Difference between revisions of "Brunswick Group"

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[[Image:Brunswick.jpg|300px|right|thumb|Brunswick offices, Lincolns Inn Fields, central London ]]
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[[File:Brunswick Group.png|250px|right|thumb|Brunswick offices, Avenue des Arts 27, Brussels]]
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[[Image:Brunswick.jpg|300px|right|thumb]] ''Brunswick offices, Lincolns Inn Fields, central London ''
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'''The Brunswick Group''' is an international PR and lobbying firm, headquartered in London. Its founder is [[Alan Parker]], friend of former UK prime minister [[Gordon Brown]]. Brunswick specialises in financial PR, and Parker is considered to be one of the UK's leading financial PR men (alongside [[Roland Rudd]]). Its blue-chip client list is the envy of most other agencies. It is one of a handful of key financial PR agencies in the UK, including: [[FD]], [[Buchanan]], [[Citigate Dewe Rogerson]], [[Pelham PR]], [[Finsbury]], and [[Maitland Consultancy]].
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Brunswick Group is an international PR firm, with almost a third of the FTSE 100 top firms as clients, they are the biggest financial communications consultancy in the UK. They paid more than £5,000 to the [[Labour Party]] for 'tickets for dinners' in 1999-2000 and gave £9,000 in August 2001. The company also donated the services of an employee to the Government to help work on the Financial Services and Markets Bill - legislation which will regulate business in the City and which would provide invaluable information to Brunswick s clients.
 
  
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The Brunswick Group was founded in 1987. They advise on media and investor relations, mergers and acquisitions, competition and regulatory issues, crisis management, international communications and corporate campaigns. Although Brunswick are reluctant to advertise client details, they represent firms including [[British Airways]], [[BT]], [[EMI]], [[Marks & Spencer]] (dropped recently) [[Marconi]] (ditto), [[Safeway]], [[Casenove]] (City Stockbrokers), [[Blue Circle]] (fought off [[Lafarge]] takeover - cost �27m for all advisors) [[Standard Life]] (�1m+ fighting off demutualization), [[Newcastle United]], [[Malcolm Glazer]], [[MK Dons]], [[Railtrack]] (before administration) and [[HBoS]] and range from some of the world's biggest companies, retained on an international mandate, to small and unquoted businesses. Also running the PR for London's bid to host the Olympics in 2012. They have offices in London, New York, Germany and Johannesburg.
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Brunswick is seen as both a major force and an enigma - it has steadfastly declined to participate in PR Week's fee income rankings, for example, and Brunswick founder, Alan Parker, rarely grants interviews and is uncomfortable when he becomes the focus of a story. ‘It's bad manners to get between the client and the footlights,' he reportedly says.<ref>[http://www.brandrepublic.com/InDepth/Features/804439/TOP-150-PR-CONSULTANCIES-Brunswick---bashful-bullish/ TOP 150 PR CONSULTANCIES: Brunswick -- bashful but still bullish], PR Week, 24 April 2008</ref> It also doesn't publish a client list.
  
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Founder [[Alan Parker]] (son of former [[British Rail]] chairman Sir [[Peter Parker]]) owns 88% of Brunswick's Channel Islands holding company, [[Wynnstay]], giving him control of the agency and a stake in the company worth an estimated �114m. Parker's personal assets are thought to be around �6m. In 2001, Parker recruited [[Bill Clinton]]'s former aide, [[James Rubin]], to Brunswick's political affairs unit. Rubin reportedly left in April 2004, according to the Observer:
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==Links==
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*Part of the [[Westminster lobbying map]]
  
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:Former state department spokesman James Rubin, pictured, was hired in a blaze of publicity by top financial PR firm Bruns-wick some time ago. That gave founder Alan Parker the right to brag that he had bagged one half of the world's most glamourous media couples (Rubin is married to London-based CNN correspondent Christiane Amanpour).
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==Services==
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Brunswick has ranked at the top or near the top of league tables for financial communications consultancies. It advises clients on public affairs, media and investor relations, mergers and acquisitions, competition and regulatory issues, crisis management, international communications and corporate reputation.<ref name="BW">[http://www.brunswickgroup.com/index_main.php?s=2&t=0 Brunswick's website], accessed March 2009</ref>
  
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:Now rumour has it that Rubin has quietly quit, although not many people at Brunswick's Holborn HQ will have noticed. 'He was in the office about as often as Johnny Vegas is in the gym,' says a Brunswick insider. {{ref|Media}}
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On public affairs, Brunswick says:
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:"Our team includes former senior government advisers and political campaign staff who understand the context in which decisions are taken in government, the relative influence of the stakeholders involved and can advise on the most effective communication of a client's case. We work closely with in-house government relations teams and external lobbying firms to help broaden public support for our client's position and build a better understanding of their business among their relevant government audiences."<ref name="BW"/>
  
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Later the firm's arts events subsidiary was joined by the former partner of [[Hobsbawm Macaulay Communications]] and wife of [[Gordon Brown]], [[Sarah Macaulay]]. Sarah Macaulay is &#39;the fashionably reserved co-founder of Hobsbawm Macaulay Communications&#39;. She marketed [[Emily's List]], the campaign to increase the number of women MPs.  
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CFO Europe reports in March 2006 on its role in corporate deals:
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:Brunswick has long been seen as epitomising the influence-and-access game in deals circles, something that it is exporting to other centres. Notably, in 2001 Brunswick recruited as head of its US operations [[Steve Lipin]], a former Wall Street Journal M&A reporter with a reputation for aggressively leveraging his newspaper’s franchise to get news scoops on deals. [Brunswick] has had its share of controversy over its aggressive tactics. Also in 2001, for example, a former client, [[Jupiter Asset Management]] (which had been acquired by [[Commerzbank]]), threatened to sue Brunswick after the PR firm sent a dossier to several London newspapers claiming that Jupiter was in financial trouble.<ref>[http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/5518719?f=singlepage CFO Europe, 7 March 2006</ref>
  
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==Previous names==
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==Political connections==
  
