping us prepare and submit our planning application and explain our plans to the public.
Peter Breach - Chairman for Hawksworth Securities
Athene Communications have been involved in the development of our school from the start. The initial support they provided on the brand, within the context of what other schools are doing, was really pleasing. Since then we’ve had excellent value for money in terms of the delivery support we’ve received each month. We have an exciting vision for the school and are happy to be working with Athene to bring it to life.
Martin Campbell - Principal for North Cambridge Academy (CMAT)
