Breakthrough Media Network
London communications contractor used by the Home Office unit RICU, later renamed Zinc Network
| Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | |
|---|---|
| Trade name | |
| Logo | |
| Type | Private limited company |
| Founded | Template:Start date (as Camden Creative Ltd) |
| Founder(s) | Robert Stephen Elliott |
| Defunct | |
| Headquarters | London |
| Industry | Communications and video production |
| Services | |
| Parent | |
| Subsidiaries | |
| Revenue | |
| Number of employees | |
| Homepage | |
This article is part of the Counter-Terrorism Portal project of Spinwatch. |
Breakthrough Media Network Ltd was a London communications company used by the Home Office unit Research, Information and Communications Unit to produce campaign material hosted by civil society groups.[1] The company (number 06651251) was incorporated on 21 July 2008 as Camden Creative Ltd, renamed Breakthrough Media Network Ltd on 27 November 2012, and renamed Zinc Network Limited on 2 March 2020.[2] This page covers the Breakthrough period. The later trading name is treated separately.
The name is close to, and not the same as, Breakthrough Communications Ltd, the 2012 incorporation name of Valent Projects Ltd (company 08119752), renamed in April 2017.[3] No filing links the two companies.
Company
The surviving company is active, registered at 3 Orchard Place, London SW1H 0BF, with natures of business 59112 (video production) and 59113 (television programme production).[2] Directors still on the filing include Robert Stephen Elliott, appointed 21 July 2008, and Scott Wayne Brown, appointed 17 August 2012.[4] Louis Alfred Brooke was appointed director on 7 February 2020, days before the rename.[4]
The Guardian described the firm in 2016 as operating from an office block near Waterloo, with locked doors and CCTV, and named Scott Brown and Robert Elliott as directors in their thirties who had attended the same school in Essex.[1] Brown had worked for the Conservative Party and then for Bell Pottinger’s information-operations team in Baghdad.[1] Elliott was a former reality-television producer.[1] A later account of Brown’s CV records classified work for Bell Pottinger in Mogadishu, Nairobi and Baghdad between June 2005 and July 2007.[5]
On 16 March 2018 the two directors formed a separate Zinc Network Limited (company 11259840). That company was dissolved on 28 January 2020 without filing accounts. On 2 March 2020 Breakthrough Media Network Ltd itself took the Zinc name.[5][2] A government supplier listing had already described Breakthrough as “trading as” Zinc.[5]
RICU
Research, Information and Communications Unit was created in 2007 inside the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism.[6] David Miller and Rizwaan Sabir wrote that it was funded and influenced by the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and later the Ministry of Defence, and that an MoD note credited Jamie Macintosh with a role in creating both the OSCT and RICU.[6] A 2010 RICU key-message card, reproduced in that chapter, set the line as: “Terrorism is a real and serious threat to us all”, against the negative “The terrorist threat is exaggerated by the UK government”.[6]
The Guardian reported that Charles Farr, a former MI6 officer then heading the OSCT, set the unit up, and that by 2016 it preferred the term “strategic communications” to propaganda.[1] A unit document said: “Strategic communications aims to effect behavioural and attitudinal change.”[1] The same article said the unit’s budget for 2015–16 was £17 million, more than five times the figure of three years earlier, and that as of February 2015 it had run 13 national campaigns, producing 950 products accessed more than a million times.[1]
RICU’s favoured contractor was Breakthrough Media Network Ltd.[1] A Breakthrough document seen by the paper said the objective was to “influence online conversations by being embedded within target communities via a network of moderate organisations that are supportive of it’s [sic] goals”.[1] Briefing notes said that, “whilst retaining editorial control over all Ricu-produced material”, the unit helped civil society organisations shape campaigns.[1] Privately, the contractor described the work as giving RICU “effective ways of communicating its own messages through credible civil society organisations”.[1] The purpose, as reported, was to “promote a reconciled British Muslim identity” while keeping the state’s hand hidden, because “any content or messaging attributed to the state are highly unlikely to have any credibility among these audiences”.[1]
Richard Chalk, then head of RICU and a former Bell Pottinger information-operations contractor in Baghdad, was described as an occasional visitor to Breakthrough’s edit suites.[1] The firm told the paper it was “enormously proud” to help community groups “confront extremism”. It treated its answers as confidential.[1]
