Graham Goodkind

Early life and education

Goodkind was born on 18 January 1966 in Dollis Hill, Willesden, to Derek Goodkind, a furrier and his wife Pessa. Goodkind is an only child. He was educated at the University College School, Hampstead and then graduated from the London Metropolitan University, where he read Business Studies and Marketing.

Career

After graduating, Goodkind still did not know what career he intended to follow. He took up the offer of work experience at Lynne Franks PR in December 1989 and instantly fell in love with the world of public relations. He got a full-time job as a trainee account executive at Lynne Franks PR after a month and in seven years worked his way up to the position of Managing Director. He led the transformation of the agency from a predominantly fashion PR agency, renowned for being the inspiration for hit British comedy Absolutely Fabulous, into an all-round consumer PR agency. In 1998 the brand disappeared as the business became part of the Omnicom Group and was merged into Ketchum as its consumer PR division.

Goodkind subsequently left to set up an internet venture at the beginning of the first dotcom boom, with other early web pioneers Steve Bowbrick and Jeremy Kerner. The service, initially called Funmail then re-branded as another.com, offered free web-based email ‘with a twist’ in that users could choose their own addresses after the @ sign, allowing people to express themselves via their email address for the first time. The service proceeded to attract over 2m users rapidly. Graham was responsible for all commercial and marketing activity and took a central role in capital-raising. It abandoned its plans to float on AIM at the last minute, accepting an offer instead from Eden, an investment company, to purchase a 20% stake for £6.5m, valuing the fledgling business at £31.25m. Graham, together with one other founder, sold his stake in the company a year later, before the dotcom bubble burst.

In September 2000, Graham founded Frank PR. He brought in Andrew Bloch, who he had worked with at Lynne Franks PR and who had remained at Ketchum, as fellow founder and MD. The business grew rapidly, winning numerous awards for its work and in October 2007 Graham negotiated the sale of the business to The Photon Group, an ASX-quoted marketing services group. Frank has continued its steady growth, including a new office in Sydney, Australia, which opened in April 2009, and it is now the 5th largest consumer PR consultancy in the UK and Marketing magazine’s PR Agency of the Year. Graham was described in the 2011 PR Week Power Book as a “legend in consumer PR.”

Graham is also a Board Member of Camden Town Unlimited, a business improvement district that works with a number of partners including Camden Council, Transport for London, GLA, Central Government and key private sector stakeholders, to initiate and deliver projects that improve the viability, visibility and commercial performance of Camden Town (where Frank is located) as a business location.

Personal life

He married Lisa Brooks in 1998. They have two children born one minute apart in 2000.