Marketing consultancy strengthens female-led leadership team with two new senior hires

Integrated marketing communications consultancy Leopard Co has welcomed two new senior hires with the appointment of Jade Mansell as development director and Emma Batchelor as corporate director.  

 Jade joins after 12 years at WPR where she progressed from junior account executive to account director in just five years.

She has won multiple awards for a variety of campaigns and has worked on a roster of high-profile clients, including Volvo, National Trust, Fujifilm, Dunelm, and Co-operative Funeralcare.  

In her new role, Jade will be responsible for driving forward marketing and new business at Leopard Co, which was established in 2023 following the merger of spottydog communications and Big Cat. 

Emma returns to the team after a previous role at spottydog communications and following an extensive career in-house.

She brings with her a wealth of experience, having led on PR, public affairs and marketing activity for a number of organisations.

Most recently, Emma was corporate communications and news lead at energy giant, OVO, and prior to that, was head of marketing and PR and then VP communications at electric vehicle technology business, Indra Renewable Technologies, where she helped the business grow five-fold in just two years.   

The two new hires come after a period of tremendous growth for the full-service agency, which also saw the KEY appointment of Laura Rudolph as PR Director earlier this year, along with a number of junior hires.  

Based in Birmingham for over 30 years combined, providing the next generation of PR professionals with progression opportunities, mentors and role models as a means of contributing to the local economy is one of Leopard Co’s overarching ambitions.  

In welcoming Jade and Emma, the agency has strengthened the expertise of its female-led senior leadership team, which is now 90 per cent female, and has a team ready to make waves in the industry.  

The two join co-CEOs Rachel Roberts and Anthony Tattum, operations director Anna Baker, client services director Christie Buet, and PR director Laura Rudolph. 

Co-CEO at Leopard Co, Rachel Roberts, expressed her excitement for the two appointments.

She said: “​As a female business founder, I’ve always been incredibly passionate about supporting women to progress their careers and pride myself on providing opportunities for women to succeed. 

 “We are continuing to experience demand across all service areas which has seen Leopard Co expand rapidly over the last year. So, it’s important that we reinforce our growing team with experienced professionals that can help steer this ship.  

 “Jade and Emma are two critical hires for us, and we can’t wait to see the impact they make — with both our team and with our clients.”  

 Jade said: “I’ve long admired the work that spottydog and Big Cat do, and am delighted to have joined at such a pivotal point in Leopard Co’s story.  

“The agency is growing at pace, and to become part of a strong team led by such talented and energetic people is a real privilege. Plus, being on a senior leadership team which is 90 per cent female means girl power is truly alive and well in Birmingham!”  

 Emma added: “I am very excited to be joining the fabulous team at Leopard Co. I look forward to leveraging my experience to help deliver exceptional results for our clients and also contribute to the agency’s continued growth.” 

The agency has won over 40 industry awards, including Midlands Small Consultancy of the Year twice, and clients include Twycross Zoo, BNP Paribas Personal Finance, Blinds 2go, Cadent, Earth Animal and Bristan. Last year the agency was proud to win a national CIPR Excellence Award for Best Long Term Client care for a decade of delivering on behalf of pubco Mitchells & Butlers plc.