CAGE, in a May 2016 report, alleged that staff were required to sign the Official Secrets Act.[7]
In written evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee, David Miller and Narzanin Massoumi said RICU did not fund groups such as Inspire and Families Against Stress and Trauma directly, but funded Breakthrough to produce their communications.[8] An internal OSCT document cited there marked the FAST “Families Matter” campaign as a “RICU product”, led by FAST and “supported by… PR and online activity”.[8]
A 2015 proposal quoted by UK Column offered RICU six services: creative concepts, including framing responses to events; liaison with civil society through a “Hub”; production of film, banners, web pages and animation; distribution; “diversionary and optimization methods”; and evaluation.[5] The same proposal said the Hub would be “embedded within target communities via a network of moderate organisations that are supportive of RICU’s goals”, and that products were “never directly attributed to RICU”.[5] The target was described as “primarily Muslim males aged 15-39”.[5]
Payments
The Guardian reported figures taken from contract records: £448,286 from OSCT contracts in 2012–13, £5,911,719 in 2013–14, and £11.8 million from the OSCT since 2012.[1]
| Year | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2012–13 | £448,286 | The Guardian, citing contract records[1] |
| 2013–14 | £5,911,719 | The Guardian, citing contract records[1] |
| Since 2012, cumulative | £11.8 million | The Guardian, citing contract records[1] |
On 30 June 2026 Lord Hanson of Flint, answering a question on how much RICU had paid Breakthrough Media in each year since 2016, said the Home Office “no longer holds a contract with Breakthrough Media” and “do not provide a consolidated, unit-level breakdown of payments to individual suppliers”.Lord Hanson of Flint, Answer to HL1011 UK Parliament, 30 June 2026. He pointed to departmental transparency releases and Contracts Finder. David Miller’s 2022 report on the Radicalisation Awareness Network states that Breakthrough lost the Home Office contract in April 2019.[9]
Programme-spend lines
Lines below are those naming Breakthrough Media Network Ltd, Zinc Network or Zinc Network Limited on the published programme-spend compilations. The FCO 2018 and 2019 compilations repeat the same 2019 lines, so each line is entered once.[10][11] Account on every programme line: Programme Spend (Oracle Projects Control Account).
| Date | Transaction | Amount (£) | Supplier | Compilation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14/01/2014 | 4561834 | 57,833.33 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2014[12] |
| 12/02/2014 | 4593459 | 57,833.34 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2014[12] |
| 11/03/2014 | 4624602 | 57,833.34 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2014[12] |
| 11/05/2016 | 6608691 | 275,438.00 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2016[13] |
| 26/05/2016 | 6748474 | 330,875.00 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2016[13] |
| 25/11/2016 | 8496704 | 142,834.60 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2016[13] |
| 01/03/2019 | 10056778 | 664,673.80 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2019[11] |
| 01/03/2019 | 10056774 | 222,767.39 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2019[11] |
| 01/03/2019 | 10056772 | 28,164.00 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2019[11] |
| 15/04/2019 | 10152990 | 917,728.15 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2019[11] |
| 30/05/2019 | 10214785 | 191,985.51 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2019[11] |
| 30/05/2019 | 10214788 | 160,242.00 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2019[11] |
| 01/07/2019 | 10263382 | 64,500.00 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2019[11] |
| 01/07/2019 | 10263406 | 60,100.00 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2019[11] |
| 04/07/2019 | 10269369 | 83,037.00 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2019[11] |
| 04/07/2019 | 10269368 | 29,612.24 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2019[11] |
| 13/08/2019 | 10334639 | 187,187.71 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2019[11] |
| 13/08/2019 | 10334700 | 122,088.00 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2019[11] |
| 02/09/2019 | 10360138 | 63,408.45 | Zinc Network | FCO 2019[11] |
| 02/09/2019 | 10360136 | 36,166.60 | Zinc Network | FCO 2019[11] |
| 02/09/2019 | 10360134 | 32,592.60 | Zinc Network | FCO 2019[11] |
| 12/09/2019 | 10379422 | 182,250.00 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2019[11] |
