University appoints new Director of Corporate Affairs

The University of Sheffield is delighted to announce the appointment of Nick Agarwal to the post of Director of Corporate Affairs.

Nick has a background in both commercial marketing communications and broadcast journalism. For the past three years he has been Strategic Communications Director for Asda, and prior to this spent three years in the United States as Vice President in marketing and corporate affairs for global retailer Walmart.

During a 15 year career in retail, he has led high profile domestic and international brand reputation programmes. Most recently, Nick has been responsible for the integration of digital and social media into marketing communications, with a particular focus on trust, transparency and the engagement of customers and stakeholders. He also served on Asda’s technical policy board, ethics committee and diversity group.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Keith Burnett said: “I am delighted that Nick Agarwal is joining us in Sheffield. As a University we are committed to developing our strengths as a world-class academic institution which effectively communicates the value and potential of our work to all our partners, both here in the UK and overseas. Nick joins a team of professional staff committed to this vision, and his outstanding track record in communications in the UK and internationally, as well as his insights into the potential of digital media, will be vitally important to our work over the coming years.”

Commenting on his new role, Nick Agarwal said: “I’m thrilled to be joining the team at The University of Sheffield. It has a global reputation for outstanding research and teaching and is committed to communicating the positive impact of its work on the lives of its students, graduates and those who benefit from its world-class research. I’m looking forward to helping the University achieve its ambitious goals, continuing to build its reputation and working in partnership with business, industry and government.”

Nick Agarwal has also held communications roles at British Aerospace, BT, in the building society sector and, prior to this, worked in radio journalism for the BBC. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and acted as Chairman of the Advisory Council for BBC Radio in Leeds.

Nick will begin his work at The University of Sheffield in October 2012.