Basil Towers

This research project was devised and conducted by Basil Towers. Basil is the founding partner of Hesleden Partners, the UK’s leading reputation management consultancy. Hesleden helps businesses achieve goals and realise value through the explicit management of corporate reputation and reputation risk.

He has over 25 years’ experience in reputation management and corporate communications in the UK and Continental Europe. An expert in helping companies manage corporate reputation as both an asset of value and competitive advantage, he continues to lead the industry into new and uncharted waters. Hesleden’s bespoke models and tools help clients put in place the policies, processes and practices to manage reputation and reputation risk strategically and on an enterprise-wide basis.

Basil began his career at Burson Marsteller before moving to Shandwick to set up the group’s third operating company. Soon thereafter, he became the youngest Managing Director in Shandwick (now Weber Shandwick) and a Director of Shandwick UK, the holding company for 14 public relations consultancies.

His experience with leading companies and how they managed reputation led him to establish Christow Consultants, a niche corporate communications and reputation management consultancy, in 1989. At Christow, Basil developed a significant bank of reputation data and knowledge shared with the industry through both research papers and the publication, Corporate Affairs. This data and insight underpins Hesleden’s advisory work.

Basil is a graduate of Exeter University, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and was until recently a Governor of the North East Wales Institute (Glyndwr University), which is a member of the University of Wales.