Rolls-Royce has appointed a government and corporate affairs director for its mini nuclear reactors project, while the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) has hired a new director of communications.
Tas Bhanji starts at the Institution of Civil Engineers in September
Tas Bhanji, who is a director at Blakeney, will take up her in-house role at the ICE in September.
She will take over from Simon Barney, who has served as interim director of comms since Simon Creer left earlier this year to become the Royal Town Planning Institute’s director of comms.
Bhanji will work with with Chris Richards, policy director at the ICE, and will oversee a comms team covering public affairs, media, social media, internal comms, membership and international comms.
Bhanji has worked in comms for more than a decade. Prior to joining Blakeney last year, she spent two-and-a-half years at McDonald’s, where she was corporate relations manager, Eastern Europe.
Her career has also included stints with Weber Shandwick in China, FleishmanHillard in Brussels, and MHP Communications in London. In addition, she held the role of senior campaigns adviser at the Confederation of British Industry.
Commenting on her new job, Bhanji said: “The ICE has a long history of qualifying and supporting civil engineers around the world, and providing professional expertise to decision-makers. The focus in the coming year(s) will be to build on that, and continue to highlight the critical role civil engineers play in tackling climate change, enabling a more sustainable world.”
Nuclear power
Alastair Evans, government and corporate affairs director, the Rolls Royce SMR project
Meanwhile, Alastair Evans has joined Rolls-Royce as government and corporate affairs director for its mini nuclear reactor deveopment programme – dubbed the Small Modular Reactor (SMR) project.
Evans, who started his job this week, is responsible for the corporate affairs strategy, encompassing public affairs, policy and investor relations. He reports to Tom Samson, chief executive of the SMR project.
“The Rolls-Royce SMR project is a pioneering technology solution to the need to deliver firm low-carbon power. In moving to the delivery stage, there are… exciting and challenging policy, regulatory, communications and political challenges to navigate,” he said.
“The opportunity to join the experienced executive team to deliver this vital project to the UK was too compelling to pass up.”
Evans was previously head of international government affairs at oil and gas company Neptune Energy.
He has worked in public affairs for a decade, mostly in the nuclear sector, with stints as head of government affairs at NuGen and at the Nuclear Industry Association, where he was policy and public affairs manager.
Rolls-Royce has appointed a government and corporate affairs director for its mini nuclear reactors project, while the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) has hired a new director of communications.
Tas Bhanji starts at the Institution of Civil Engineers in September
Tas Bhanji, who is a director at Blakeney, will take up her in-house role at the ICE in September.
She will take over from Simon Barney, who has served as interim director of comms since Simon Creer left earlier this year to become the Royal Town Planning Institute’s director of comms.
Bhanji will work with with Chris Richards, policy director at the ICE, and will oversee a comms team covering public affairs, media, social media, internal comms, membership and international comms.
Bhanji has worked in comms for more than a decade. Prior to joining Blakeney last year, she spent two-and-a-half years at McDonald’s, where she was corporate relations manager, Eastern Europe.
Her career has also included stints with Weber Shandwick in China, FleishmanHillard in Brussels, and MHP Communications in London. In addition, she held the role of senior campaigns adviser at the Confederation of British Industry.
Commenting on her new job, Bhanji said: “The ICE has a long history of qualifying and supporting civil engineers around the world, and providing professional expertise to decision-makers. The focus in the coming year(s) will be to build on that, and continue to highlight the critical role civil engineers play in tackling climate change, enabling a more sustainable world.”
Nuclear power
Alastair Evans, government and corporate affairs director, the Rolls Royce SMR project
Meanwhile, Alastair Evans has joined Rolls-Royce as government and corporate affairs director for its mini nuclear reactor deveopment programme – dubbed the Small Modular Reactor (SMR) project.
Evans, who started his job this week, is responsible for the corporate affairs strategy, encompassing public affairs, policy and investor relations. He reports to Tom Samson, chief executive of the SMR project.
“The Rolls-Royce SMR project is a pioneering technology solution to the need to deliver firm low-carbon power. In moving to the delivery stage, there are… exciting and challenging policy, regulatory, communications and political challenges to navigate,” he said.
“The opportunity to join the experienced executive team to deliver this vital project to the UK was too compelling to pass up.”
Evans was previously head of international government affairs at oil and gas company Neptune Energy.
He has worked in public affairs for a decade, mostly in the nuclear sector, with stints as head of government affairs at NuGen and at the Nuclear Industry Association, where he was policy and public affairs manager.