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The Brunswick Group has been through many differeing names and identities. The aim of this is presumably to hide financial information and to keep it offshore.  Records available at companies House show that Brunswick itself used to be called [[Lincoln Research Ltd]]. Its name was changed to [[Brunswick Public Relations Limited]] on 6 March 1997. 
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Brunswick founder, [[Alan Parker]] is a close personal friend of [[Gordon Brown]] and his wife [[Sarah Brown]]. The former prime minister is godfather to one of Parker's children and Sarah used to work at Brunswick. It was Parker who recommended [[Stephen Carter]], former [[Ofcom]] chief executive and (briefly) the chief executive of Brunswick, to be the PM's new chief of strategy. When Brown visited China and India at the beginning of 2008, he was accompanied not only by Carter but Parker as well, prompting one observer to ask - was the prime minister getting two advisers for the price of one?<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jul/14/mediatop100200873 Alan Parker profile], ''Guardian'', 14 July 2008</ref>
  
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Other companies in the group or of which [[Alan Parker]] or [[John Andrew Fenwick]] are Directors have also gone through seemingly confusing name changes.
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[[David Cameron]], at the time leader of the UK [[Conservative Party]] and now UK PM, also attended Parker's wedding, alongside the Browns. Parker was pictured on holiday in South Africa in 2008 with Cameron<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jul/14/mediatop100200873 Alan Parker profile], Guardian, 14 July 2008</ref>
  
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==Parker's directorships==
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*Previously, in 1999-2000, Brunswick paid more than £5,000 to the [[Labour Party]] for 'tickets for dinners', and in 2001 gave £9,000 to Labour.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/1999/sep/09/uk.politicalnews1 Where the party got its money from], Guardian 9 sept 2001</ref>
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(last five years)
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*Brunswick also donated the services of an employee to the Government to help work on the Financial Services and Markets Bill - legislation which will regulate business in the City and which would provide invaluable information to Brunswick's clients."<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4033309,00.html 'Staff for favours' row hits Treasury], Guardian, 25 June 2000</ref>
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[[Binston]] (liquidated)
 
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*[[Brunswick Group Limited]] (Formerly [[Brunswick Public Relations Limited]])
 
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*[[Merchant Corporate Design Limited]]
 
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*[[Shiftwork Limited]]
 
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*[[ The Alma Furniture Co Limited]]
 
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*[[Charity Projects Limited]]
 
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*[[Comic Relief Limited]]
 
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Source: Companies House 363s Annual Return for Brunswick Public Relations Limited, 18 June 1997.
 
  
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==Subsidiaries==
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*[[Andrew Hood]], a former special adviser to the [[Labour Party]], joined Brunswick in 2002 amid controversy surrounding claims he had been "poached" from the [[Ministry of Defence]] by the firm, whose clients [[Rolls-Royce]] and [[Smiths Industries]] indirectly supply defence firms.<ref>Info-Dynamics Research, "[http://www.scribd.com/doc/37220673/5D3DCAA1-15AB-4CF0-B7A5-EB449C165AF2-List-of-Advisers-April-2006-Congress-Final Where are they now? The 1997/1998 Special Advisers to the Labour Government]", ''GMB: April 2006 Briefing'', p6, accessed 23.09.10</ref>
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*[[Cantos]] [http://www.cantos.com]]
 
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*[[Lincoln Centre]]
 
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*[[Merchant]] [http://www.merchant.co.uk/mgl/mgl_home/]
 
  
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==Projects==
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==Relations with the media==
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Brunswick and Parker have "a network of close contacts at the top of British companies and a similar network within the financial press. As an intermediary between these two networks he tries to shape perceptions of companies or business people."<ref>Robert Peston, ''Who Runs Britain?'', Hodder & Stoughton, 2008</ref>
  
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*[[PiggyBankKids]]
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The significance of a financial PR to journalists is explained by David Michie in 1997:
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:'Even the most energetic reporters know that they have to be somewhat deferential in the presence of a powerful publicist. No one on a national beat can afford to be on the wrong side of [those who]..represent a third of the most quotable sources in the country in the more liberal British media, reporters are less deferential to anyone; but even so the same principle holds true the most important corporate spin doctors include Alan Parker, creator of Brunswick.<ref>Michie D., 1997, " The Invisible Persuaders: How Britain's Spin Doctors Manipulate the Media", p.26</ref>
  
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==Staff==
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Besides hiring senior journalists, Brunswick provides other services to media professionals as the ''Independent'' notes in 1995:
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:It looks like marshmallows around the camp fire in Lincoln's Inn Field for the ''Daily Telegraph'''s City office. Staff have been three-line whipped for a bit of weekend bonding on 18 November at what looks suspiciously like the offices of Brunswick, the PR agency. A mysterious memo to staff from [[Neil Collins]], the City editor, explains: "It's an away day to discuss the future of the City Pages. Although attendance is not compulsory those of a paranoid disposition will regret not being there and the rest of us might have a good time (although some work will be done). There will be no counselling. At this stage I do not intend to answer press inquiries. . . A wise move. While they would not confirm it, the navel gaze is apparently being run by [[Professional Presentations]], a human resources consultancy based in Brunswick's offices and run by [[Lucy Parker]], sister of the PR agency's Alan Parker.<ref>CITY DIARY, ''Independent'', Nov 2, 1995</ref>
  
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Brunswick employs over 320 staff, including 40 partners. They advise on media and [[investor relations]], mergers and acquisitions, competition and regulatory issues, [[crisis management]], international communications and corporate campaigns.
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However, Brunswick is not beloved by all financial journalists, as this City Diary entry in 2001 shows:
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:The phones were out of order at Brunswick - the PR company that is to the City what lint is to pockets (annoying and hard to get rid of) - for most of yesterday. Net productivity in the City soared as a result. (If anyone at Cable & Wireless fancies making £50 in return for cutting them off again, give me a call.)<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2001/feb/13/2 City Diary], Guardian, 13 February 2001</ref>
  
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Business activities in the company's language:
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==History and structure==
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* Ongoing IR & PR: maintaining and increasing trust and understanding among investors, analysts and media commentators
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The Brunswick Group was founded in 1987. In 2009 it employed 440 people based in 15 offices in 11 countries. It has developed a robust international network - for instance, after establishing a strong presence in New York, Brunswick cracked the US West Coast by opening a San Francisco office and picking up clients of the calibre of Gap, Google, Sun Microsystems and Cisco.
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* Financial calendar: we will ensure your results announcements are correctly positioned and managed
 
