Charles Stewart-Smith to join from Teneo

Charles Stewart-Smith, who until recently was Managing Director at Teneo and is one of the founders of Luther Pendragon, has joined Shearwater as a Senior Advisor.

Charles began his career in journalism, working on most of the BBC’s main news programmes before joining ITN, becoming Programme Editor of News At Ten. In 1992 he co-founded Luther Pendragon, combining both political and media expertise and pioneering the discipline of issues management. Following its successful sale, he joined Blue Rubicon, the multi-award winning corporate communications agency, helping to build out its offer and international network, before the sale of the company to Teneo in 2015. He subsequently became a Managing Director at Teneo.

Charles serves on the board of the Disasters Emergency Committee, which recently raised more than £300 million for its Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. He is a member of the Business Leaders’ Group at Onward, the centre-right think tank, and was previously a Trustee at Policy Exchange. 

Peter Guilford, one of Shearwater’s founders said of Charles, “he is a rare combination of top corporate affairs advisor, senior broadcast journalist and serial entrepreneur. He’s counselled the CEOs of some of the biggest companies in the world. We are thrilled to have him on board to help power the growth of the company.”

Charles added that “Shearwater is a very exciting proposition, bringing together a team with political, regulatory and communications expertise gained from operating at the highest levels across the world. It is absolutely the right offer in these complex, disrupted times when business leaders need wisdom and guidance.”