| 12/09/2019 | 10379404 | 76,259.45 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2019[11] |
| 14/10/2019 | 10435078 | 156,184.19 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2019[11] |
| 14/10/2019 | 10435081 | 104,123.00 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2019[11] |
| 30/10/2019 | 10462428 | 40,792.20 | Zinc Network | FCO 2019[11] |
| 30/10/2019 | 10462426 | 36,528.03 | Zinc Network | FCO 2019[11] |
| 15/11/2019 | 10493208 | 177,622.48 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2019[11] |
| 15/11/2019 | 10493204 | 86,385.00 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2019[11] |
| 05/12/2019 | 10526872 | 95,692.30 | Zinc Network | FCO 2019[11] |
| 16/12/2019 | 10548929 | 303,820.00 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2019[11] |
| 16/12/2019 | 10548925 | 155,680.02 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2019[11] |
| 23/12/2019 | 10562906 | 57,204.49 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2019[11] |
| 15/01/2020 | 10591937 | 126,817.64 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2020[14] |
| 15/01/2020 | 10591939 | 93,734.78 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2020[14] |
| 15/01/2020 | 10591945 | 84,010.72 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2020[14] |
| 13/02/2020 | 10643972 | 163,282.00 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2020[14] |
| 19/02/2020 | 10653142 | 380,909.75 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2020[14] |
| 21/02/2020 | 10657299 | 80,310.19 | Zinc Network | FCO 2020[14] |
| 21/02/2020 | 10657304 | 72,273.31 | Zinc Network | FCO 2020[14] |
| 21/02/2020 | 10657301 | 61,617.39 | Zinc Network | FCO 2020[14] |
| 16/03/2020 | 10702584 | 153,773.04 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2020[14] |
| 19/03/2020 | 10709726 | 226,689.45 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2020[14] |
| 30/04/2020 | 10760364 | 280,770.46 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2020[14] |
| 30/04/2020 | 10760372 | 108,000.00 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | FCO 2020[14] |
| 07/05/2020 | 10765825 | 521,729.75 | Zinc Network Limited | FCO 2020[14] |
| 11/05/2020 | 10768547 | 128,148.74 | Zinc Network | FCO 2020[14] |
| 11/05/2020 | 10768545 | 114,583.43 | Zinc Network | FCO 2020[14] |
| 20/05/2020 | 10777789 | 150,117.69 | Zinc Network Limited | FCO 2020[14] |
| 19/06/2020 | 10805329 | 191,032.10 | Zinc Network Limited | FCO 2020[14] |
| 19/06/2020 | 10805331 | 182,564.82 | Zinc Network Limited | FCO 2020[14] |
| 24/06/2020 | 10809524 | 390,290.46 | Zinc Network Limited | FCO 2020[14] |
| 24/06/2020 | 10809535 | 250,952.20 | Zinc Network Limited | FCO 2020[14] |
| 24/06/2020 | 10809537 | 178,718.60 | Zinc Network Limited | FCO 2020[14] |
| 24/06/2020 | 10809532 | 121,587.88 | Zinc Network Limited | FCO 2020[14] |
| 24/06/2020 | 10809528 | 71,280.53 | Zinc Network Limited | FCO 2020[14] |
| 24/06/2020 | 10809547 | 49,519.53 | Zinc Network | FCO 2020[14] |
| 01/07/2020 | 10809528 | −71,280.53 | Zinc Network Limited | FCO 2020[14] |
| 07/07/2020 | 10822117 | 71,280.53 | Zinc Network | FCO 2020[14] |
| 15/07/2020 | 10830849 | 107,350.45 | Zinc Network Limited | FCO 2020[14] |
| 16/07/2020 | 10832177 | 184,096.33 | Zinc Network Limited | FCO 2020[14] |
| 16/07/2020 | 10832178 | 115,629.75 | Zinc Network Limited | FCO 2020[14] |
| 14/08/2020 | 10861796 | 116,096.25 | Zinc Network Limited | FCO 2020[14] |
| 17/08/2020 | 10865091 | 422,613.60 | Zinc Network Limited | FCO 2020[14] |
| 17/08/2020 | 10865092 | 174,594.39 | Zinc Network Limited | FCO 2020[14] |
| 15/09/2020 | 10894602 | 126,082.71 | Zinc Network Limited | FCO 2020[14] |
| 22/09/2020 | 10901895 | 202,459.07 | Zinc Network Limited | FCO 2020[14] |
| 22/09/2020 | 10901897 | 45,013.12 | Zinc Network Limited | FCO 2020[14] |
| 20/10/2020 | 10935316 | 130,704.38 | Zinc Network Limited | FCO 2020[14] |
| 28/10/2020 | 10945120 | 207,836.33 | Zinc Network Limited | FCO 2020[14] |
| 28/10/2020 | 10945121 | 39,871.67 | Zinc Network Limited | FCO 2020[14] |
| 12/11/2020 | 10963609 | 123,429.50 | Zinc Network Limited | FCO 2020[14] |
| 25/11/2020 | 10979302 | 305,393.30 | Zinc Network Limited | FCO 2020[14] |
| 25/11/2020 | 10979305 | 36,865.74 | Zinc Network Limited | FCO 2020[14] |
| 14/12/2020 | 11003683 | 147,154.06 | Zinc Network Limited | FCO 2020[14] |
| 23/12/2020 | 11016513 | 356,202.58 | Zinc Network Limited | FCO 2020[14] |
| 23/12/2020 | 11016510 | 110,687.95 | Zinc Network Limited | FCO 2020[14] |