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* IPOs & financings: launching companies in the public markets and creating the communications infrastructure for a new level of corporate disclosure
 
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* Crisis & litigation: defending a company's integrity, business practices and assets, and developing an effective path to weather the storm
 
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* Corporate transactions: maximising support for transactions, including M&A
 
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* Restructurings: ensuring that communications maximizes a company's future viability
 
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* Regulatory & public affairs: utilising communications to encourage support from regulatory agencies and governmental opinion formers
 
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* At 1st of May 2005 Brunswick Group started a trade union like support campaign for [[EICTA]]'s project [[Patents4Innovation]]
 
  
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==Clients==
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The Brunswick Group has been through many different names and identities. Records available at companies House show that Brunswick used to be called [[Lincoln Research Ltd]].  Its name was changed to [[Brunswick Public Relations Limited]] on 6 March 1997.  <ref>Companies House 363s Annual Return for Brunswick Public Relations Limited, 18 June 1997</ref> Other companies in the group or of which [[Alan Parker]] or [[John Andrew Fenwick]] are Directors have also gone through name changes.
  
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In July 2002 the ''Wall Street Journal'' reported that [[Martha Stewart]] had hired the Brunswick Group to massage her image in the wake of allegations that she profited from insider trading. [http://www.prwatch.org/node/1290]
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===Subsidiaries===
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*[[Cantos]] <ref>[http://www.cantos.com Cantos]</ref>
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In March 2004, the controversy over the exaggeration of the oil and gas reserves of [[Shell Oil]] resulted in the resignation of the then chairman, [[Philip Watts]], and [[Walter van de Vijver]], who was responsible for exploration and production. In an attempt to manage the crisis Shell hired the Brunswick Group to help it manage the crisis. "Brunswick has recently come on board, but we don't really say much more about what they do," Corrigan told ''PR Week''. [http://www.prweek.com/news/news_worldwire.cfm?site=1&ID=208949&site=3&/news/news_worldwire.cfm&setcookie=1]
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*[[Lincoln Centre]] <ref> [http://www.thelincolncentre.co.uk/home.html The Lincoln Centre]</ref>
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*[[Merchant]] <ref> [http://www.merchant.co.uk/mgl/mgl_home/ Merchant]</ref>
  
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==Controversies==
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==People==
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===UK===
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*[[Alan Parker]], founder and chairman. Parker owns 88 percent of Brunswick's Channel Islands holding company, [[Wynnstay]], giving him control of the agency and a stake in the company worth an estimated £114m. Parker's personal assets are thought to be around £6m.
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*[[Andrew Fenwick]], co-founder, vice chairman and chief financial officer, London. Owns a combined 10% of Brunswick joint with [[Louise Charlton]].<ref name="MP"> Salamander Davoudi [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/add4af82-a663-11e0-ae9c-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3Gg5XZMAC Brunswick to release equity for partners] ''Financial Times'', 4 July 2011, accessed 20 October 2014 </ref>
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*[[Louise Charlton]], co-founder and vice chairman, London. Owns a combined 10% of Brunswick joint with [[Andrew Fenwick]].<ref name="MP"/>
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*[[Andrew Garfield]], partner. Former financial editor of the ''Independent''.
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*[[Gill Ackers]], partner, London. One of the partners leading Brunswick's financial institutions team and also its media group, Gill has particular expertise in strategic positioning, reputation management and profile-raising having worked with a range of listed and unlisted corporates across Europe. Gill has advised on mergers, acquisitions and disposals and her expertise also extends to crisis and issue management, covering everything from crises in corporate performance to financial fraud, blackmail, and investigative journalism into individuals. Before joining Brunswick, Gill was head of media for the London Stock exchange. She was recently a member of the FSA's Continuing Obligations theme team, reviewing and advising on policy as part of the comprehensive review of the listing rules.<ref name="BW"/>
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*[[Kim Fletcher]], partner, London. Former editor of ''The Independent on Sunday'' and was editorial director - one of three joint managing directors - of Telegraph Group. Is also chairman of the [[National Council for the Training of Journalists]].
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*[[Andrew Porter]], partner, London. Ex-political editor at the [[Daily Telegraph]], Deputy Political Editor for the [[Sunday Times]] and [[The Sun]] <ref> [http://www.brunswickgroup.com/our-people/partners-directors/profile.aspx?id=255 Andrew Porter], Brunswick website, accessed 28 May 2012 </ref>
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*[[Alex Finnegan]], director, London. Former parliamentary researcher to [[Anne Snelgrove]] MP and intern at the [[Labour Party]].
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*[[Chris Blundell]], partner, London. Previously worked in the press office of 10 Downing Street and on political campaigns in the United States.
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*[[Charlotte Winsley]]. director, London. Broadcast officer for [[William Hague]]'s 2001 General Election campaign, head of broadcast for [[Conservative Central Office]] 2001-2004 and head of media, for [[Steve Norris]]' London Mayoral Election Campaign in 2004.
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*[[Lucy Parker]], partner, London. Sister of founder and chairman, [[Alan Parker]]. Led a task force on Talent and Enterprise under [[Gordon Brown]] and helped to transform Brown's image.<ref> [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1583898/PR-king-Alan-Parker-the-No-10-favourite.html PR king Alan Parker, the No 10 favourite] ''The Telegraph'', 4 Apr 2008, accessed 20 October 2014 </ref>
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*Sir [[Nigel Sheinwald]], senior counselor, London. "Before serving as the Ambassador to the United States from 2007 to 2012, he served as the Prime Minister’s principal foreign policy and defense adviser in Downing Street and had over a decade working at senior levels with the European Union, including as the UK Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the EU (2000-2003) and as Europe Director in the UK’s Foreign Office. He has also held a number of other diplomatic posts, including as Foreign Office Press Secretary in the 1990s and in Moscow. He is currently on the board of [[Royal Dutch Shell]]".<ref> [http://www.brunswickgroup.com/people/directory/sir-nigel-sheinwald/ Sir Nigel Sheinwald profile] ''Brunswick Group'', accessed 20 October 2014 </ref>
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*[[Stuart Hudson]], director, London. Special Adviser to [[Gordon Brown]] between 2008 and 2010.<ref> [http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/stuart-hudson/74/b32/8ba Stuart Hudson] ''Linkedin'', accessed 20 October 2014 </ref>
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*[[Fiona Micallef-Eynaud]] (née Mulcahy), director, London. Before joining Brunswick in 2008, she was an Associate Director in [[Citigate Dewe Rogerson]]'s financial PR practice.<ref> [http://www.brunswickgroup.com/people/directory/fiona-micallef-eynaud/ Fiona Micallef-Eynaud] ''Brunswick Group'', accessed 7 January 2015 </ref>
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*[[Richard Jacques]], partner, London. Before joining Brunswick in 2000, he was a diplomat based in Brussels representing the UK Government on industry and competition issues.<ref> [http://www.brunswickgroup.com/people/directory/richard-jacques/ Richard Jacques] ''Brunswick Group'', accessed 7 January 2015 </ref>
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*[[Richard Meredith]], partner, London. Before joining Brunswick in 2012, he was Communications Director for national security issues in the UK government.<ref> [http://www.brunswickgroup.com/people/directory/richard-meredith/ Richard Meredith] ''Brunswick Group'', accessed 7 January 2015 </ref>
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*[[Azhar Khan]], director, London. Joined Brunswick in 2007 from the Mayor of London’s office where he worked in the International Affairs division.<ref> [http://www.brunswickgroup.com/people/directory/azhar-khan/ Azhar Khan] ''Brunswick Group'', accessed 7 January 2015 </ref>
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*[[Simon Sporborg]], managing partner, London. Before joining Brunswick, Sporborg completed an MBA at [[Cass Business School]] and served in the British Army.
  
