What We Do...

The strategic communications challenges you face don’t come packaged in a standard box. So neither should the solutions.

At Oxtale, we’ve years of expertise in communications, strategy and problem-solving, working with PLCs, SMEs and not-for-profits—all with their own challenges and opportunities.

Our clients operate in diverse sectors such as food & farming, environment, industry and science & innovation—areas where a scientific background or technical appreciation of the subject is important.

We create bespoke programmes using experience, skill, ethical rigour and strategic nous.

The result is obstacles unblocked and crises tamed; making sure organisations are properly positioned, strengths are presented and your most important people are influenced; ensuring that your reputation is safeguarded—and you’re famous for the right stuff!

 

What We Do…

Protect

Don’t avoid the elephant in the room. Let us help you identify and face up to any reputational weaknesses and tackle the issues head on. And if the worst – a crisis – does happen, we’ll have you comfortable and clear about saying and doing the right things.

“Amy has displayed not only an ability to plan at a strategic and tactical level, but also to anticipate potential developments. This would apply for both for proactive PR and reactive issues management.”
Amanda Ball, former Head of Strategy, AHDB Dairy

 

 

Position

Havin an authentic reputation depends on walking the talk. We’ll look constructively at what you’re doing now, and where you want to be, and talk honestly about how you live your brand, inside and out.

“Amy has deep knowledge of the farming industry and how it works, strong communication skills, and an understanding of the most important audiences and what makes them tick. These give her a strong perceptive ability to foresee obstacles and opportunities, and present an argument or message so that it delivers the desired outcome.” 
Tim Brigstocke, Policy Director and ex-Chairman RABDF, Chairman Cattle Health and Welfare Group, Executive Director CHECS 

 

Influence

Having the right people behind you can make a world of difference. Whether they’re employees, local communities, media, customers, regulators or government, we can create a plan to build long term relationships and turn critics into advocates.

“Everyone has been impressed with the way Amy has worked. She is enthusiastic yet very practical and realistic in what can be achieved. She is also sensitive in the way she deals with people, always getting the best out of them.”
Ian Hobson, Malling-Holmesdale Federation

Shine

Make sure people think of the right things when they hear your name. Let us look at your strategy, uncover what you’re really about, and build you a strong reputational brand that makes you famous for the right stuff.

“Amy is a highly experienced and enthusiastic communicator, and bought a strategic vision to our communications. Any Communications Director who can get you on the sofa of Breakfast TV has to be good at her job!!”
Kevin Bellamy, formerly Chief Executive of the Milk Development Council, and Global Sector Head Dairy at Rabobank

 

Where We Work…

Agribusiness

Farming and food chain

Agribusiness, farming and food chain are our bag. We’ve worked on a wide range of livestock, arable and produce projects, clarifying strategy, protecting reputation and promoting messages.

Read More…

Environment

Renewables, waste and natural capital

We’re with you whether it’s GHGs or PV, conservation or waste, natural capital or recycling, using our technical skills to steer the debate, promote good practice or even compile hard-hitting reports.

Read More…

Industry

Raw material production, mining and manufacturing

Industry is a key component of the UK economy—but not everyone sees it that way. Disaffected stakeholders can create challenges on anything from emissions to traffic, fuels to planning.

Read More…

Science

Health and welfare

Do you compromise your integrity by oversimplifying the message—or do you lose your audiences in a web of jargon? Science communication is an area where many struggle to strike the right balance.

Read More…

 

Who We Are…

Oxtale is led by Amy Jackson. Amy frequently collaborates with other freelance specialists or consultancies to add technical or subject specialism, insight into specific media, top class web design—or just an extra pair of hands. Whatever the need, Oxtale can supply the appropriate level of expertise to maximise the effectiveness of your project.

Amy Jackson

Oxtale is led by Amy Jackson. Amy frequently collaborates with other freelance specialists or consultancies to add technical or subject specialism, insight into specific media, top class web design—or just an extra pair of hands.

Whatever the need, Oxtale can supply the appropriate level of expertise to maximise the effectiveness of your project.

