Bell Pottinger’s Middle East practice has hired experienced journalist and editor, Tim Falconer. Tim joins the international PR agency from the Wall Street Journal’s office in Dubai, where he was most recently serving as deputy bureau chief and managed a team of 12 reporters throughout the MENA region.

A global financial and commodities journalist with over 16 years’ experience, Tim previously managed the European Equity Markets team in London for Dow Jones Newswires. Before this, he ran the Energy Markets team for the Wall Street Journal, which included covering and attending OPEC meetings and writing on major oil firms like BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Total.
Tim will be based in Bell Pottinger’s office in Dubai Media City, but he will also support clients across the region, including those serviced by the agency’s offices in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain. Tim will be focused on helping to build Bell Pottinger’s financial communications offering across the region, which has been steadily growing over the last two years.   

Commenting, Sam Turvey, partner and general manager of Bell Pottinger Middle East, says, “We are delighted that Tim has joined our growing business in the Middle East. His time within the media has provided him with a deep understanding of capital markets, macroeconomics, the financial media, as well as the broader investment community. His experience will be particularly relevant to our clients and to our ongoing new business drive.

“In recent years, as regional capital markets have become more active, we are picking up increasing amounts of M&A, IPO, financial calendar and investor relations opportunities, and Tim’s awareness of how the international and regional financial media operate will be a huge asset to us.”

Tim Falconer adds, “Throughout my career as a journalist I always considered Bell Pottinger an industry heavyweight in the field of financial communications. I’m really excited to be joining the team at a time of rising capital market activity in the Middle East and look forward to using my experience in helping make Bell Pottinger’s communications offering in the region an even more compelling one.”