Church of England announces new senior appointments to communications team

Adrian Harris has been appointed as the first Deputy Director of Communications (Digital) and Mark Arena has been appointed Head of Financial Communications. Both bring substantial senior level experience to the team. The appointments reflect an increased investment in communications by the Church both in content and channel development.

Adrian Harris joins the team from his current role as Head of Digital Communications for Bupa, based at their global head office and working closely with their health and care businesses in Australia, Hong Kong, Spain, New Zealand and the UK. He was previously Group Head of Digital Communications for Tesco PLC, leading a team developing digital and social media communications across the company's UK and international markets. Prior to Tesco, Adrian worked as Head of Digital and Web Editor for the Conservative party.

Mark Arena joins following a twenty year career in investment banking and financial communications. In his most recent role he was Global Head of Communications and Marketing for the investment banking arm of Deutsche Bank AG. Based in London, he had responsibility across the full communications and marketing spectrum for the division.  Prior to his most recent three year tenure at Deutsche Bank, he was Head of Communications for UBS AG  in the Americas, based in New York for over 7 years, responsible for the firm's communications and marketing strategy in the Americas.

The Rev. Arun Arora, Director of Communications for the Church of England, said: "These appointments underline the growing confidence, capability and capacity of the Communications team. Both Adrian and Mark bring a wealth of substantial experience to the comms team at Church house Westminster. Both bring impressive track records of comms delivery at the highest levels and I am delighted that they have chosen to join us as we seek to make a step change in our digital development and in communicating the work of the Commissioners and Pensions Board."

Mark Arena said: "I am joining the Church of England at the right time. It is a forward-looking organisation seeking to lead the way in ethical investing. At the forefront of responsible investment practice it has been well recognised industry-wide for working to embed responsible investment in its investment decisions, while continuing to shape the broader public debate on responsible investing. I look forward to furthering its reputation as a leader in promoting good governance and ethical investment across all asset classes."

Adrian Harris said: "I'm delighted to be joining the Church of England in this new role, which brings together my Christian faith and professional experience from Bupa, Tesco and the Conservatives. The significant resources that are being released to transform the church's digital and social media estate present a fantastic opportunity to grow the organisation, both spiritually and numerically. As Churchwarden of St Martin-in-the-Fields I can see how vital this programme will be for parishes on the frontline across the country."