Toby Orr leaves Portland for DIT top comms role

Portland senior partner Toby Orr is leaving the consultancy for a government role as Department for International Trade (DIT) director of communications.

Orr said: “It is an honour to be joining the department at such an important time, working to devise and deliver an ambitious communications strategy to advance the UK’s trade agenda and promote Global Britain. I look forward to working closely with colleagues across the department and Whitehall on this exciting mandate.”

He will be the latest in a line of former Portland employees to secure roles in government. Those in Theresa May’s No 10 include Nick Hargrave, Tim Smith and Jessica Seldon. James Frayne was the last Portland employee to secure a government director of communications role when he joined the Department of Education in 2011.

Tim Allan added: “I will be sorry to see Toby go, but I am incredibly proud of his Portland career. He started as an account exec in a slightly mouldy and soon-to-be-bulldozed office with five staff and a handful of clients. He has helped build a business which now has over 200 staff on five continents. He leaves behind a great team, an awesome client list and a legacy of innovative and creative work. It’s a credit to him that he leaves Portland for such a critical role at the heart of government”.