Bar Council appoints Toby Craig as its first Head of Communications

The move is part of an internal restructure which will bring the bulk of the Bar’s communications activities in-house.
Toby Craig reports to Director of Representation and Policy, Mark Hatcher, and works closely with the Chairman of the Bar, Nicholas
Green QC. He joins the Bar Council’s representative arm from the communications team at Linklaters, a leading international law firm.
Prior to that, Craig worked at Weber Shandwick where he worked with the Bar Council and on a number of accounts for law firms and
sets of chambers. Craig took up the role on 19 April 2010.

Commenting on the move, Toby Craig, a qualified (non-practising) barrister said:

‘I am absolutely delighted to have the opportunity to shape and drive the Bar Council’s communications activity at such a crucial time for the profession. The Bar faces a range of challenges, from the new regulatory environment it is operating within, to the severe pressure on the publicly funded Bar as legal aid budgets are being cut back.

I look forward to working with Mark to build our communications team and to continue the work he has been leading on modernisation,
promoting access to the Bar and developing an integrated, national communications strategy.’

Mark Hatcher, Director of Representation and Policy added: ‘We are very pleased that Toby has agreed to join us and head up our communications function. Toby brings with him a strong understanding of the Bar. He has worked with us before, during his time at Weber Shandwick, and he brings a wealth of experience dealing with the types of issues the Bar faces, both from his agency experience and from his time at Linklaters.

It is vital that the Bar has a strong, centralised communications activity, which is able both to talk to our wide range of external stakeholders, but also to communicate within the profession about the challenges and opportunities the profession faces.’

Toby Craig manages the Bar Council’s relationship with Weber Shandwick led by Jon McLeod, who will provide strategic communications advice. Toby Craig will also bring its press office in-house, as well as developing a framework for internal communications across the profession.