LONDON—Direct Impact, the grassroots, public affairs, public relations and corporate reputation unit of Burson-Marsteller, has appointed Andrew Cumpsty as managing director of its newly opened London office. The London office will work with a network of field teams in cities across the United Kingdom to provide clients with public relations and advocacy campaigns tailored to local communities.

Cumpsty will report jointly to Burson-Marsteller UK CEO Matt Carter and Direct Impact president Nicole Cornish.

Cumpsty brings more than 18 years of experience and has led corporate and public affairs for global brands including McDonald’s, mobile network Hutchison 3G, Ericsson and global human resources consulting group Penna.

“Andrew will bring Direct Impact’s proven model for delivering key messages in a localized way to the UK marketplace,” said Burson-Marsteller worldwide CEO Mark Penn. “His distinguished track record demonstrates that he understands how to communicate with varied, and sometimes conflicting, stakeholders at a local level to build and enhance reputation.”

He is a former leader of Reading Council, and a founder and chairman of the Enterprise Forum and he has served as head of public and external affairs at Penna, and as a senior policy advisor at Fleishman-Hillard, where he advised clients on all aspects of policy, media, politics, international affairs, media and public relations.