
Richard Hayhurst Joint Managing Director UK
Richard Hayhurst is co-founder, with his wife Amanda, of Hayhurst Media, which became a division of Schwartz Communications UK Ltd in August 2009. He brings a wealth of experience in life sciences and healthcare pr, although he started his career in general b2b communications in Scandinavia, working on Nokia when it was actually more famous for cables, paper and rubber boots than mobile phones. After a stint as Marketing Communications Manager for Labsystems which developed the first HIV diagnostics he decided to specialise in the life sciences and returned to the UK in 1989 to found HCC Ltd which later merged with another pioneering agency De Facto Communications. Over the next decade De Facto grew into one of Europe's leading agencies with an enviable client list including GSK, Genzyme, Nikon, Axis-Shield, VG, J&J, UCB, the Roslin Institute and Porton Down. This enabled De Facto to be involved in communicating many of the most high profile issues of the day including cloning, stemcell research, the Human Genome, genetic disorders, cervical screening, MRSA, TB, Malaria, allergies, Ebola and fertility. In 2004 Richard left De Facto to form Hayhurst Media with Amanda. Richard was also instrumental in founding the London Biotechnology Network and the associated Genesis Conference. In addition to commercial clients he has also worked on profiling several countries and regions as life science hubs, including Scotland, London, the South East of the UK and most recently Norway. He is also on the steering committee of several forward-scoping EU projects looking into nanotechnology. Richard graduated with an MA(Hons) in Modern History from the University of St Andrews.
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