| 19/01/2021 | 11041733 | 128,582.49 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 25/01/2021 | 11048149 | 273,194.22 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 25/01/2021 | 11048156 | 51,308.93 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 08/02/2021 | 11063468 | 37,809.43 | Zinc Network | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 08/02/2021 | 11063476 | 34,085.91 | Zinc Network | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 10/02/2021 | 11067382 | −390,290.46 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 22/02/2021 | 11082827 | 224,379.19 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 22/02/2021 | 11082677 | 31,146.95 | Zinc Network | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 05/03/2021 | 11097800 | 332,791.45 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 05/03/2021 | 11097802 | 187,996.83 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 12/03/2021 | 11110718 | 297,326.88 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 19/03/2021 | 11122678 | 253,947.44 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 19/03/2021 | 11122682 | 149,143.74 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 13/04/2021 | 11155686 | 481,227.41 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 26/04/2021 | 11168455 | 283,090.43 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 26/04/2021 | 11168457 | 167,048.16 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 10/06/2021 | 11220791 | 235,776.86 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 17/06/2021 | 11229316 | 382,561.92 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 28/06/2021 | 11241030 | 125,870.60 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 28/06/2021 | 11241013 | 110,080.80 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 28/06/2021 | 11241037 | 44,459.40 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 28/06/2021 | 11241020 | 25,741.21 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 15/07/2021 | 11266778 | 164,661.86 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 26/07/2021 | 11278376 | 127,666.75 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 26/07/2021 | 11278374 | 50,302.50 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 11/08/2021 | 11300680 | 46,497.29 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 11/08/2021 | 11300677 | 45,064.89 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 13/08/2021 | 11303882 | 161,262.63 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 07/09/2021 | 11329980 | 28,440.10 | Zinc Network | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 10/09/2021 | 11336802 | 143,495.35 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 10/09/2021 | 11336799 | 55,636.57 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 17/09/2021 | 11345932 | 203,699.24 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 28/09/2021 | 11357728 | 121,259.33 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 28/09/2021 | 11357725 | 47,590.20 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 07/10/2021 | 11370984 | 43,824.30 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 07/10/2021 | 11370976 | 37,886.59 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 18/10/2021 | 11386492 | 145,110.11 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 21/10/2021 | 11391431 | 151,054.96 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 21/10/2021 | 11391427 | 76,071.76 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 10/11/2021 | 11418017 | 88,885.13 | Zinc Network | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 18/11/2021 | 11431486 | 171,472.82 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 29/11/2021 | 11445574 | 182,953.57 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 29/11/2021 | 11445575 | 102,915.46 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 06/12/2021 | 11455694 | 55,672.22 | Zinc Network | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 14/12/2021 | 11470258 | 133,730.96 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 16/12/2021 | 11475495 | 133,445.23 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 16/12/2021 | 11475492 | 70,394.38 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 16/12/2021 | 11475456 | 43,412.07 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2021[15] |
| 24/01/2022 | 11522318 | 207,348.70 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2022[16] |
| 24/01/2022 | 11522328 | 97,937.36 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2022[16] |
| 03/02/2022 | 11535904 | 39,651.16 | Zinc Network | FCDO 2022[16] |
| 21/02/2022 | 11560413 | 121,700.89 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2022[16] |
| 22/02/2022 | 11563018 | 187,185.97 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2022[16] |
| 22/02/2022 | 11563021 | 65,354.20 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2022[16] |
| 25/02/2022 | 11569178 | 134,962.27 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2022[16] |
| 17/03/2022 | 11601893 | 164,530.91 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2022[16] |
