We interview Adele Gilbert, CCO & Head of Business Operations at Aquis Exchange

Adele Gilbert, Chief Communications Officer & Head of Business Operations at Aquis Exchange, reflects on a career that has taken her from journalism and agency life into senior leadership roles in finance and capital markets. In our interview, Adele shares thoughtful advice on the power of clear narratives, the importance of trust between communications leaders and CEOs, and why attitude and the ability to learn often matter more than technical skills alone. She also offers a memorable reminder that what you say is often less important than what the other person hears - proof that great communication is as much about listening as it is about talking.

1. Could you give us a brief overview of your career so far?

When I left school, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I liked to write and I was good at arguing so I went into a media/journalism degree with no grand plan. I took a summer role in the office of my local politician and realised there were limits to how much I actually enjoyed arguing – politics is definitely off the table! When it came to my final year internship, I spent 8 weeks in a PR firm and realised that I liked it a lot more – the challenge of taking a business objective (or product) and trying to find a way to turn it into a story that the audience would actually care about. I stayed on in a permanent role after the internship finished.

Agencies are great for early career as you work across so many different brands and briefs. No two days are the same and you develop a really keen sense of time management! I loved the pace and the variety – my early clients varied from online dating services to tech giants to motorbike brands. But I did find that I usually gravitated towards financial services – almost all financial brands are the perfect intersection of a complex product which has genuine relevance to an everyday audience: you need the comms function to get into the detail, analyse all the information, and then make it relevant and accessible to a variety of audiences with vastly differing levels of understanding. And what you’re communicating genuinely has the power to change people’s lives by building financial literacy.

I loved finance so much I went in-house – first in the Australian superannuation (pensions) industry, and then after a move to London, in accountancy followed by capital markets. I try to keep up the pace and creativity that I learnt in agency, but I love being fully embedded in a single business where you have the information, the context and the deep understanding to make sure that communications are truly reflective of where the company is, where it wants to be, and the influence to make sure that the company and its leadership communicate honestly and effectively to all stakeholders.

2. You work very closely with the CEO at Aquis Exchange. How did you go about building that trusting relationship?

When I joined Aquis, I was hired by the founder and (then) CEO. I knew within minutes of meeting Alasdair that I wanted to work for him – he had such a strong vision for the company and an incredible amount of passion and enthusiasm.

I love working with founders as most of them already trust the value of comms: without being able to tell a concise and compelling story, it’s incredibly hard to get the early stage funding and growth to bring an idea anywhere near reality.

But once you start scaling, that’s when you need a second person to really ‘own’ the company’s story: taking your vision, passion and enthusiasm and distilling it into narratives that work at all levels of your company and for all your different audiences. That’s the really fun part of the job!

You mention trust and that’s such a critical part. For comms to really work, the CEO is trusting you to amplify their vision. The larger a company grows and the more stakeholders it has, the harder it is for that vision to remain clear – and sometimes it also needs to change and evolve. At a senior level, the communications function is about information – both from within the company and outside. And it’s two-way. A CEO needs to know that you understand their strategy, and that they can trust you to bring relevant information to them that may inform or influence the decisions that they are making. Simultaneously, they are trusting you to put together the tools that allow others to hear that strategy, or to articulate it on their behalf, as their world becomes too large for them to do all communications themselves.

3. Many comms professionals talk about wanting a seat at the table, but you clearly have one. How do you ensure the CEO sees communications as a strategic function rather than a support service?

This is a really tricky one to be honest, and a lot of it depends on the person. Some people really ‘get’ the power of a narrative, whilst others think communication is just a by-product of action (or a series of LinkedIn posts!)

I do think that the strategic function played by communications is perhaps more recognised in capital markets than in other sectors. Investor relations is all about communicating: very few sets of numbers speak entirely for themselves, and every leadership team of a listed business should be able to articulate why their business exists, where it’s going next and why it matters. And that’s not a narrative that should remain static or listed on the back page of a website – it’s one that should be updated, improved and reiterated to various audiences with various levels of understanding.

