The vice-president of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, Jason MacKenzie, has been appointed managing director of Curzon PR, a specialist global strategy and communications consultancy.

MacKenzie was CIPR president in 2017, when the Institute’s turnover increased to £4.3 m, and its profitability, member recruitment and membership retention all grew. He has also held leadership roles with Bottle and Liquid, and is a visiting lecturer at Birmingham City University and guest lecturer at other business and media schools.

Curzon PR founder and CEO, Farzana Baduel said, “We’re excited to have recruited someone of Jason’s calibre, and confident that he will be instrumental in strengthening our position as a specialist strategic consultancy for governments, listed corporations and cultural institutions, from across the world.”

MacKenzie added, “Curzon’s proposition of ‘transcending borders through global insight’ strongly appeals to me, and it’s backed by an impressive record. I’m looking forward to honing our proposition, building the team, winning new business and working closely with our associate offices in the USA, India, Israel and Egypt. I got to know Farzana over the past few years through speaking alongside her at conferences in the UK and internationally. She’s an inspirational leader, and I’m energised by the prospect of working with her to take Curzon to the next level.”

MacKenzie was managing director of Liquid between 2011 and 2016 and was part of the senior management team of Bottle until earlier this month. He is a Chartered Marketer and Founding Chartered Public Relations Practitioner, as well as being a Fellow of both the Chartered Institute of Marketing and the Chartered Institute of Public Relations. He is also a fellow of the British-American Project, and an event and conference speaker for Specialist Speakers.