Global InformationBell Pottinger information
 | |
| Company type | Private limited company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Communications and reputation management[1] |
| Founded | 1998 (London) |
| Defunct | 12 September 2017 |
| Fate | Defunct (bankruptcy) |
| Headquarters | London , United Kingdom |
Key people | Mark Smith (Chairman)[2] David Beck and David Wilson (Joint Managing Directors)[3][4] |
| Services | Public relations |
| Revenue | £27 million (2016)[5] |
Number of employees | 278 (2014)[6] |
| Subsidiaries | Pelham Bell Pottinger |
| Website | bell-pottinger.co.uk |
Bell Pottinger Private (legally BPP Communications Ltd.) was a British multinational public relations, reputation management and marketing company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. On 12 September 2017 it went into administration (bankruptcy) as a consequence of a scandal caused by its activities in South Africa.
Bell Pottinger offered services such as lobbying, speech writing, reputation management, and search engine optimisation to clients including companies, governments and rich individuals. It was the largest UK-based public relations consultancy measured by 2010 fee income.[7] Lord Bell, who advised Margaret Thatcher on media matters, was a co-founder of Bell Pottinger,[8] which, until July 2012, was a wholly owned subsidiary of Chime Communications plc. In June 2012, Lord Bell and Bell Pottinger CEO James Henderson completed a £19.6 million management buyout from Chime, with Chime retaining a 25% stake in the business.[9]
The firm was described as having "the most controversial client list" in the PR industry.[10] It was criticised numerous times for conflict-of-interest edits that the company made on Wikipedia pages that involved or were about their clients. According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, the company was hired by the Pentagon to work in Iraq, making fake terror and news-style videos, targeting al-Qaeda, for the reported sum of $540 million.[11]
During 2016 and 2017, a sustained "dirty campaign" by the firm came to light, in which it played on racial animosity in South Africa, including the creation of fake news, to benefit its client Oakbay Investments, which is controlled by the controversial and influential Gupta family in South Africa and had strong ties to the then President Zuma's government.[12][13] In 2017, the resulting scandal saw the firm disgraced and expelled from its professional body.[14][15] Chief executive and largest shareholder James Henderson departed, lead partner Victoria Geoghegan was fired,[16][17][18] and Chime, its second-largest shareholder, wrote off its investment and departed.[19] There was an exodus of major clients and other senior staff,[19][20] with the result that many onlookers thought the UK firm was highly likely to close,[15][21] while operations in the Middle and Far East could be sold to new owners. On 12 September 2017, it was announced that Bell Pottinger had entered administration, with some staff immediately being made redundant.[22][23]
A September 2017 review by law firm Herbert Smith Freehills[24] concluded that the firm had breached ethical standards, lacked appropriate policies for managing controversial accounts, and had brought the PR industry into disrepute, and the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) said the firm had received a "damning indictment", having breached four of its conduct charter clauses.[25][26][27] The firm had previously claimed that the allegations were purely a smear campaign having no truth to them.[20]
Following the company's collapse owing creditors £14 million, administrator BDO was reported to be pursuing around 40 former Bell Pottinger partners to repay around £4 million,[28] with Henderson asked to repay £400,000.[29] In April 2019, BDO said it could bring lawsuits against former Bell Pottinger partners for their involvement in work for Oakbay, which breached partnership agreements.[30] Former Bell Pottinger partners also faced potential disqualification from acting as company directors by the Insolvency Service.[31]
- ^ Main web page Archived 8 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine where the company describes itself as "a leading integrated, international reputation management agency" (8 September 2017).
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Mance-25Aug2016was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Ceros 3.4.1". Cde.cerosmedia.com. Archived from the original on 10 April 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
- ^ "Introducing the Group". Bell Pottinger Private. Archived from the original on 7 August 2012. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Fletcher-10Nov2017was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Annual Report and Accounts for year ending 31 December 2014". Companies House. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
- ^ "Top 150 PR consultancies". PR Week. Archived from the original on 2 December 2011. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
- ^ Black, Alex (28 March 2007). "The Power Book: Britain's most powerful". PR Week UK.
- ^ Sweney, Mark (31 May 2012). "Chime agrees £20m Bell Pottinger sell-off". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
- ^ Pace, Richard, "Bell Pottinger Wins: Bail Extended for Atlaf Hussain's Money Laundering Charges", Everything PR, 7 October 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
- ^ Rebello, Lara (3 October 2016). "Thatcher PR guru Lord Bell ran a $540m Pentagon false propaganda campaign in Iraq". International Business Times. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
- ^ Cotterill, Joseph (6 July 2017). "Public relations firm Bell Pottinger apologises over Gupta contract". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 6 July 2017. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
- ^ Bell Pottinger. "Oakbay Capital statement" (PDF). Retrieved 6 July 2017.
- ^ "BREAKING: Bell Pottinger expelled from PR body for Gupta work". Fin24. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
- ^ a b Johnston, Chris (4 September 2017). "Bell Pottinger expelled from trade body for South African campaign". BBC News Online. BBC. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Inman-03Sep2017was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
:3was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
PRWeek-06Jul2017was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Sweney, Mark (5 September 2017). "Bell Pottinger investor walks away as South Africa row deepens". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
- ^ a b Sweney, Mark (5 September 2017). "Bell Pottinger loses clients and staff in wake of South Africa scandal". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
- ^ Bond, David; Cotterill, Joseph. "PR industry reads last rites for scandal-hit Bell Pottinger". Financial Times. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
- ^ Sweney, Mark (12 September 2017). "Bell Pottinger goes into administration amid South Africa scandal". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
- ^ "Bell Pottinger collapses after South African scandal". BBC News. BBC. 12 September 2017. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
- ^ Review by Herbert Smith Freehills, published September 2017
- ^ Withers, Ian (4 September 2017). "Bell Pottinger kicked out of PR trade body as report slams 'race hate' South Africa campaign". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
- ^ "Bell Pottinger 'incited racial hatred' in South Africa — The Bureau of Investigative Journalism". Thebureauinvestigates.com. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
- ^ Bond, David (4 September 2017). "Bell Pottinger rebuked in report into South Africa controversy". Financial Times. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
- ^ Kinder, Tabby (11 October 2018). "Top Bell Pottinger staff face demand to pay back £4m". Times. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
- ^ Kinder, Tabby (27 February 2019). "Bell Pottinger boss Henderson told to repay £400,000". Times. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
- ^ Harding, LaToya (16 April 2019). "Bell Pottinger partners may face legal action over firm's collapse". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Kleinman-08Jul2020was invoked but never defined (see the help page).