Lobbying giants weighed deal for Mandelson’s Global Counsel Advisory Two of London’s top advisory firms considered buying Global Counsel out of administration after the lobbying shop founded by Peter Mandelson collapsed amid revelations over its ties with Jeffrey Epstein. FGS Global and Flint Global were among several major consultancies presented with an offer to acquire Mandelson’s failed boutique by administrators, two people familiar with [...]
UK firms axe PR and consulting spend as AI tools muscle in Business British businesses are shelving spending on public relations and consultancy firms as they embrace the capabilities of PR tools, according to City AM’s latest Business Spend Pulse. The share of UK firms who spent money on management consultants and PR services fell sharply in September to just 4.2 per cent, despite an overall 3.1 per [...]
The best weapon against AI slop is a good lunch Opinion City AM is rightly campaigning against AI slop but the best answer to the advance of the robots is human connection, and that’s what journalism and PR are best at, says James Millar Some years ago a leading mathematician, genuinely one of the cleverest people in the country, reassured me that AI would not make [...]
PRs: This is how to handle conflict May 21, 2026 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 [...]
Pagefield owner PPHC ramps up political consultancy with WPI acquisition March 23, 2026 AIM-listed consultancy firm PPHC has ramped up its politics offering after acquiring government relations business WPI Strategy. Founded in 2014, WPI turns over around £2.5m per year and counts the likes of London City Airport, Microsoft, Pension Insurance Corporation, and Vodafone Three among its clients. The company, which counts a number of former Labour advisers [...]
Havas keeps quiet on whether Ian Osborne will stay on board after Epstein files February 6, 2026 Havas is keeping quiet on whether Ian Osborne will stay on its board as the French PR giant weighs the impact of fresh details concerning the relationship between the British exec and Jeffrey Epstein. Osborne, who is a non-executive director of Havas, launched his own consultancy business, Osborne and Partners, in 2009 and offered advice [...]
‘Look out for rich individuals’: The deep ties between Mandelson lobbying firm and Epstein February 5, 2026 As one of London’s many eminent lobbying and advisory outfits, Peter Mandelson’s Global Counsel is well versed in what it takes to manage a reputation. Set up by the former deputy Prime Minister and Labour spin doctor Benjamin Wegg-Prosser from the embers of Labour’s 2010 general election loss, it has worked on some of the [...]
Advisory giant Teneo valued at £1.7bn in fresh deal August 4, 2025 Advisory firm Teneo has received fresh backing from a top Liechtensteiner buyout firm valuing it at $2.3bn (£1.73bn), in a deal that suggests the malaise afflicting the world’s largest holding companies and consultancies is not extending to more specialist or diversified firms. LGT Capital Partners is backed by Liechtenstein’s royal family and has over $100bn [...]
Steven Bartlett: Dragons’ Den star quits PR agency he owns July 23, 2025 Dragons’ Den star Steven Bartlett has stepped down as a director of a PR agency he bought three years ago. The Diary of a CEO podcast host’s company, Flight Story, acquired London-based R Agency in 2022 for an undisclosed sum. The firm was set up by Rebecca Ridge in 2013 and has worked with the [...]
Are we witnessing the slow death of advertising holding companies? May 5, 2025 The feted founder of AKQA, Ajaz Ahmed, has launched a new agency that promises to take on the “slow, bureaucratic” ad groups that since the pandemic have have been labouring under stagnant revenues and falling share prices. Ali Lyon asks: “Are those holding companies on borrowed time?” Ajaz Ahmed is not a man to shy [...]