| 22/03/2022 | 11611047 | 161,763.08 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2022[16] |
| 22/03/2022 | 11611043 | 104,878.88 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2022[16] |
| 28/04/2022 | 11670451 | 209,844.22 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2022[16] |
| 28/04/2022 | 11670452 | 91,548.04 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2022[16] |
| 11/05/2022 | 11686538 | 234,803.88 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2022[16] |
| 24/05/2022 | 11702417 | 149,794.17 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2022[16] |
| 31/05/2022 | 11710297 | 101,354.87 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2022[16] |
| 31/05/2022 | 11710302 | 25,580.07 | Zinc Network Limited | FCDO 2022[16] |
| Date | Amount (£) | Supplier | Expense area |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18/06/2018 | 118,895.00 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | OSCT[17] |
| 25/06/2018 | 24,993.39 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | OSCT[17] |
| 25/06/2018 | 61,143.94 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | OSCT[17] |
| 25/06/2018 | 64,312.35 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | OSCT[17] |
| 25/06/2018 | 101,193.14 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | OSCT[17] |
| 25/06/2018 | 157,853.18 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | OSCT[17] |
| 25/06/2018 | 219,820.00 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | OSCT[17] |
| 20/08/2018 | 98,398.87 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | Publishing and media design services[17] |
| 20/08/2018 | 52,619.32 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | Publishing and media design services[17] |
| 21/08/2018 | 325,742.53 | Breakthrough Media Network Ltd | Publishing and media design services[17] |
Campaigns
Named products and hosts include Help for Syria, Educate Against Hate, Families Matter and Fightback Starts Here. Help for Syria was described as designed for a counter-radicalisation message and disseminated through Breakthrough. Families Matter was marked in an OSCT document as a RICU product hosted by FAST. The leaked relationship chart above names Active Change Foundation, Anti-Tribalism Movement, FAST, FIDA Management, FMO, Imams Online, Inspire, JAN Trust, JIMAS, New Horizons, Plain Islam, Tiger Legends, the Tim Parry Jonathan Ball Foundation for Peace and Upstanding Neighbourhoods as groups in the Breakthrough–RICU circuit. Breakthrough set up Horizon PR as a joint venture with M&C Saatchi to place stories for community groups. Journalists were not told of RICU involvement. The firm said it had no obligation to disclose the government’s hand. A second UK Column article by Miller describes the same circuit as a production line in which civil society groups were turned into carriers of RICU products.David Miller, How Muslim civil society groups are astroturfed into products by British intelligence UK Column, accessed 5 October 2026.
European work
A report for the European Parliament, quoted by Miller, said “RICU and the European Commission both work with public relations company Breakthrough Media to design campaigns that ‘tackle some of the world’s toughest social issues’”. Staff moved between the firm and the European Strategic Communications Network, the successor to the Syria Strategic Communication Advisory Team. Tony McMahon worked at Breakthrough from July 2013 to April 2019. Simon Theis Jensen was head of art at Breakthrough from October 2014 to December 2015, then joined the ESCN. Louis Brooke was head of East Africa at Breakthrough for 15 months, then worked at SSCAT, then became managing director at Zinc Network.
People
- Robert Stephen Elliott, founder and joint chief executive, director from 21 July 2008.
- Scott Brown, joint chief executive, director from 17 August 2012. Former Bell Pottinger and Conservative Party staff.
- Louis Brooke, head of East Africa, later managing director, international; director of the renamed company from 7 February 2020.
- Helen Davies, managing director, UK.
- Ellie Davis, director of operations and production.
- Margherita Watt, executive creative director.
- Andrew Sharples, director of research and strategy.
A March 2015 team page, archived on 10 March 2015, also listed Alex Blance, Joseph Sayegh, Isobel Ricketts, Hiran Balasuriya, Will West, Srdjan Spremo, Lucy Skelley, Sean Glynn, Paul Krajewski, Mary Olivia Hickey, Marwah Shire, Martin Lye, Anil Douglas, Lea von Maritus, Martin Harris, Karim Mijal, Ho Ting Chung, Gulsum Acar, Claire Bamford, Catherine Stringer, Ben Taylor, Adam Mazrani, Alexa Anderson, Harriet Osborne Crowley, Simon Theis Jensen, Luke Gawin, Elizabeth C Jones, Karla Zambrano, Chloe Quinlan and Matt Potter.Breakthrough Media, Team Internet Archive, capture of 10 March 2015.
