In late January, the public affairs firm Hanbury Strategy announced that it would be opening new offices in both Washington DC. and Sydney. Hanbury already possessed a number of clients in the United States and Australia, and thus the move comes in an attempt to provide better on the ground support.

Laura Dooley is set to lead operations in the Washington office, possessing extensive experience in strongly regulated environments. Dooley has worked for a number of companies, with a focus on public affairs, including StudHub, the ALliance of Automobile Manufacturers and eBay.

With respect to Australia, Hanbury have selected Owen Torpy to lead efforts in the southern region, having worked as a chief of staff to an Australian member of parliament recently.

It is unclear how fast the offices will grow, however Hanbury has said that from February, each office will hire, at a minimum, four members of staff, and will continue to grow over the next few years.

The shift away from Europe is to be expected, with the firm having much of its workforce concentrated in London and Brussels. Through expanding into America and Australia, Hanbury may hope to better inform the decision-making capabilities of their Europe-based teams, offering advice and insights from around the world. Many of the issues that are affecting clients in both America and Australia also affect clients in Europe, albeit …