James leads Forefront’s work on political and policy insight, advising businesses across a range of industries. James previously worked in the Labour Party’s Policy Unit, where he led on economy and business policy. James worked on the ‘Labour In’ 2016 EU Referendum and 2017 General Election campaigns, as well as the party’s response to Budgets and other fiscal events. Prior to this, James worked in five government departments across Whitehall.

Gergely heads Forefront Advisers’ EU team. He was previously Head of EU Affairs at Standard Chartered Bank and at the British Bankers Association. Before his City career, he spent eight years at the EU institutions, including as a spokesperson for the EU Council Presidency and Head of UK Public Affairs for the European Parliament. While at the EU Institutions, Gergely worked on the EU’s sanctions regime and the regulatory reform in financial services. He started his career as a lawyer and built a successful legal translation business.

Dea leads Forefront Advisers’ crypto political and regulatory analysis team. She joined Forefront having grown and led the crypto client portfolio for FTI Consulting Brussels. Dea relocated back to Europe after her post in the Monetary Authority of Singapore, where she developed innovation programmes and infrastructure in the MAS Financial Technology and Innovation Group. She was also Head of Programmes for Innovate Finance, the UK FinTech trade association. Dea holds MSc Financial Regulation from the London School of Economics.

Chris leads Forefront Advisers’ EU political analysis and insights team. He previously led Hanbury’s EU Public Affairs work. Previously, Chris worked on EU financial services policy in HM Treasury and as policy advisor for Jakob von Weizsäcker in the European Parliament. Chris holds a master’s degree from the College of Europe and read history at the University of Munich. 

Charles works on political and policy insight advising businesses across different industries. He previously worked in investment banking at Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank, as an official at HM Treasury, as a political adviser to George Osborne, and in real estate. He holds a master’s degree in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and is a Trustee of the Epping Forest Schools Partnership Trust. 

Pascale leads on Forefront’s Energy & Net Zero and Sustainability insights. Pascal previously worked in the Paris-based pro-European think tank, EuropaNova. He is leading sustainability policy coverage and following political developments in France and Spain. He graduated from UCL with a First Class Honours degree in European Social and Political Studies, specialising in international relations and French, which included a year at Sciences Po Paris. 

Conor works across Forefront’s digital assets, emerging technology and UK political teams. He joined Forefront Advisers from Flint Global, where he worked on financial services and digital assets across the UK, EU and Asia-Pacific. He previously worked at HM Treasury on the UK’s future relationship with the EU and within the Bank of England’s Capital Markets Division. He holds a master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Oxford.

Ramona is an Associate Director focusing on sustainable finance and circular economy. Ramona previously worked in Brussels at Teneo, where she also covered ESG legislative priorities and interned at the European Commission in DG Economy and Finance. She earned her Bachelor degree in International Relations and European Studies from the University of Bucharest and completed an Advanced Master in Financial Markets at the Solvay Brussels School of Economics & Management.

Imogen works across UK Politics. She has previously worked for two Civil Service departments covering policy and stakeholder engagement, and has experience in Marketing & External Affairs from her time at Oxford University Press and a members’ club in Brussels. She holds a first class BA and an MPhil in Classics from the University of Oxford, and is in the process of obtaining a DPhil in the subject. 

Pietro works across EU Politics and is based in London. Before joining Forefront, he interned in other political risk advisory firms and worked in the government relations division of a major oil corporation. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Politics from Georgetown University and a Master’s degree in European and International Public Policy from LSE.

Michele works on EU digital assets policy and Italian politics. He previously interned as MEP assistant at the European Parliament and as a Policy analyst at the Lombardy Regional Council. Michele holds a double degree MSc in European Public Policy from LSE and Bocconi University.