Clients named by the firm
Department for Education, Department of Health, Home Office, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, African Union, United Nations. Joint venture: Horizon PR, with M&C Saatchi (earlier listings said Saatchi & Saatchi).
Contact, as published circa 2017
Elizabeth House, 39 York Road, London SE1 7NQ. +44 (0)20 7401 2555. info@breakthroughmedia.org. Nairobi and Sydney offices were also listed. Site: breakthroughmedia.org.
See also
Research, Information and Communications Unit Zinc Network Horizon PR European Strategic Communications Network Syria Strategic Communications Advisory Team Valent Projects
External links
Company 06651251 at Companies House Inside Ricu, The Guardian, 2 May 2016 Answer to HL1011, 30 June 2026 Miller and Massoumi written evidence
Notes
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 Ian Cobain, Alice Ross, Rob Evans and Mona Mahmood, Inside Ricu, the shadowy propaganda unit inspired by the cold war The Guardian, 2 May 2016.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Companies House, ZINC NETWORK LIMITED overview Companies House, accessed 5 October 2026.
- ↑ Companies House, VALENT PROJECTS LTD overview Companies House, accessed 5 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Companies in the UK, ZINC NETWORK LIMITED Companies in the UK, accessed 5 October 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 David Miller, How the British Intelligence Network of Astroturfed Muslim Civil Society Groups Is Kept Secret and Deniable UK Column, accessed 5 October 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 David Miller and Rizwaan Sabir, ‘Propaganda and Terrorism’, in Des Freedman and Daya Kishan Thussu (eds), Media and Terrorism: Global Perspectives (London: Sage, 2012), pp. 77–94; chapter PDF circulated as Freedman and Thussu, ch. 5.
- ↑ Ben Hayes and Asim Qureshi, We are completely independent CAGE, May 2016.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 David Miller and Narzanin Massoumi, Written evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee countering-extremism inquiry UK Parliament, written evidence 68435.
- ↑ David Miller, The Radicalisation Awareness Network: Policy network in search of an evidence base or covert propaganda platform? (Bristol: Public Interest Investigations, February 2022), ISBN 978-1-912811-09-0.
- ↑ FCO Programme spending 2018, compilation of published programme-spend tables.
- ↑ 11.00 11.01 11.02 11.03 11.04 11.05 11.06 11.07 11.08 11.09 11.10 11.11 11.12 11.13 11.14 11.15 11.16 11.17 11.18 11.19 11.20 11.21 11.22 11.23 11.24 11.25 11.26 11.27 FCO Programme spending 2019, compilation of published programme-spend tables.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 FCO Programme spending 2014
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 FCO Programme spending 2016
- ↑ 14.00 14.01 14.02 14.03 14.04 14.05 14.06 14.07 14.08 14.09 14.10 14.11 14.12 14.13 14.14 14.15 14.16 14.17 14.18 14.19 14.20 14.21 14.22 14.23 14.24 14.25 14.26 14.27 14.28 14.29 14.30 14.31 14.32 14.33 14.34 14.35 14.36 14.37 14.38 14.39 14.40 14.41 14.42 14.43 FCO Programme spending 2020
- ↑ 15.00 15.01 15.02 15.03 15.04 15.05 15.06 15.07 15.08 15.09 15.10 15.11 15.12 15.13 15.14 15.15 15.16 15.17 15.18 15.19 15.20 15.21 15.22 15.23 15.24 15.25 15.26 15.27 15.28 15.29 15.30 15.31 15.32 15.33 15.34 15.35 15.36 15.37 15.38 15.39 15.40 15.41 15.42 15.43 15.44 15.45 15.46 15.47 FCDO Programme spending 2021
- ↑ 16.00 16.01 16.02 16.03 16.04 16.05 16.06 16.07 16.08 16.09 16.10 16.11 16.12 16.13 16.14 16.15 FCDO Programme spending 2022
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 17.6 17.7 17.8 17.9 OSCT funding 2018
