James Lyons has joined Penta Group as senior partner in London, where he will lead work across public affairs, corporate reputation and special situations, the agency said. At Downing Street, Lyons shared the director of communications role with Steph Driver, with Lyons leading communications strategy and Driver overseeing delivery. Both departed last September as part of a communications reshuffle that saw Tim Allan, founder of Portland Communications, return to the top communications role at No. 10. Lyons said: “Governments move faster, regulators are more assertive, and the media landscape is more unpredictable than at any point in my career. What drew me to Penta is the ability to navigate those challenges for our clients, powered by an intelligence platform that can detect signals in real time.” Lyons began his career in journalism, serving as deputy political editor at both the Sunday Mirror and The Sunday Times. He moved into communications in 2017 as head of media and public affairs at NHS England, before being promoted to deputy director of communications two years later. In 2021, he became NHS England's director of communications, and in 2023 joined TikTok as head of policy communications for Europe. Penta, the US-based stakeholder management firm, said: “Lyons will bring his breadth of experience across the public, private and media sectors to bear on behalf of clients operating at the intersection of political, reputational and public-scrutiny risks”. Conall McDevitt, president of Penta Group, based in the firm’s London office, said: “James has had a seat at some of the most consequential tables in British public life, and his firsthand, cross-sector experience is rare in this industry. “He has run communications at the centre of government, steered a global technology company through some of the most contested regulatory terrain in Europe, and built his instincts as a national political journalist. We’re delighted for him to bring that experience to bear for our clients as they navigate an increasingly complex set of concerns in the public domain.” Last month, Penta named Alex Hogan as managing director, financial services, in its London operation. That followed news in May that Penta had hired Jim O’Leary, formerly of the Weber Shandwick Collective, as its chief executive. Penta is headquartered in Washington, DC, with offices in London, New York, Brussels, Dublin, Singapore, San Francisco and Hong Kong. It formed from the merger of Ballast Research, Hamilton Place Strategies, Flag Media Analytics, alva, Gotham Research Group and Decode_M in 2022. Penta later snapped up public affairs firm Hume Brophy and brand and strategic consulting company Copperfield Advisory. In August last year, the group sold to Shamrock Capital, the Los Angeles-based investment firm....