Student accommodation provider UPP brings in Katie Johnson as head of comms
UPP has brought in Johnson to strengthen its financial and corporate comms capability as the company grows and looks to further invest in the higher education sector, following the roll out of its £5bn bond programme in 2013.
She reports into Jon Wakeford, group director of strategy and corporate comms at UPP. Wakeford said: “”Katie brings with her a wealth of financial and corporate communications expertise and we’re pleased to welcome her to the team at such a vital time for our business. As numbers and applications rise, students’ expectations of the non-academic side of their university experience are higher than ever. There is a huge backlog in funding of the UK higher education estate and UPP is working hard to bring that investment into the sector. Katie will play a key role in communicating our message to both our sector and investment partners.
Johnson spent four years with Walgreens Boots Alliance, the holding company behind pharma retailer Boots, where she was most recently group senior PR manager. During her time there, she oversaw the group’s corporate and financial comms, including the merger between Alliance Boots and Walgreens.
Prior to that she spent seven years at comms agency Finsbury working with clients such as Royal Dutch Shell and energy services company Centrica.
She said: “”I am really excited to join UPP at such an interesting time for the higher education sector. I look forward to working with the teams to help further communicate UPP’s market leading position, as well as achieve its vision to deliver the very best student experiences, in partnership with great universities …