Former regional political leader Toby Savage has joined Thirty4/7 Communications in his first new role since leaving frontline politics.
Toby announced he was standing down at the recent local elections in May after serving 5 years as Leader of South Gloucestershire Council following the birth of his second child – marking the end of a 15-year association with the council. During that time, he served in various other senior roles, including as an inaugural Vice Chair of the Western Gateway pan-regional partnership and a Vice Chair at the Local Government Association.
He also sat on the West of England Combined Authority, including a spell as Deputy Mayor, and has worked alongside Rt Hon Chris Skidmore MP, the author of the Independent Review into Net Zero.
Toby joins the T47 team as an Associate providing strategic advice and support to help clients engage and work with local communities to help unlock growth.
Thirty4/7 Communications was formed in 2018 by Will Morgan and since then has developed a reputation for delivering high value communications, public relations, public affairs and consultation services for clients across a range of sectors.
Toby said: “In every role I have ever done I have always believed in the importance of meaningful engagement and communication to help unlock the aspirations of communities and the public, voluntary and private sector organisations that operate within them. To be blunt, when consultation and engagement is seen to be a “tick box” exercise or a project cost to be minimised, this false economy approach causes headaches all round. Given these strongly held principles of mine, joining the T47 team seemed like an entirely natural fit.
“On a personal level, I am particularly delighted to be working with Will again. We worked together many years ago and I have observed from a distance Will grow the company from nothing and now working with an impressive range of clients, many of whom are at the forefront of delivering on Net Zero. I am excited to get started.”
Will Morgan, Managing Director of Thirty4/7, added: “Having Toby join the team is incredibly exciting and comes at a point of significant growth.
“During his time in frontline politics, Toby has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to delivering sustainable growth across the region, through his commitment to addressing the climate emergency, delivering much needed new housing, unlocking potential for new and innovative technologies such as green hydrogen, whilst ensuring that local voices are heard, throughout the process.
“Having his insight and strategic counsel as we strive to deliver the highest quality work for our clients is invaluable.”
“Thirty4/7 Communications is celebrating its fifth year in business this July and I can’t think of a better way than to celebrate this than to be working with Toby again and continuing to grow our wonderful team.”