Andy Holdsworth
Andy is a communications and reputation management specialist with over a decade of experience working with governments, businesses and individuals.
He has assisted a wide range of varied clients both in the UK and abroad in preparing and responding to issues, crises and litigation. Andy has developed crisis procedures and response plans for small organisations to multinational ones, travelling internationally to test crisis response and conduct crisis exercises. Clients have included retail, entertainment, food, oil & gas, aviation, education, sovereign wealth funds, and many other sectors as well as supporting high-net-worth individuals and charities.
Andy has worked with multiple High Net Worth individuals and families, assisting them with a wide range of issues and reputational challenges both in the UK and abroad on various issues. These have included false accusations made on ITV, the BBC and Twitter regarding a peer; media speculation concerning an entrepreneur and a former partner; an attempted blackmail attempt on sports stars and their club and the subsequent sensational media stories that were published.
Additionally, he has worked alongside legal and intelligence firms on litigation involving high profile individuals. This has involved both preparing and building the reputation of litigants in preparedness for attacks on their credibility during cases.
Andy set up Holdsworth Consultancy Ltd in 2018 following over five years at one of the UK’s leading agencies where he was a specialist in crisis and reputation management and response as well as experience in other agencies.
Formally a civil servant, Andy spent over 2 years in the Cabinet Offices’ Civil Contingencies Secretariat preparing and responding to domestic challenges to the UK. He was part of the UK Government response to a variety of domestic issues and crises including Swine Flu, Severe Weather and Icelandic Volcano Eyjafjallajokull as well as being part of numerous UK Government exercises that tested response mechanisms and plans.
Andy was recently part of a team that has independently reviewed the Civil Contingencies Act in UK making recommendations to the UK Government on how civil contingencies arrangements should be improved and made fit for purpose for the future. He is a full Member of the Emergency Planning Society in the UK.
