The greatest comms challenge facing business leaders today Opinion To regain public trust, businesses must ditch the glossy, say-nothing comms and be honest with consumers about the messy reality.
Lessons in comms from my children’s primary school Opinion As the London heatwave sends primary schools into meltdown, comms expert Adam Smith reflects on what we can learn.
PRs: This is how to handle conflict Opinion As a humanities student, one of the academics I cited regularly was the 20th century philosopher AJ Ayer. Ayer is credited, among other things, with popularising, in the English speaking world, the movement of logical positivism – which, to oversimplify, is a theory of the meaning of statements about the world. Few academics were more [...]
Protecting the truth in a shifting communications compliance environment July 10, 2025 The UK financial services landscape has undergone a seismic transformation over the past 15 years, necessitating adaptation to emerging technologies, a rapidly changing policy environment, and new client expectations.
No10 communications chief to quit after nine months March 28, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer’s director of communications, Matthew Doyle, is set to quit No10 Downing Street after nine months in the job. Doyle, who served as the Prime Minister’s communications chief in opposition, is understood to be stepping down immediately after feeling he had stabilised the government’s communications strategy after a rocky first few months in [...]
Former Sunak spokesperson lands Chelsea comms job December 10, 2024 Chelsea have hired Rishi Sunak’s former spokesperson, Nerissa Chesterfield, to be their new head of communications. Chesterfield worked with Sunak when he was Prime Minister and in his previous role as Chancellor. It was during this time that the UK government sanctioned Roman Abramovich, forcing him to sell Chelsea. Confirmation of her appointment as director [...]
Vodafone and Three: What £16.5bn merger actually means for customers and prices December 5, 2024 After an almost 18-month battle the UK’s largest ever telecoms deal – which will see Vodafone and Three complete a £16.5bn merger – has been given the green light. Described by Vodafone as a “once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform the UK’s digital infrastructure”, the deal has now satisfied the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) enough for [...]
Is ESG dead? And if so, who killed it? September 19, 2024 ESG has become increasingly politicised. Has it reached the end of the line? Asks Neil MacLeod
Worst corporate jargon of the week: Stakeholder August 29, 2024 Grab a stake and wield it jargon soldier, we're cracking down on corporate claptrap. This week, the insidious 'stakeholder'.
Talktalk agrees £400m lifeline as leadership changes confirmed August 12, 2024 Talktalk has agreed the key terms of a refinancing deal which will hand the telecommunications giant a £400m lifeline, it has been confirmed. The Salford-headquartered company has been in talks with one of its largest shareholders amid warnings it was on the brink of collapse. Its annual report, which was published in July, revealed that [...]