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'Even the most energetic reporters know that they have to be somewhat deferential in the presence of a powerful publicist. No one on a national beat can afford to be on the wrong side of [those who]..represent a third of the most quotable sources in the countryin the more liberal British media, reporters are less deferential to anyone; but even so the same principle holds truethe most important corporate spin doctors include Alan Parker, creator of Brunswick [[Des Wilson]] of BAA' (David Michie 1998: 10)
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====As of 2014:====
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[[Aideen Lee]] | Sir [[Alan Parker]] | [[Alastair Morton]] | [[Alex Finnegan]] | [[Andrew Fenwick]] | [[Andrew Garfield]] | [[Andrew Mitchell]] | [[Andrew Porter]] | [[Andy Rivett-Carnac]] | [[Anita Scott]] | [[Azadeh Varzi]] | [[Azhar Khan]] | [[Ben Rawlingson Plant]] | [[Bill Krarup]] | [[Brian Buckley]] | [[Carole Cable]] | [[Catherine Samy]] | [[Cathy Wearing]] | [[Charlie Potter]] | [[Charlotte Winsley]] | [[Chris Blundel]] | [[Clemmie Raynsford]] | [[Craig Breheny]] | [[Daisuke Tsuchiya]] | [[Dania Saidam]] | [[David Litterick]] | [[David Yelland]] | [[Debbie Higgins]] | [[Eilís Murphy]] | [[Elizabeth Adams]] | [[Elvira Eilert Pignal]] | [[Fiona Micallef-Eynaud]] | [[Frank Villaz]] | [[Gill Ackers]] | [[James Dray]] | [[James Olley]] | [[Jarrad Comley]] | [[Joe Shipley]] | [[Jon Coles]] | [[Jon Miller]] | [[Jonathan Glass]] | [[Justine McIlroy]] | [[Katie Ioanilli]] | [[Keelin MacGreevy]] | [[Khozem Merchant]] | [[Kim Barnes]] | [[Kim Fletcher]] | [[Laura Buchanan]] | [[Louise Charlton]] | [[Lucy Parker]] | [[Max McGahan]] | [[Melissa Ward]] | [[Michael Harrison]] | [[Mike Smith]] | [[Nick Claydon]] | [[Nick Cosgrove]] | [[Nina Coad]] | [[Patrick Handley]] | [[Phil Riggins]] | [[Pip Green]] | [[Polly James]] | [[Richard Carpenter]] | [[Richard Jacques]] | [[Richard Meredith]] | [[Richard Monturo]] | [[Robin Wrench]] | [[Roddy McDougall]] | [[Rosalee Rich]] | [[Rosheeka Field]] | [[Roxy Fry]] | [[Rurik Ingram]] | [[Sarah West]] | [[Sheila Robinson]] | [[Simon Leigh]] | [[Simon Sporborg]] | [[Sir Nigel Sheinwald]] | [[Sophie Brand]] | [[Stuart Donnelly]] | [[Stuart Hudson]] | [[Tim Danaher]] | [[Tim May]] | [[Toby Low]] | [[Tom Burns]] | [[Tom Williams]]<ref> Brunswick Group, [http://www.brunswickgroup.com/people/directory/ People], accessed 8 September 2014 </ref>
  
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Parker was awarded the IPR's president's medal and made an honourary fellow in 2002. His peers described him and his company in the following terms:
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===Dubai===
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*[[Rupert Young]], partner, Dubai. Launched Brunswick's office in Dubai in January 2007. He has been a communications consultant for fifteen years, the last eleven with Brunswick in London. He has a strong track record of advising senior management of Gulf and European businesses on corporate positioning, business launches and IPOs, mergers and acquisitions and the management of major issues. Is thought of as one of the most influential Brits in the UAE.<ref> [http://www.arabianbusiness.com/top-50-most-influential-brits-in-uae-501889.html?view=profile&itemid=501843#.VETPZ5PF-0Y Top 50 most influential Brits in the UAE] ''Arabian Business'', accessed 20 October 2014 </ref>
  
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"Alan Parker is our industry&#39;s most distinguished practitioner. He has reinvented financial communications and has made Brunswick the pre-eminent business of its time. This award recognises that remarkable record. I am delighted to welcome him as an honorary fellow of the IPR."
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===Asia===
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*[[Tim Payne]], senior partner, head of Asia and Hong Kong. He has been with Brunswick for 11 years, working in London, New York and Hong Kong. Before joining Brunswick, he was a campaign director of the UK [[Liberal Democrat]] Party, running many of their parliamentary campaigns and by-elections.  
  
