Key Retirement Group has appointed Lee Blackwell as director of public relations and public affairs.

Blackwell (pictured) was previously head of PR and media relations at the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) and head of PR at Partnership. She has 18 years of experience in financial services communications both in-house as well as at agencies.

She will be responsible for building a cohesive strategic approach to group communications, public affairs and media relations with a particular focus on educating key audiences as to the benefits of equity release.

She will report to chief marketing officer, Chris Bibby, who said: “The equity release market is growing faster than ever but there is still a significant amount of education and engagement needed to ensure that customers and stakeholders fully understand the potential of our products to improve lives.

“Therefore, we are delighted to welcome Lee Blackwell as director of public relations and public affairs. She will focus on using her considerable experience in this market to not only build understanding of Key Retirement Group and its companies but also help to engage with key influencers.”

Blackwell added :”The Key Retirement Group story is an extremely exciting one – made even more interesting by its £208 million sale to Partners Group in 2017.  When you add this to the fact that this is an area of financial services which really interests me, it was a truly compelling reason to join this fast-growing company as director of public relations and public affairs.   

“I look forward to working with Chris and the rest of the marketing team to build understanding of KR Group and its brands while raising the profile of the sector and encouraging more people to consider how they might use property wealth in retirement.”