Steve Kemp
Managing Director
Steve co-founded Emperor in 1996, and has overseen its successful growth over the last 11 years to become one of top three agencies for print in the
He has extensive expertise in corporate reporting and his strengths lie in getting to the heart of clients’ communications issues and coming up with creative ways to tackle them.
He is responsible for Emperor’s strategic development and for building long term relationships with clients.
Noel O'Connor
Creative Director, Scotland
Noel co-founded Emperor with Steve in 1996. He originally graduated in Visual Communications, followed by a classic agency design career. He has 20 years' experience in creative corporate design, for companies ranging from FTSE 100 to public sector organisations.
In 2003 he established Emperor’s Scottish operations with Neil Reynolds and has led the development of the Edinburgh design team. He now directs a wide range of corporate communications for Emperor’s growing Scottish client base.
He is responsible for Emperor’s corporate identity and branding. His clients include Robert Wiseman Dairies and DNO.
Kingsley James
Managing Director
Kingsley founded Emperor’s interactive business in 1998 and took responsibility for overseeing its development into one of the UK's leading digital agencies. He originally qualified as a chartered accountant with Ernst & Young and has a background in corporate finance and strategic consultancy both in practice, and in industry with a leading FTSE250 service company.
Kingsley is now responsible for managing Emperor's people, operations and corporate development as well as continuing to work with a small portfolio of clients including Close Brothers Group and ScottishPower.
Leon Milligan
Sales Director, Client Partner
Leon joined Emperor in 1998 and has extensive expertise in corporate reporting.
As Sales Director he is responsible for the implementation of Emperor's sales strategy. He is the author of Emperor’s Practical Guide to Corporate Reporting and is a member of the Investor Relations Society (IRS).
Leon's clients include a wide range of organisations from newly listed companies to well-established FTSE players. His clients include DSG international, Moneysupermarket and Northumbrian Water Group.
Tracey Westgate
Managing Director, Print Division
Tracey originally trained as a graphic designer and started her career working with one of the leading corporate branding agencies.
She joined Emperor in 2000, bringing extensive experience of marketing and branding to the Company. She now works with clients to ensure that Emperor delivers creative solutions that meet their communications objectives.
She is a member of Emperor's senior management and is responsible for the account management team. Her clients include British Energy and Bradford & Bingley.
Bansi Kotecha
Managing Director, Interactive division
With over eight years online communications experience, Bansi is responsible for advising clients on their digital strategy and implementing new media solutions. Prior to joining Emperor in 2007, she built her experience in the advertising industry, undertaking similar roles with leading online agencies including Lowe Lintas and Ogilvy.
A member of the senior management team, Bansi is also responsible for Emperor’s interactive team, ensuring that clients get the best interactive solution for their budget.
Neil Reynolds
Managing Director, Scotland
Neil set up Emperor’s Edinburgh office with Noel in 2003, after spending 15 years in the investment banking industry in the UK and South Africa. He has a law degree, an MBA from Edinburgh University, and in-depth experience of the equity markets.
He uses this expertise to advise newly listed or pre-IPO clients on how to maximise the impact of their communications during, and after, flotation.
He is a member of the senior management team and is responsible for developing Emperor’s Scottish and Northern client base. His clients include Cairn Energy and ProStrakan.
Michael Rabin
Design Director
With 12 years experience in the design industry, Michael trained as a graphic designer and has worked on both the client and agency side of corporate communications.
His expertise includes financial reporting, branding and identity as well as art direction for photography. He joined Emperor in 2001 and leads the design team in Emperor’s London office. Recent projects include annual report design for 888 Holdings, Lonmin and Computacenter.
Andrew Westgate
Print Director
With 18 years' experience in the printing industry, Andrew has a vast knowledge of all aspects of the trade.
He joined Emperor in 2001 and now controls the print process for all Emperor’s clients. This includes advising on print requirements, sourcing suppliers, managing supplier relationships to ensure delivery deadlines are met and controlling quality and budgets.
He is a member of the senior management team and is responsible for managing the proofing, printing and finishing processes for all print projects.
Ruth Hoskins
Client Partner
Ruth’s early career was in the travel industry, where she held senior online marketing roles for Superbreak.com and SITA.
She joined Emperor in 2005, bringing in-depth understanding of the role e-marketing can play in the overall communications strategy.
Ruth has a degree in Communications and Visual Media and a CIM Advanced Certificate in Marketing. Her clients currently include the Carnival Group and Stagecoach Group.
Toby Gilham
Creative Team Leader, Interactive Design
Having originally trained as a fine artist and worked as an illustrator, Toby moved into digital design, creating multi-million selling CD Roms with leading publisher, Dorling Kindersley. His background also includes six years as Head of Design for Associated New Media, the digital publishing division of Associated Newspapers, publishers of the Daily Mail, Evening Standard and Metro.
Prior to joining Emperor in 2007, his freelance work included projects for Canon and the World Wildlife Fund. He is now responsible for Emperor’s fast growing interactive design team.
Tony Drant
Technical Director
Tony joined Emperor in 1999. He has over 10 years' experience in developing online communication solutions and has an in-depth understanding of applying technology to comply with the current accessibility regulations.
He advises clients on the best technical solution to meet their business objectives and he oversees the technical architecture of all web projects.
He is a member of the senior management team, responsible for Emperor’s technical team and its technical capabilities. He works closely with his technical counterparts across Emperor’s client base.
Gus Coulton
Client Partner
Gus joined Emperor in 2004 with impeccable credentials. He was formerly Creative Director at Shandwick Design and Managing Director at McBride’s and Granfield Design Consultants.
His design for Nestor’s annual report won the London Stock Exchange’s Best Annual Report for Smaller plcs and his paintings have been exhibited at the Royal Academy and Museum of Modern Art, Oxford.
He has in-depth expertise in the natural resources and mining sectors, and his clients include Oxus Gold and Triple Plate Junction.
Claire Forrest
Client Partner
Claire set up Emperor’s Birmingham office with Steve Mason in 2008 and is responsible for Emperor’s clients in the North East, North West and Midlands.
With over 20 years experience in Corporate Communications, Claire has been a Corporate Communications Director in both FTSE 250 and AIM listed organisations, responsible for investor relations, marketing and internal communications. She has spent the last five years specialising in corporate reporting, advising companies on the content and structure of their annual reports, as well as copywriting for a range of listed and LLP companies.
She is the author of the Best Practice Guidelines for Annual Reports for the Investor Relations Society and has written a Practical Guide to Preparing the Annual Report.
Steve Mason
Creative Director
Steve set up Emperor’s Birmingham office with Claire in 2008 and is leading the development of the Birmingham creative team.
He has over 20 years experience in the design industry and has a broad range of expertise including branding, advertising, corporate communications and reporting.
Steve also specialises in art direction and has even directed commercials.
He previously worked for the Saatchi and Lopex Groups before running his own design consultancy in the West Midlands., He has produced worked for a wide variety of blue chip companies including Bass M&B, the Co-op Group, Game Group and Jaguar.
Matt Lyndon
Client Partner
Matt was one of the first to join Emperor ‘s Birmingham office in 2008, bringing 10 years experience in Corporate Reporting, across a wide range of industry sectors.
His role is developing the Emperor client base in the North East, North West and Midlands, supporting the broadening corporate reporting requirements to cover a range of stakeholders , both online and in print.