Capital markets forces high level communications through investor engagement, but I can’t think of a single brand, company or sector that doesn’t benefit from being able to clearly communicate its purpose.

If you want to tell your story effectively, and have your organisation or vision be seen in the way you want it to be, then comms can’t be an afterthought. Conversely, it’s up to us as comms professionals to articulate and demonstrate our value to senior leaders, and board members, to ensure we are an integral part of delivering the business strategy.

4. You head up both communications and business operations, a relatively unusual combination. How do you think having that wider operational remit has made you a better communications leader?

This links quite closely to the two-way communication point I raised earlier. When you spend a lot of time information gathering: from executives, from staff, and from the external environment, you also spend a lot of time coming across operational issues or requests, or disseminating information relating to them. I think this is probably also part of the reason you see many communications professionals move across into Chief of Staff type roles.

I like to be busy, and I like to solve problems. This remit allows me to have a broad perspective of the business, which in turn ensures that all of our communications (both internal and external) are cohesive, relevant and reflective of the day to day reality. It also allows me to jump in and help various other functions where I can which is always useful in a growing business!

5. You've overseen some significant communications challenges and changes at Aquis Exchange. How do you keep your team energised and high-performing when the demands are that intense?

Keeping everything in perspective is important - but sometimes that is much easier said than done.

I genuinely enjoy the intense periods - even when it’s due to a challenging situation, there is something incredibly satisfying about working your way through the problem step by step. But I think it’s important for the team as a whole to take time to look back at the end of each project or challenge at how far we managed to come and what we achieved.

And particularly in our industry, I think you have to be able to adjust your work and energy levels to the demands as they ebb and flow. When you get a rare break in intensity, sit back and use the time to reset and recalibrate (and make sure your team does too) rather than rushing straight out to find the next challenge!

6. You’ve built a great team at Aquis Exchange. When it comes to hiring, what qualities or attributes do you prioritise above all else?

Attitude and learning capability. I find the right attitude and the ability to listen, learn and adapt to be more valuable than anything else. And never underestimate the soft skills alongside the technical.

7. Looking back at the journey from start-up to established exchange, what is the single piece of work you are most proud of, and why?

That’s a really difficult question to answer as I think the thing I’m most proud of is that journey! I can only take partial credit as I’ve only been with Aquis for 4 of its 12 years, but seeing what Alasdair built and grew—from an idea and a server in a garage to the seventh-largest exchange group in Europe—and being just a small part of the final stage of that journey (before acquisition) was incredibly rewarding.

From a comms perspective, embracing and using the challenger mentality, along with the power of a charismatic founder, to punch well above our weight in terms of visibility and influence was not just rewarding but also probably the most fun I’ve ever had in a job!

8. What’s the best piece of professional advice you’ve been given along the way and by whom?

Before I joined the executive team at Aquis, I worked with an executive coach for several months. It was one of the most useful things I’ve ever done – both personally and professionally – and I would highly recommend it to anyone at any stage of their career. My coach had actually become a psychologist after a successful corporate career, and we spent a lot of time working through the psychological elements of leadership: learning to understand yourself and your motivations as well as those of others.

Something applicable to both leadership and comms: what you say is less important than what the other person hears. The more you consider about the audience, the context and the perspective, the closer those two will align.

9. If you hadn’t moved into comms, what would have been your Plan B?

I’m not sure how I’d fund my Plan B lifestyle, but it would be something to do with animal rescue. Over the course of my 20s, I fostered more than 30 rescue cats (not all at once!) – from neonatal kittens through to older pets in need of rehoming. Sadly I don’t have the time any more, but I do have three of my own rescue pets who keep me busy enough.

10. Do you have any hidden talents?

I’m a really fast touch typist. Probably a byproduct of my time spent writing, and sadly a skill that seems far less valuable in the age of AI and voice to text. Not the most exciting talent, but I do find it useful when I’m on a short deadline!

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