Nic Mitchell launched De la Cour Communications after a full-time career, first, in daily news journalism and then two decades in university corporate communications. For the last ten years he has provided strategic support as well as native English-language editorial to UK and European higher education institutions and university trade media.
Nic is a regular contributor to University World News – with a focus on European (including UK) higher education and research. He has helped universities in Norway, Sweden and Czechia reach Anglo-speaking students and stakeholders and provided a news service and blogs for the European higher education PR and communication association, EUPRIO.
In April 2025, Nic completed his latest consultancy project for the International Higher Education Commission (IHEC) – providing advice and editorial support for their final report ‘Towards a future UK International Higher Education Strategy: Resilience, Purpose and Precision‘. The report ‘s findings will now be used to try to influence the Labour Government’s forthcoming refresh of their global education strategy.
As well as University World News, Nic’s reports have appeared in Times Higher Education special supplements, The PIE News and EducationInvestor – and in 2015 he won the Outstanding Higher Education Journalist of the Year Award from the UK’s Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) in 2015 for his report for the BBC on the brain drain from Lithuania since it joined the European Union.
What do others say about us?
Former BBC Online Education News Editor Sean Coughlan said Nic Mitchell produces “the kind of specialist journalism, with a thoughtful analysis, that people really want”, while University World News co-founding editor Karen MacGregor described his writing style as “reliable accurate, independent and insightful.”
See here for examples of the quality editorial we’ve produced for clients around the world and more details of our consultancy services.
On this website, Nic offers personal insights into the challenges facing universities in the UK and globally, politics following Brexit and health matters after being diagnosed and overcoming bowel cancer and heart failure.