Lexington has appointed Dr Michelle Howard to support its clients in developing and strengthening relationships with the Ministry of Defence and across government on defence and resilience-related matters.

According to the agency, her appointment will strengthen its public affairs practice by offering strategic counsel and engagement advice within the UK’s defence sector.

Howard also brings specialist knowledge of space policy, an increasingly important area for innovation and investment.

With over 20 years of experience spanning government, industry and academia, Howard specialises in supporting strategic engagement campaigns and advising senior stakeholders to encourage investment and the adoption of new capabilities.

For the past decade, she has served as a defence and security policy adviser at Perigord Consultancy Limited, where she has provided strategic policy research and government engagement services across the defence, security and space sectors. Previously, she worked as a defence client director at IT services and consulting provider Serco.

Over the course of her career, Howard has worked with a variety of defence contractors and specialist companies. She leads The D Group’s cross-government space working group and previously served as a specialist adviser to the House of Lords Committee on UK Engagement with Space. She is also a research fellow at the University …