Bernadette Ritchie

Management Sushi is an independent brand, marketing communications and business consultancy recently set up by long-time marketeer, brand expert and SME business strategist Bernie Ritchie. Management Sushi offers marketing communications, brand-building and business development advice to both entrepreneurial SMEs and larger business clients.

Bernie has an extensive and wide-ranging 20+ years’ professional marketing and communications background. Kicking off her communications career in a number of the international and boutique PR agencies, she then moved to in-house and mainstream marketing consultancy following a mid-career stint at Warwick Business School. She has also operated widely as an independent consultant. Bernie has extensive cross-sector experience and has worked in a number of international contexts as well as in SME businesses and entrepreneurial start-ups. She is accustomed to delivering strategic and tactical corporate communications and marketing remits across wide-ranging business sectors and providing communications counsel to corporate, consumer, entrepreneurial, charity and professional services businesses as well as individuals.

Brief Career History

Director of Management Sushi Ltd : 2009
Provision of independent Corporate Communications, Brand, Marketing and Business consultancy

Marketing Manager for Project People / Smartwork / MyAccount : 2007-2008
Marketing, corporate communications for international recruitment brand Project People and two start-up brands SmartWork [a payroll umbrella business] and MyAccountant [an online accountancy services company]

Independent Marketing Communications Consultancy : 2005-2006
Consultancy work included stakeholder communications brief for Lloyd’s of London and Cisco plus marketing communications briefs for SSP/Compass Group and Guy Carpenter.

Marketing & Communications Director, QBE Insurance Group: 2000-2004
Wide-ranging role covering marketing, brand-building, internal communications, issues & crisis communications, reputation management and intellectual capital development

Independent Marketing Communications Consultancy : 1998-2000
Provided marketing communications consultation to a wide number of agencies for a variety of corporate blue-chip and professional service clients across a number of communications remits during the specified period.

Warwick Business School [Full-time MBA] : 1997-1998

Countrywide Porter Novelli : 1995-1997
Senior Consultancy remits included working on pan-European lobbying brief for ECVM [European Council of Vinyl Manufacturers], Meat & Livestock Commission and various healthcare clients including Johnson & Johnson

Independent Communications & PR Consulting : 1993-1995
Consultancy work covered a variety of remits – from strategy planning, issues and crisis campaigns to new business and senior support - for clients ranging from professional services through to mainstream corporates, healthcare and IT

Further Public Relations Agency Roles
Agency roles at Burson-Marsteller, Ogilvy PR, QBO and The Rowland Company. Clients included Virgin Retail, Bulgari, Apple, Philips Electronics, Time Magazine, United Distillers, tourism for Puerto Rico/Massachusetts and Trivial Pursuit.