About Amy

Amy has nearly 30 years’ experience in communications and PR, in consultancies and in-house, working for a huge range of organisations from charities to blue chip businesses, international NGOs and SMEs. Throughout, she has been a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, with which she is now an Accredited Practitioner.

Amy advocates a ‘bottom up’ approach ensuring communications are underpinned by the right actions, and reputation reflects reality. While Amy has hands-on skills in farming and the land-based industries, she also completed a PhD examining public preferences for dairy farming in 2022 at the University of Nottingham vet school, and has co-authored several peer-reviewed papers published in high impact journals.

Amy currently chairs the Dairy Technical Advisory group at Red Tractor and sits on the Appeals Panel for Quality Meat Scotland. In addition to these, she regularly speaks about issues and crisis management, combining her observations from research and practice to highlight the need for engagement to build bridges with a changing society.

See some of Amy’s more recent activity under “What’s new” (link)

 

Who You Are…

You might be a plc or small commercial operation, membership or not-for-profit organisation, farm business or college. And you could be in science or agribusiness, environment or renewables, waste or industry. You could even be a PR agency looking for a specialist to work with your team.

Whatever and whoever you are, let us pick the best ways to communicate the right message to your most important people to generate the outcome you want.

 

How We Work…

We’re not info fluff. We’re straight-talking which means we’re not afraid to challenge the status quo—or you, if we think you’re on the wrong track. We believe this clarity and honesty is why our clients come back time after time.

We love working on projects with defined targets, short or longer term.

We can develop strategy, trouble-shoot, train, or implement bigger change programmes.

We’ll listen to your needs, research our options and create a proposal to deliver against your objectives. And we’re whizzes at the whole range of PR tools—whether media, direct, events, digital or social. Which means we don’t choose what’s most familiar—we choose the combination that’s best at reaching your audiences.

Our communications campaigns also measure success with clarity, in a way you value, and we invoice simply with no add-ons.

 

Wow…

Don’t take our word for it

“Amy has been transformational within FIIA, demonstrating leadership and organisational skills across a wide range of bodies and trade sectors. Navigating leaders from Retail, Wholesale, B2B, QSR, manufacturing, regulatory etc. is a real skill, coupled with distilling the views and thoughts into one clear agreed message. This is due to proactivity, knowledge of the industry, gravitas, ability to influence, and her ability to control a situation to achieve results. Her ability to scan the media for potential news items and provide clear, directional interventions has proved to be invaluable in several instances over the past few years. Amy is a real asset to the industry.”

Prof Ursula Lavery MBE, Technical & Research and Development Director, Pilgrim’s Europe

"Some of the key qualities I have experienced with Amy is her ability to contribute strategically to shaping a programme of activity and then influence senior leaders across the supply chain to support a direction. She has built trust from key stakeholders due to being a self starter, highly motivated, a subject matter expert, constantly boundary scanning, and being on top of her brief."

Dean Holroyd, Technical & Sustainability Director, ABP Food Group

“We have been working with Amy for a couple of years now, and have been very impressed with her professional approach. She has been very proactive in exploring and explaining what would be considered newsworthy stories, and how we should react to those if they should arise. She has proven to be very timely and engaged when called upon, as well as confident and firm with her advice. It is clear that she is well respected in her field, and is very knowledgeable. We continue to work with Amy, and intend to do so going forward.”

Alec Mercer, Director, Mercer Farming

“I first got to know Amy through her involvement with RUMA, where she proactively led the strategic reset needed to take farmers and the wider industry on the journey of lowering antibiotic usage in the livestock sector. I still cite this as one of the great successes of a coordinated approach to tackling a complex problem. Amy is a strategic leader who will proactively resolve problems and has an inherent skill of tackling industry challenges,
whilst providing the leadership needed to take people on a journey of understanding. People trust and respect Amy and that's hard to earn in the farming industry.”

Baroness Minette Batters, former President of the NFU & Author of the Farming Profitability Review 2025

“Amy made an invaluable contribution at our event examining risks to the Irish food and farming industry. Her insights and expertise were greatly appreciated by all attendees; our CEO called her a ‘rockstar’, and I think that sums it up nicely! Her presentation and the panel discussion played a significant role in the success of the event.”

