Antony Dunkels

A former barrister, Antony is one of the most experienced reputation consultants in the UK market. Over the course of his career, Antony has advised on numerous significant and sensitive issues and disputes, acting for clients ranging from FTSE 100 businesses and privately owned companies to private equity firms, a European national central bank, educational institutions, charities, ultra-high-net-worth individuals and celebrities.

Antony brings an unusually detailed understanding of both adversarial proceedings and regulatory process from his time at the Criminal Bar and the FCA's Enforcement division. He is adept at working alongside lawyers from a range of disciplines, embedding reputational considerations into legal strategy, and translating complex legal outcomes into communications that resonate with non-legal audiences.

Antony founded Cairnstone in 2026 to advise businesses and individuals how to mitigate the reputational consequences of complex legal issues and crises.

Antony started his career as a barrister practising in criminal defence work predominantly in London. He spent over a decade at the Bar at two prestigious sets of chambers before deciding to leave in approximately 2013. After a year as a lawyer in the FCA's Enforcement Division, Antony transitioned to litigation communications and crisis management in 2015.

Antony has worked in the litigation and crisis teams of three global communications consultancies: Bell Pottinger, Edelman and most recently as a partner in Brunswick. Ranked in Chambers and Partners for the last seven years and Band 1 ranked for the last two years, Antony is widely considered to be a leader in the communications and reputation space. He founded Cairnstone in 2026 to bring greater legal fluency to reputation strategy.

Antony is a volunteer member of the South Snowdonia Search and Rescue Team. He is a qualified remote rescue medical technician and is the designated safeguarding lead for the team. He is also the team press officer.