Managers

John Sunley CEO

John Sunley founded Ashton Consulting in 2000 after 15 years working in corporate communications and investment banking in Tokyo and London. John has developed Ashton into Japan's leading independent corporate communications agency, winning and retaining accounts with renowned Japanese, U.S., European and Asian firms. The majority of John's time is spent on direct client advisory work, and drawing on his network of relationships with investors and the media in Japan and overseas he leads teams advising clients on their shareholder, media, government and internal communications strategies.

From 1996 to 1999, John was the head of the Tokyo office of Cazenove & Co., the UK investment bank, where he was responsible for all of the firm's activities in Japan, including corporate advice, international equity placements and Japanese equity research. Following this he was a director of the Tokyo office of Gavin Anderson & Company, where he led several major corporate communications accounts and was responsible for all investor relations activities.

From 1986 to 1996 John was based in London and Tokyo, and after a period as an equity analyst assumed responsibility for developing Cazenove's business with Japanese institutional investors. From 1993 to 1996 he was head of institutional sales to Asia and Japan, during which time he was awarded the 1994 Extel prize for Institutional Investment Advice.

John speaks and reads Japanese fluently, and is a graduate of Pembroke College, Cambridge in Social and Political Sciences.

Dan Underwood Managing Director

Dan Underwood joined Ashton Consulting as an equity partner in 2002, with a background in journalism, healthcare and communications. In partnership with John Sunley, he has guided the development of Ashton Consulting into Japan's leading independent agency, with a diverse client base, broad professional expertise, and a unique bilingual and bicultural corporate culture. Dan advises major Japanese and international companies on all aspects of corporate communications strategy, spanning media relations, M&A and financial communications, internal communications, and crisis communications.

In his career as a communications professional Dan has guided clients through global and domestic business restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, market entry, shareholder actions and other critical communications challenges, in sectors including investment banking, biotechnology, fund management, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, information technology, real estate and venture businesses.

Dan heads Ashton's media training program, and his long-standing relationships with journalists provide clients with valuable insight into identifying and leveraging media opportunities.

Dan is a graduate of the Wellington School of Journalism, and before moving to Japan in 1998 worked for seven years as a freelance journalist contributing to publications in New Zealand and Australia. He is also a graduate of the Otago School of Physiotherapy and holds a post-graduate Dip. MT. He is fluent in spoken and written Japanese, and is one of Japan's top age-group road cyclists.