Bell Pottinger

rdf:langString Bell Pottinger

rdf:langString BPP Communications Ltd.

rdf:langString (traded asBell Pottinger Private)

rdf:langString

rdf:langString BPP Communications Ltd.

rdf:langString Defunct

rdf:langString London

rdf:langString United Kingdom

rdf:langString Communications and reputation management

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rdf:langString Mark Smith

rdf:langString David Beck and David Wilson

rdf:langString Bell Pottinger logo.svg

rdf:langString Pelham Bell Pottinger

rdf:langString 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. Lord Bell, who advised Margaret Thatcher on media matters, was a co-founder of Bell Pottinger, 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. The firm was described as having "the most controversial client list" in the PR industry. 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. 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. In 2017, the resulting scandal saw the firm disgraced and expelled from its professional body. Chief executive and largest shareholder James Henderson departed, lead partner Victoria Geoghegan was fired, and Chime, its second-largest shareholder, wrote off its investment and departed. There was an exodus of major clients and other senior staff, with the result that many onlookers thought the UK firm was highly likely to close, 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. A September 2017 review by law firm Herbert Smith Freehills 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. The firm had previously claimed that the allegations were purely a smear campaign having no truth to them. 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, with Henderson asked to repay £400,000. 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. Former Bell Pottinger partners also faced potential disqualification from acting as company directors by the Insolvency Service.

rdf:langString Defunct (bankruptcy)