JOHN SAUNDERS
Executive Vice President and Senior Partner,
Regional President Continental Europe, Ireland and Eurasia

John Saunders was appointed Fleishman-Hillard’s regional director for Continental Europe in October 2004 and was subsequently promoted to President of the firm’s expanding operations in Europe and Eurasia in 2007. He was president of ICCO (The International Communications Consultancy Organisation) – the global representative body for the PR industry, from 2005 - 2007.

In his current role at Fleishman-Hillard, John is responsible for the firm’s offices in Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Dublin, Frankfurt, Milan, Munich, Paris, Prague, Warsaw, and Moscow. He is also responsible for relationships with a range of Affiliate Partners throughout Europe.

Before assuming his current position, John was in charge of Fleishman-Hillard Saunders in Dublin. He founded the business in 1990 and grew it into Ireland’s largest public relations consultancy and one of Fleishman-Hillard’s most successful international offices. The Irish operation also won more awards than any other Irish PR firm during his time as Managing Director there.

Among the clients he has advised are those in retail, property, telecommunications, and textiles. These include Abbott Laboratories, Anheuser-Busch, Ballymore Properties, BT, Emerson Electric, Fruit of the Loom, Mitsubishi Electric, Musgrave Group and the Sara Lee Corporation.

He is a member of a range of professional bodies and is regularly asked to speak on communications related topics. Countries where he has undertaken speaking engagements include Austria, Iceland, India, Iran, Italy, Russia, Turkey, and the United States. In December 2007 John was awarded Honoury Life Membership of the Public Relations Industry of Ireland.

Mr. Saunders is an Irish national, lives in Dublin, and is a former staff journalist with Radio Telefis Eireann – the Irish state broadcaster. More recently he has acted as a guest presenter for Setanta Sports.

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