As Country Communication Manager for IKEA UK & Ireland, Kym is responsible for leveraging strategic communication to achieve the brand, business, and people objectives. Leading a team responsible for corporate and consumer PR, public affairs, and internal communications, Kym ensures that IKEA is positioned as a meaningful and trusted brand and business in peoples’ hearts and minds. She is a member of the UK & Ireland Country Management Team, where she contributes business insights, leadership, and communication expertise to drive the overall performance of the business. Prior to her current role, Kym held communication roles at IKEA in the UK and Canada, as well as in-house and agency positions in the UK, Australia and her native New Zealand.

As CEO of PromoteSweden, board advisor, and former CEO of Brand Finance Nordics - part of the world’s leading brand valuation consultancy - Anna has helped shape the brand trajectories of some of the world’s most influential organisations. At Brand Finance, she also led the firm’s Global Soft Power offer, supporting nations and institutions in harnessing their reputational capital on the world stage.

Previously, Anna headed up VisitSweden UK and served on the National Council for the Swedish Nation Brand, where she championed Sweden’s international image.

Anna’s career bridges both client and agency worlds. She has led transformative branding and communications work across markets and sectors, bringing bold ideas to life for national icons and global giants alike. She is passionate about turning sharp audience insights into magnetic, meaningful brand conversations. Thriving at the intersection of strategy, creativity, and cultural intelligence, she believes the best ideas emerge when diverse minds come together.

Martin is the global head of Kantar BrandZ, the definitive guide to the potential of brands to add value to businesses. He has shaped the strategies of brands across multiple sectors, including financial services, automotive, apparel, alcohol and energy, for companies as wide ranging as Unilever, Sony, Nokia, Bacardi, Cadbury, BP, Shell, Ferrero, Vodafone, GSK, Visa, Britvic, Danone, Pladis and P&G.

Helen James is the London CEO of Forsman & Bodenfors, the Swedish-founded global creative agency. Passionate about driving change, she builds teams and processes that blend efficiency with creative excellence to deliver transformative business results.

Previously CEO of Crispin Porter Bogusky London and Managing Partner at BBH, Helen has over 20 years’ experience leading high-profile accounts, including Pernod Ricard, Hotels.com, ASICS, Virgin Media, Tesco, and Vodafone.

Under her leadership, Forsman & Bodenfors was named UN Women’s Unstereotype Alliance Agency of the Year in 2024. She also received the Suki Thompson Award for Championing Change for her leadership in industry transformation.

Helen writes a monthly Marketing Week column on the power of the female consumer and industry norms. A proud mum to Kitty and Agnes, she is committed to lasting change - both professionally and personally.

As a former Assistant News Editor and Royal Editor of the Daily Mirror, Jane has over 20 years’ experience across major UK media outlets. An experienced journalist and interviewer, Jane understands how to identify and position stories for maximum coverage, and offers extensive media training experience to a range of clients, from international private and listed companies, to NGOs and HNW individuals. Prior to joining Kreab, Jane was Head of Communications for a leading UK listed company that worked in 110 locations in the UK, and in Australia and Saudi Arabia. Jane has broad professional training, having qualifications ranging from Crisis Management to Copywriting. Jane was an expert judge at the Amnesty International Media Awards and at the PRCA National Awards.

Simon has a long career in strategic communications, including roles on the Executive Committees of Centrica and Vodafone as Director of Corporate Affairs. He was Vice Chair EMEA at FTI Consulting and previously spent nine years as Chief Executive of the investment banking trade body the Association for Financial Markets in Europe.

He has a longstanding interest in both education and social mobility, having chaired the UK-US Fulbright Commission from 2009-13 and currently is the Chair of Young Enterprise. He was awarded an OBE in 2014 for services to international education. Simon is also a founding member of the Speakers for Schools programme.

He also was the first Communication Secretary to the late Queen and Director of Communications and Official Spokesman at Number 10 for Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Simon is a Non-Executive Director of Innovate Finance and he now runs his own advisory firm Lewis Advisors, providing strategic counsel to business leaders, in partnership with his eldest son Thomas, and Stuart Roden, founding chair of Lansdowne Partners. Simon co-presents a popular weekly podcast on BCC Sounds called, ‘When It Hits the Fan’.

William is a veteran television producer and media executive as well as a published author. In the 90s he ran one of the UK’s largest factual production companies and then in 2000 went on to join Nigella Lawson where he launched her into television and created her best selling lifestyle brand Living Kitchen. Having been bought out of Nigella’s company he went to the commercial arm of the BBC where he was Head of Talent. In 2015 he set up his own TV development business, Raconteur Studios, which in the last 2 years expanded into radio and podcast production and was here he created the chart topping podcast – When it Hits the Fan with Simon and David. 

With roots in performance and experience working across Sweden, Spain, and the UK, Linda brings a diverse, cross-cultural perspective to creative work. She trained as an actress at Calle Flygare Teaterskola, Stockholm’s renowned performance arts school, before moving behind the camera to direct, write, and lead productions of all scales—from large ensemble performances with over 70 performers to intimate solo pieces.

She went on to co-found Happy Message, a creative marketing agency she built with her husband, where she wrote and directed commercials and infomercials for businesses looking to connect with their audiences in authentic, compelling ways.

Today, based in London, she runs her independent studio GRDN PRTY – Where Creativity Meets Clarity, offering creative producing, storytelling workshops, and narrative consulting for brands and creators ready to grow powerful, story-led content across video, audio, and written formats. Whether she’s refining a brand’s core message, facilitating a workshop, or leading a production from concept to delivery, Linda brings clarity, collaboration, and care to every stage of the process.

Nils - CMO and member of Visit Sweden’s management team - is responsible for and leading the brand and marketing both domestic and international for Sweden as a destination, and is a member of the National Council for the Swedish Nation Brand. He has a broad background from several industries including Banking, Energy, Telecom and Media, focusing on change management, branding & marketing and business development.

A specialist in crisis communications and reputation management, Chris advises governments, corporates, high-profile individuals, NGOs and law firms. He is a recommended reputation manager in the 2025 Spears 500 index, and has served on four executive boards, including Sellafield Ltd, Salzburg Global, and a major welfare-to-work provider, and previously led European Corporate Affairs for BT Group in Brussels. Chris chairs The Ad Hoc Council, a senior industry and policy forum founded in 1975, as well as a UK NGO. He is a Freeman of the City of London and an experienced charity trustee. A graduate of LSE, Chris began his career in journalism, working for the BBC, The Financial Times and The Economist from Latin America. He has advised several Swedish clients, including Swedbank, SKF, Trustly, Atlas Copco, IKEA and ABBA.

Read our full feature of Chris in LINK issue 371

In his role as Head of Communications at Spotify in the UK, Rik oversees the messaging and activation of projects and campaigns across music, podcasts and audiobooks, always looking to drive relevancy through innovative storytelling. Prior to Spotify, Rik spent five years in a Head of Communications role at Red Bull, and 10+ years across some of London's leading PR agencies working with brands in the entertainment and culture space, such as adidas, Disney, Foot Locker and another successful Swedish export, Absolut Vodka.

Susanna brings over 20 years of experience in public relations and the international promotion of Sweden. She holds an MSc in Communications from New York University (NYU) and, since 2012, has headed the Culture, Communication and Language unit at the Swedish Institute, a public agency under the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. In this role, she most recently oversaw the development of Sweden’s new nation branding strategy, commissioned by the government.