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Alan Parker is currently on the Board of Governors for the [[Royal Shakespeare Company]], Holland Park School and a [[Demos]] trustee. Previous employment: worked at the PR firm [[Broadstreet]], learning the trade from the top City PR man [[Brian Basham]]. More than 100 clients, including [[ICI]], [[Glaxo]], [[Barclays]].
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===USA===
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*[[Bill Pendergast]], partner, Dallas. Former executive at FleishmanHillard and vice president at [[Ketchum]]. Pendergast's expertise is in corporate reputation, crisis communications and the telecommunications sector, along with senior agency leadership experience.<ref> [http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130620005684/en/Bill-Pendergast-Joins-Brunswick-Group-Partner-Dallas#.VETV5pPF-0Y Bill Pendergast Joins Brunswick Group as Partner in Dallas] ''Business Wire'', 20 June 2013, accessed 20 October 2014 </ref>
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*[[Aman Battish]], director, San Fransisco. Former vice president at [[APCO Worldwide]].
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*[[Antonio Ortolani]], director, New York. Previously worked for [[Edelman]] and [[Weber Shandwick]].
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*[[Erik Hotmire]], director, Washington DC. Worked as senior adviser to the Chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Special Assistant to the President and a White House and Senate spokesman.<ref> [http://www.brunswickgroup.com/people/directory/erik-hotmire/ Erik Hotmire] ''Brunswick Group'', accessed 7 January 2015 </ref>
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*[[Julie Andreeff Jensen]], partner, Washington DC. Led successful political public affair campaigns including [[Barack Obama| President Obama]]'s 2008 victory and Senator [[John Kerry]]'s 2004 Iowa Caucus win.<ref> [http://www.brunswickgroup.com/people/directory/julie-andreeff-jensen/ Julie Andreef Jensen] ''Brunswick Group'', accessed 7 January 2015 </ref>
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*[[Nick Lovegrove]], US managing partner, New York. Former senior advisor to the UK Prime Minister's strategy unit in 10 Downing Street in 2001.<ref> [http://www.brunswickgroup.com/people/directory/nick-lovegrove/ Nick Lovegrove] ''Brunswick'', accessed 7 January 2015 </ref>
  
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Parker was described as 'the most powerful PR man in City, and the City is where PR men exercise more power than anywhere else'. He is said to have owned over 90% of Brunswick, which he founded in 1987, and is worth many many millions (one estimate in 1998 put his stake in Brunswick at �30m stg = almost (50m). Given the boom years that PR has enjoyed in the last decade it is likely that his personal wealth is much greater. In 2002 his stake in the company was worth an estimated �114m! Feb 2004 - Limited Liability Partnership - registered in Delaware.
 
  
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Brunswick is one of 5 key financial PR agencies (others include [[Financial Dynamics]], [[Lowe Bell]], [[Citigate Dewe Rogerson]] and [[Maitland Consultancy]]) who handle over 80% of FTSE 100 clients.
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===Former staff===
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*[[David Yelland]], former partner. Former editor of [[The Sun]], senior vice-president of [[News Corporation]] and vice-chairman of [[Weber Shandwick]]. Is the founder of communications firm [[Kitchen Table Partners]].<ref> Khidr Suleman [http://www.prweek.com/article/1345763/former-brunswick-executive-sun-editor-david-yelland-opens-advisory-agency Former Brunswick executive and Sun editor David Yelland opens advisory agency] ''PR Week'', 6 May 2015, accessed 6 May 2015.</ref>
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*[[Rupert Younger]], now at [[Finsbury]]
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*[[Andrew Grant]], now at [[Tulchan Communications]]
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*[[Helen Scott Lidgett]]
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*[[Sarah Macaulay]], wife of [[Gordon Brown]], worked in Brunswick's arts events subsidiary. Macaulay founded the charity [[PiggyBankKids]] in 2002, which is run from Brunswick's offices. Macaulay is the co-founder of [[Hobsbawm Macaulay Communications]]. She marketed [[Emily's List]], the campaign to increase the number of women MPs.
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*[[David Brewerton]], (retired). Former City editor at ''The Times'' became one of the first financial journalists to move into financial PR when he joined Brunswick. He is reported to have played a key role in blocking [[Hanson]]'s takeover of [[ICI]].<ref> [http://media.guardian.co.uk/top100_2004/story/0,,1249255,00.html Alan Parker] ''Guardian'', 12 July 2004</ref>
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*[[James Rubin]], [[Bill Clinton]]'s former aide, was recruited to Brunswick's political affairs unit in 2001. Rubin reportedly left in April 2004, according to the Observer:
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:Former state department spokesman James Rubin was hired in a blaze of publicity by top financial PR firm Brunswick some time ago. That gave founder Alan Parker the right to brag that he had bagged one half of the world's most glamorous media couples (Rubin is married to London-based CNN correspondent Christiane Amanpour). Now rumour has it that Rubin has quietly quit, although not many people at Brunswick's Holborn HQ will have noticed. 'He was in the office about as often as Johnny Vegas is in the gym,' says a Brunswick insider. <ref>Media diary, '[http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,1202662,00.html Parker feels the rub as star signing quits]', ''Observer'' Business Pages, Pg. 7, 25 April 2004.</ref>
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*[[Andy Browne]] from the Wall Street Journal (Asia) to work in Brunswick's Beijing office
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*[[Michael Lever]], now at the [[Association for Financial Markets]]
 +
*[[Gregory Barker]], now Minister of State at the [[Department for Energy and Climate Change]] was appointed an associate director at Brunswick in 1997
 +
*[[Tim Burt]], former FT media editor.
 +
*[[Robert Moser]], Managing Partner at Merchant
 +
*[[Michael Lever]], former Partner. Previously at [[Credit Suisse]] where he was a Managing Director in Corporate Broking responsible for relationships with several leading financial institutions. Prior to that, he was a banking analyst specialising in the largest UK institutions and was head of banking research teams at several major investment banks including Credit Suisse and [[HSBC]]. Prior to entering stockbroking Michael spent nine years at the [[Bank of England]] primarily in Banking Supervision and as Deputy Group Leader of a team responsible for briefing the UK delegations to the IMF and World Bank.
 +
*[[Catherine Colloms]]. Prior to joining Brunswick, Catherine was a senior Diplomat with the [[Foreign Office]]. Her eight year tenure included roles as Ministerial speech writer for [[Douglas Alexander]] and [[Geoff Hoon], Political Advisor to the High Representative for Bosnia, Lord Ashdown, and coordinating part of the UK government's humanitarian response to September 11th. She specialises in crisis management, corporate reputation and advises on transactions, financial and public affairs issues.
 +
*[[Jonathan Rhodes]], former partner, London. Former Shadow Cabinet special adviser for the [[Labour Party]], during the four years up to the '97 Election. After the election, he joined PolyGram. He specialises in corporate communications, public affairs, and regulatory PR. Joined [[British Growth Fund]] ([[BGF]]) in 2011.
 +
*[[Graeme Trayner]], former Partner leading the group's opinion research practice. His roots lie in political campaign research, having worked closely with Labour Party pollsters [[Deborah Mattinson]] and [[Philip Gould]].<ref name="BW"/> Now at [[Greenberg Quinlan Rosner]]
 +
*[[Andrew Hood]].  In 2002, Hood left his role as special adviser to the Labour Party in "controversial circumstances" by becoming a senior partner at Brunswick.<ref>Info-Dynamics Research, "[http://www.scribd.com/doc/37220673/5D3DCAA1-15AB-4CF0-B7A5-EB449C165AF2-List-of-Advisers-April-2006-Congress-Final Where are they now? The 1997/1998 Special Advisers to the Labour Government]", ''GMB: April 2006 Briefing'', p6, accessed 23.09.10</ref>  ''PR Week'' reported that Hood was "poached" from his role at the Ministry of Defence, potentially leading to a conflict of interest "as Brunswick clients include [[Rolls-Royce]] and [[Smiths Industries]], which both supply to the defence sector indirectly".<ref>Staff writers, "[http://www.prweek.com/uk/news/search/146428// Brunswick poaches MoD's top adviser]", ''PR Week UK'', 24.05.02, accessed 23.09.10</ref>
  
