About us
Built by people who’ve been there
We founded 56° North as a premium advisory firm offering companies high quality advice to manage their reputation, understand the world they operate in and shape the debates that matter to them.
Our founding partners have led corporate affairs at some of the UK’s biggest companies and worked alongside senior leaders at the highest level of business, government and media – we understand how to influence policy and shape political debates, build corporate reputations and manage challenging communications scenarios in the moments that matter most.
Most advisory firms are built by people who have always been on the outside – watching how organisations communicate, advising from a distance and building expertise through observation. We built 56° North differently.
Our senior team has spent decades inside some of the UK’s most complex and scrutinised organisations – running corporate affairs at major financial institutions, shaping policy inside government and operating at the top of the political and business media.
When a client calls us with a difficult situation, we’re not drawing on theory and case studies – we’re using our own direct experience to make sure clients have the very best advice they can.
That is the foundation of everything we do. It shapes the quality of our judgement, the directness of our advice and the confidence with which we give it. It is also why we stay independent – no holding company, no network conflicts, no competing priorities. We advise in our clients’ interest alone.
“The firms that give the best advice are the ones where the advisers have faced the same decisions as their clients. That was the idea behind 56° North – and it remains the standard we hold ourselves to today.”
John Penman & Anthony Thompson,
Founders and Managing Partners, 56° North
In numbers
3 practices
Corporate Affairs, Financial Services and Crisis & Change.
15 professionals
Based across the UK in Edinburgh, London and Newcastle.
6 years in business
Founded in 2020 and fully independent.
4 awards in our cabinet
Consultancy of the Year 2025.
Our experience
Corporate strategy & communications
Running communications and corporate affairs at the UK’s largest organisations. Our partners have led corporate affairs, communications, policy and regulatory strategy inside some of the UK’s biggest and most scrutinised companies – managing reputations, navigating regulatory pressure and advising boards at the highest level.
Policy & government
Our team has held senior policy roles at the top of government and leading business organisations – giving us a perspective on how regulatory and political decisions are actually made that external advisers rarely have access to. We have experience in both Holyrood and Westminster, which helps to build a fuller cross-border picture.
Crisis & issues management
When something goes wrong, the decisions made in the first hours define what happens next. Our team has managed crises, regulatory investigations and leadership transitions at some of the UK’s most scrutinised organisations. That experience is what our clients are buying when they come to us in a difficult moment.
Our team
Meet the team