John Murray, Director of Client and Stakeholder Engagement, Bord Bia (Irish Food Board)

“Amy is a pleasure to work with: her proactive approach, resilience under pressure and ability to strategically manage and control situations, in addition to deep and grounded industry knowledge, is what has led me to work with her on three separate occasions.”

Sarah Bradbury, CEO, Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD)

We just want to reiterate how brilliant you've been. We'd have been gutted if we’d missed out on working with you. You've been a star!!

James McInnes, CEO/Co-Founder, Hectare

Amy is a highly experienced and enthusiastic communicator. Working with Amy, she always had a finger on the pulse of how the wider community would be thinking, and bought a strategic vision to our communications which simply did not happen when she was not around. Any Communications Director who can get you on the sofa of Breakfast TV has to be good at her job!!

Kevin Bellamy, former Chief Executive at MDC and Global Dairy Platform; former Senior Analyst (Dairy) at Rabobank

I worked with Amy for many years in Lafarge & Lafarge Tarmac, both at a site and national level. Amy was always professional, delivered quality work on time and was able to pull together information from many sources and people to help create media communications or inform our business in specific requested areas. She was also easy to get on with and could people at ease to ensure when preparing to talk to the public or media they were well relaxed and informed to deliver the message.

David Shenton, Senior Environment Manager, Tarmac Cement and Lime

Amy has deep knowledge of the farming industry and how it works, strong communication skills, and an understanding of the most important audiences and what makes them tick. These give her a strong perceptive ability to foresee obstacles and opportunities, and present an argument or message so that it delivers the desired outcome.

Tim Brigstocke, Policy Director and ex-Chairman RABDF, Executive Director CHECS

Oxtale helped the APM when we found ourselves at the centre of a media storm. They not only provided expert training but helped us understand how to use the opportunities that media attention afforded.

Dr David Brooks, Past President of the Association for Palliative Medicine

The quality of presentation material, organisation of exhibitions and management of key stakeholders and consultees has been exemplary, as has the continuing engagement with the local community.

Tony Scorer, former Head of Onshore Development, EDF Energy Renewables

Amy has a very good grasp of technical issues and the importance of science in underpinning industry developments. Her knowledge, communication skills and ability to challenge constructively make her a great asset.

Jenny Gibbons, Senior Environment Manager, AHDB

Amy knows what journalists need – she is always available, appreciates the importance of deadlines and knows what makes a good story. Her clients are always well-briefed and her knowledge ensures she's on top of the subject.

Johann Tasker, Chief Reporter, Farmers Weekly

The world of animal science and academia often struggles with finding the balance between sharing information and over-complicating its messages, but Amy succeeds where many of us fail.

Mike Steele, former Chief Executive, British Society Animal Science

 

OxBlog

When media training goes wrong…

I for one was buoyed by the daily COVID-19 press conferences when they started. After months of refusing to play with the media, here was…

MORE...

The convenient exploitation of COVID-19

It’s devastating, but maybe unsurprising, that COVID-19 is being exploited by animal campaigners. While some may argue the end justifies the means, disinformation serves no one….

MORE...

“Binarizing” food fails us all

‘Binarizing’ is our new thing. There’s no longer any ‘grey’, ‘sometimes’, or ‘depends on the circumstances’. Everything must be one thing or the other. You…

MORE...

Why we need “SAGEMA” – a “RUMA” for climate change…

Not long ago, here in the UK, livestock farming was being lambasted on an almost daily basis over antibiotics. Apparently, animals were being ‘pumped’ full…

MORE...

‘Method of Production’ labelling is the REAL risk to welfare

Let’s get one thing straight. A label on a food product should be accurate, meaningful and representative of what it claims. After all, it’s a…

MORE...

That’s FCKing good: how KFC managed its chicken crisis with a brilliant ad

Well worth the read – from Influence magazine. How KFC managed their chicken supply crisis with accountability, cheek and well-targeted adverts. That’s FCKing good: how…

MORE...