−
Brunswick is perhaps the most secretive and invisible of all the leading City / financial PR firms in the UK. It only recently published a website, and doesn't reveal who they work for. It is known in the PR world that they have a blue-chip client list that is the envy of most other agencies. They do not advertise - business comes by referral and reputation,
+
==Clients==
 +
Brunswick are reluctant to advertise client details, and do not publish a list of clients. However, it's known that they represent firms below:
  
−
What do such important city spin doctors do? As one revealed:
+
===Financial sector===
 +
*[[Barclays]] (PR - Andrew Garfield) | [[HBoS]] (advising on takeover 2009)<ref>[http://www.prweek.com/uk/search/article/850714/Banking-industry-Insiders-Guide-UK-banks-reputation-managers/ Banking industry Insider's Guide: UK banks' reputation managers], PR Week, 03-Oct-08</ref> | [[Alliance and Leicester]] (PR)<ref>[http://www.prweek.com/uk/search/article/850714/Banking-industry-Insiders-Guide-UK-banks-reputation-managers/ Banking industry Insider's Guide: UK banks' reputation managers], PR Week, 03-Oct-08</ref>  | [[Casenove]] | [[Standard Life]] | [[FF&P]] | [[Intermediate Capital Group]] | [[Putnam]] | [[Ramius Capital Group]] | [[Mizuho International]] (Japanese Investment Bank)<ref>[http://www.prweek.com/uk/sectors/City/article/874647/brunswick-takes-mizuho-brief/ PR Week], 20 Jan 2009</ref>
  
−
:I could give you the whole anodyne spiel about the work we do for our clients - financial calendar stuffbut it's not really what they pay us for. Nine months of the year we take their retainer and give them back precisely sweet FA. What they are doing is taking out insurance. Because when the shit does hit the fan they know that we'll fix the media for them. We'll get the right stories in the right papers and we can do more to get their shareholders on side than anyone else
+
===Environmental /Energy/ Infrastructure===
 +
{{‪Template:Fracking badge‬}}
 +
*In February 2009, Brunswick won the retained financial comms account with the [[Drax Group]], which operates the UK's largest coal-fired power station. The account is understood to be worth in excess of six-figures.<ref>[http://www.prweek.com/uk/news/article/884111/Brunswick-scoops-Drax-brief/ Brunswick scoops Drax brief], PR Week, 25 Feb 2009</ref>
 +
*[[EDF]], the nuclear energy group. The Evening Standard noted in Jan 2008 how EDF's lobbying ties might help its case for new nuclear build in the UK: “EDF Energy is doing the Government's bidding and wants to build four new nuclear power stations in the UK. As City Spy reported, the EDF director on the nuclear side is [[Andrew Brown]], brother of Gordon. Who do EDF use as their PR advisers? Brunswick. And where has Brunswick's CEO [[Stephen Carter]] gone? Gordon Brown's office. And who is Gordon Brown godfather to? The son of Alan Parker, the boss of Brunswick.”<ref>Evening Standard, “Keeping It In The (Nuclear) Family”, January 16, 2008, p34</ref> 
 +
*[[British Airways]]
 +
*[[Blue Circle]]
 +
*[[Anglo American]] mining giant have their UK financial PR account with Brunswick on a long term basis, except between Dec 2007 and Nov 2009, when they moved to [[Financial Dynamics]] due to a perceived conflict of interest while Brunswick were also advising [[BHP Billiton]]<ref>Alec Mattinson,PR Week, November 20, 2009 [http://www.prweek.com/channel/ConsumerEntertainment/article/968007/Mining%20firm%20Anglo%20American%20hands%20UK%20account%20back%20to%20Brunswick/ Anglo American hands UK account back to Brunswick] Accessed 14/07/10</ref>.
 +
*[[BHP Billiton]]<ref>Alec Mattinson,PR Week, November 20, 2009 [http://www.prweek.com/channel/ConsumerEntertainment/article/968007/Mining%20firm%20Anglo%20American%20hands%20UK%20account%20back%20to%20Brunswick/ Anglo American hands UK account back to Brunswick] Accessed 14/07/10</ref>
 +
*[[Cuadrilla]] - circa June 2012. [[Joe Shipley]] and [[Emma Walsh]] listed as media contacts.
 +
*Brunswick previously worked with former [[BP]] CEO [[Lord Browne]], 'with founder Alan Parker personally advising Browne during his resignation from the oil giant after the publication of details concerning his personal life' according to ''PR Week''. Brunswick partners [[Andrew Mitchell]] and [[Robin Wrench]] handled comms for Browne's [[Riverstone Holdings]], when it floated investment company [[Riverstone Energy]] in October 2013 <ref> Alec Mattinson, Brunswick backs float of Lord Browne's Riverstone energy fund, PR Week, 25 September 2013, acc 2 February 2014 </ref>
  
