Who we are

Stéphane began his career in 1979 as a music producer before entering politics in 1983, first as deputy chief of staff at the Ministry of Agriculture then later at the French Prime Minister’s office.
In 1988, he founded his own communications agency which today has developed into Havas Paris, the French flagship agency of the Havas Group.
Stéphane has advised on numerous transactions, reputational issues and crises affecting many of the world’s largest corporations and institutions. He is also frequently invited as a speaker at international events. He works closely with the IMAGINE Foundation, focused on research, care and teaching related to genetic diseases in children and adults, and he is a director of YES (Yalta European Strategy), a think tank.
He is the author of three books: “La société de défiance généralisée” (A World of Mistrust) in 2005; “Les Nouvelles Elites” (The New Elites) in 2007; and “Pandémie médiatique” (Pandemic and the news) in 2020.

He originally joined the firm in 2004 from Gavin Anderson & Company UK, the financial and corporate communications group, where as CEO he oversaw the turnaround of the organisation and its return to profitability.

Neil advises H/Advisors Maitland’s most prestigious clients on their strategic communications and has overseen many of Europe’s largest M&A transactions, IPOs and reputation management briefs over the past two decades.

Before starting his career as a consultant, Neil spent 16 years as a financial editor, columnist, presenter and journalist. He was City and Business Editor of the Sunday Telegraph between 1995 and 2002 and was twice named Business Journalist of the Year in the UK Press Awards. Between 1989 and 1995 he was Banking Correspondent and later Deputy Business Editor of The Times. He is a trustee of the Charles Dickens Museum and the Chailey Heritage Foundation, a school for children with complex neurodisabilities.

Tom counsels CEOs, executive teams and Boards of Directors on all strategic communications matters, with a particular focus on special situations such as transactions, activist investors, crises, management changes and governance situations.

In line with the firm’s tradition of long-lasting client relationships, Tom has advised leading global public and private companies through a number of critical situations including; CBS Corp., Comcast, GCM Grosvenor, Hershey’s, JAB Holdings, Keurig Dr Pepper, T-Mobile, TPG, Sanofi, Starwood Capital Group and Truist. Under his leadership, the firm has grown to six offices across the United States and added several new practice areas to deliver clients unparalleled insight and execution on crucial matters, including public affairs, digital, corporate governance and enhanced research capabilities.

As a recognized leader in communications, he is frequently asked to speak at events and has been a guest speaker at the Tulane Corporate Law Institute, the Garrett Corporate and Securities Law Institute, the Equilar Board Leadership Forum and 13D Monitor’s Activism conference, among others.

He serves on the Board for the Volunteers of America’s Greater New York Chapter. Prior to Abernathy, Tom was editor-in-charge of Investment Banking and Finance for Reuters, where he also ran the M&A and IPO desks. Earlier, he worked at CNN Financial News and at The Daily Record newspaper in Baltimore. Tom graduated from Towson University.

In 2014 he took on the additional responsibility of running the finance and administration of H/Advisors as it became a Havas division. At H/Advisors he oversees both network finances and agency finances, M&A activities and Operations.

Jeremy’s 25+ years of network experience in Public Relations and Marketing Communications qualify him uniquely for his role. He lives in The Netherlands and is a dual British/Dutch citizen.

Charles has long experience of working on cross-border accounts for H/Advisors’ clients, and has been responsible since 2018 for setting up and steering the network’s numerous operational taskforces. In this capacity, he has helped develop H/Advisors’ key practices and publications related to M&A, shareholder activism, ESG, public affairs, restructuring, transformation, and cybersecurity. He is also the author of the “Values We Value” report produced by the network each year, tracking the evolution of corporate values as espoused by some 500 of the world’s largest listed companies.

Before joining Havas Paris, she had worked for leading European banking group BNP Paribas, in the corporate communications department, and in a Parisian communications agency where she focused on business development and competitive tenders.