Simon Larkin
Director & Co-Founder
Simon is a Chartered Marketer and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, with over 20 years of senior leadership experience across brand, digital, and stakeholder strategy. As a Director and Co-Founder of Arx Nova, he leads on crisis communications, reputational recovery, and executive messaging for organisations navigating complex and high-risk situations.
Simon has advised boards through critical events including regulatory investigations, leadership failures, financial distress, and public scrutiny. His calm, commercial approach helps organisations stabilise quickly and take control of the narrative under pressure. Whether managing media escalation, preparing public statements, or guiding regulatory disclosures, he ensures every communication serves both strategic intent and legal position.
He has operated at board level across the financial, real estate, and technology sectors and brings a strong understanding of regulated environments. His work bridges strategic messaging and digital infrastructure, ensuring integrated response across legal, operational, and reputational functions.
Simon also works proactively with leadership teams on crisis readiness, building message playbooks, stakeholder maps, and scenario planning tools to improve board preparedness and reduce response times when crises emerge.
His international experience spans the UK, US, Middle East, Asia, and Africa, equipping him to manage culturally sensitive issues and multi-jurisdictional risk with clarity and precision.
Past experience
- Led crisis communications during a serious breach of equality law, following the exposure of long-term discriminatory practices against a minority ethnic group. Managed media fallout, coordinated with legal and regulatory teams, and advised leadership under sustained public and political scrutiny. Delivered a controlled, values-led response to protect brand integrity and support organisational change.
- Directed full communications response during financial distress and FCA/FOS scrutiny, protecting stakeholder confidence and stabilising public perception for a high-exposure insurance brand operating in UK and international markets.
- Led reputational risk management for one of the UK’s most prominent legacy hotel brands, creating real-time triage workflows and escalation protocols. Maintained stakeholder trust across social, press and consumer channels during multiple high-profile incidents.
- Advised the global finance arm of a major automotive group during a high-risk growth phase, shaping a communications strategy to navigate brand complexity and reputational risk across international markets. Supported four leading car marques as they expanded into new regions, balancing commercial ambition with regulatory scrutiny.
- Partnered with a leading global financial institution to navigate complex regulatory dynamics during the launch of a UK-origin insurance product into the US market. Delivered communications guidance to ensure consistent, compliant messaging across multiple states, mitigating legal and reputational risk.
- Advised a leading UK M&A broker on risk-aware communications, streamlining messaging across leadership and investor groups to manage sensitivity around deal flow, client confidentiality and market perception.
- Repositioned a high-profile real estate investment firm under sustained media pressure, crafting a refreshed narrative and stakeholder communication plan to manage uncertainty and protect investor relations during operational instability.
- Led internal and external comms through restructuring and redundancies, developing clear and empathetic messaging to support leadership, reduce anxiety, and minimise reputational fallout during a highly sensitive business transition.