−
So what do they do for the retainers (when the shit is hitting the fan)? They develop cosy relationships with journalists (many City PR's are ex-financial journalists); the offer exclusive access to clients for friendly journalists; they can deny access to other clients of a reporter produces negative copy; they conduct research on their clients competitors and supply this to the press; they have also been known to pass price sensitive information to journalists.
+
===Media===
 +
*It was reported in late 2006 that Brunswick worked for media clients including: [[EMI]], [[NTL]], [[Reed Elsevier]], FT publisher [[Pearson]], [[Reuters]], [[Emap]], [[Time Warner]] and [[ITN]]. <ref> [http://media.guardian.co.uk/marketingandpr/story/0,,1964490,00.html Media Guardian], 5 December 2006</ref> It has also been revealed they were involved in the [[Facebook]]-[[Whatsapp]] deal. <ref> [http://www.prweek.com/article/1283450/brunswick-handles-comms-facebook-whatsapp-deal], accessed Sept 2014 </ref>
 +
 +
===Football===
 +
*[[Newcastle United]]
 +
*[[Malcolm Glazer]]
 +
*[[MK Dons]]
 +
When businessman [[Charles Koppel]] planned to move Wimbledon Football Club to a new bigger venue in Milton Keynes the fans were infuriated and started to boycott the club. The Wimbledon Independent Supporters Assocation noted that “Mr Koppel’s reaction to the fans demands for a return to the club’s former ground at Plough Lane was to try to mobilise a few local residents into support for the Milton Keynes extravagance. A press statement by these residents rather lost its impact when all media enquiries were referred to Brunswick Public Relations, the PR firm employed by Mr Koppel.”<ref>http://www.wisa.org.uk/cgi/l/articles/index.cgi?action=show&id=227 Wimbledon Independent Supporters Association], accessed March 2009</ref>
  
−
March & September are busy times for City PR firms, known as results season, when listed companies must report their financial position to the Stock Exchange. City PR devotes much effort to perfecting the corporate message in financial statements. This is known as investor relations, a discipline hailed as the unsung villains of the Enron collapse, such was their role in misleading investors about the financial health of the corporation. As one ex-Brunswick employee confessed:
+
===Other===
 +
*Brunswick has also worked for: [[BT]] |  [[Safeway]] | [[Kellan Group]] | [[Rutley European Property Ltd]] | [[William Hill]] | [[French Connection]] | [[LK Bennett]] | [[MITIE Group]] | [[BowLeven]]<ref name="BW"/> | [[Just Eat]] <ref> Alec Mattinson [http://www.prweek.com/article/1285510/just-eat-use-brunswick-london-float Just Eat to use Brunswick for London float] ''PR Week'', 17 March 2014, accessed 8 September 2014 </ref> | [[Burger King]] <ref> Diana Bradley [http://www.prweek.com/article/1309123/brunswick-aiding-burger-king-pr-tim-hortons-deal Brunswick aiding Burger King with PR for Tim Hortons deal], 15 August 2014, accessed 8 Sept 2014 </ref>
  
−
:'Everyone hates their jobs during results seasonthere are a lot of extremely pissed off people who want out. But where else is there to go? At Brunswick you are encouraged to believe you are working for the best agency in town. You know there are plenty of others in the wings waiting to take your place'
+
===Previous clients / projects===
 +
*They previously worked for [[Marks & Spencer]], [[Marconi Corporation]], and [[Railtrack]] (before administration).
  
−
on top of this hothouse atmosphere
+
*In July 2002 the ''Wall Street Journal'' reported that [[Martha Stewart]] had hired the Brunswick Group to massage her image in the wake of allegations that she profited from insider trading. <ref> Sheldon Rampton [http://www.prwatch.org/node/1290 Makeover for Martha Stewart] ''PR Watch'', 1 July 2002, accessed 10 March 2015 </ref>
−
 
+
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City spin doctors at Brunswick PR have thoughtfully inaugurated a regular "debating" evening for internees, I mean staff. As they already work 15 hour days there is no obligation to attend these long and pointless evenings. Or is there. "It is something of a three-line whip," twitches my uncomfortable source. Bad luck chaps. Latest hot topic: "Is there a future for newspapers?"
+
*In March 2004, the controversy over the exaggeration of the oil and gas reserves of [[Shell|Shell Oil]] resulted in the resignation of the then chairman, [[Philip Watts]], and [[Walter van de Vijver]], who was responsible for exploration and production. In an attempt to manage the crisis Shell hired the Brunswick Group to help it manage the crisis. "Brunswick has recently come on board, but we don't really say much more about what they do," Corrigan told ''PR Week''. <ref>[http://www.prweek.com/news/news_worldwire.cfm?site=1&ID=208949&site=3&/news/news_worldwire.cfm&setcookie=1 PR Week]"</ref>
−
 
 
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==Financial journalism==
 
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Related to this
 
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:It looks like marshmallows around the camp fire in Lincoln's Inn Field for the Daily Telegraph's City office. Staff have been three-line whipped for a bit of weekend bonding on 18 November at what looks suspiciously like the offices of Brunswick, the PR agency.
 
−
 
 
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:A mysterious memo to staff from [[Neil Collins]], the City editor, explains: "It's an away day to discuss the future of the City Pages. Although attendance is not compulsory those of a paranoid disposition will regret not being there and the rest of us might have a good time (although some work will be done). There will be no counselling. At this stage I do not intend to answer press inquiries. . .''
 
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:A wise move. While they would not confirm it, the navel gaze is apparently being run by [[Professional Presentations]], a human resources consultancy based in Brunswick's offices and run by Lucy Parker, sister of the PR agency's Alan Parker.
 
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Not beloved by all financial journalists
 
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:The phones were out of order at Brunswick - the PR company that is to the City what lint is to pockets (annoying and hard to get rid of) - for most of yesterday. Net productivity in the City soared as a result. (If anyone at Cable & Wireless fancies making pounds 50 in return for cutting them off again, give me a call.)
 
−
 
 
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:Sir [[Peter Davis]], the Sainsbury chairman, was banished from BBC screens and airwaves last week after a row with his "over-protective" - the BBC's words, not mine - PR minders. Brunswick, the PR company for Sainsbury, was insisting that all the TV stations carry a "pooled" interview with Davis because of his busy schedule rather than speak to him individually. This is a recent trend, my mole at the Beeb tells me, and simply not on. Similar offers will likewise be rejected unless there is a compelling reason. Pooled reports are reserved normally for interviews with members of the Royal Family or the Gulf War - events by comparison with which Sainsbury's results rather pale into insignificance.
 
−
 
 
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Exiting its Marks & Spencer post together with Roger Holmes and Luc Vandevelde was Brunswick, the PR agency which perhaps had good reason to feel aggrieved after it helped Marks & Spencer fight off [[Philip Green]]'s last threatened takeover. To add spice, [[Tulchan Communications]], which is run by ex-Brunswick senior partner [[Andrew Grant]], was handed the account instead.
 
−
 
 
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==Astroturf==
 
  
−
A [[Football Association]] arbitration panel meets on Monday to adjudicate on whether Wimbledon can relocate to Milton Keynes and the struggle between fans and chairman is becoming increasingly bitter and personal.
+
*[[Hutchison Whampoa]] 2003 <ref> [http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2003/03/03/196624 Hutchison to limit its Global Crossing role to get bid OK] ''Taipei Times'', 3 March 2003, accessed 10 March 2015 </ref>
  
−
[[Charles Koppel]], who has proposed the plan, faces the threat of legal action from Merton's council leader Andrew Judge after Koppel allegedly said Judge only wanted Wimbledon back in the borough because his girlfriend was a fan.  
+
*[[D1 Oils plc]] is a UK-based global producer of biodiesel. <ref>Company News Feed formerly Regulatory News Service, 23 January 2007</ref>
  
−
Judge strongly denied this and said he wants the club to return to Plough Lane because it is their home. He also pointed to a council survey which found 86% of residents in favour of a return to Merton. The club then responded with a press release from the residents' association of Haydons Bridge, the location of the former ground at Plough Lane, at a meeting of which Koppel's comments were allegedly made. That said the comments about Judge were taken out of context even though they were made in a taped conversation. The Residents' Association's listed contact is [[Sandra Clegg]], an employee of Brunswick, the PR company Wimbledon is paying �200,000 a year to help engineer the move to Milton Keynes.
+
*[[Fleming Family & Partners]] Capital Management <ref> [http://www.standardchartered.com/global/news/2005/grp_20051208.pdf] </ref>
  
−
Brunswick PR in 2002 leaked damaging information on rivals to its new client [[John Duffield]] - who then ditched them!
+
*[[St James's Place]] Wealth Management Advice <ref> [http://www.sjpc.co.uk/portal/internet/]</ref>
  
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== Contact details==
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==Contact details==
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16 Lincoln's Inn Fields <br>
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[[Image:Map.gif|thumb|right|Map of Brunswick office]]
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London WC2A 3ED<br>
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:16 Lincoln's Inn Fields  
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UK<br>
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:London WC2A 3ED
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Phone: 44 20 7404 5959<br>
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:UK
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Fax: 44 20 7831 2823 <br>
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:Web: http://www.brunswickgroup.com www.brunswickgroup.com
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Web: http://www.brunswickgroup.com
 
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
Line 139: Line 172:
 
*"[http://www.prweek.com/uk/search/article/517177/brunswick-boosts-ma-arm-trio/ Brunswick boosts M&A arm with trio]", ''PR Week'',  September 16, 2005. (Sub req'd).
 
*"[http://www.prweek.com/uk/search/article/517177/brunswick-boosts-ma-arm-trio/ Brunswick boosts M&A arm with trio]", ''PR Week'',  September 16, 2005. (Sub req'd).
  
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==Notes==
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===References===
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<references/>
  
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{{note|Media}} Media diary, '[http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,1202662,00.html Parker feels the rub as star signing quits]', ''Observer'' Business Pages, Pg. 7, April 25, 2004.
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[[Category:Lobbying firms]]
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[[Category: Financial sector lobbying]]
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[[Category:Mining and Metals: Public Relations]]
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[[Category:Nuclear Spin]]
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[[Category:Fracking]]
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[[Category:Lobbying]]

Latest revision as of 11:35, 27 January 2017

Brunswick offices, Lincolns Inn Fields, central London
Brunswick offices, Avenue des Arts 27, Brussels

The Brunswick Group is an international PR and lobbying firm, headquartered in London. Its founder is Alan Parker, friend of former UK prime minister Gordon Brown. Brunswick specialises in financial PR, and Parker is considered to be one of the UK's leading financial PR men (alongside Roland Rudd). Its blue-chip client list is the envy of most other agencies. It is one of a handful of key financial PR agencies in the UK, including: FD, Buchanan, Citigate Dewe Rogerson, Pelham PR, Finsbury, and Maitland Consultancy.

Brunswick is seen as both a major force and an enigma - it has steadfastly declined to participate in PR Week's fee income rankings, for example, and Brunswick founder, Alan Parker, rarely grants interviews and is uncomfortable when he becomes the focus of a story. ‘It's bad manners to get between the client and the footlights,' he reportedly says.[1] It also doesn't publish a client list.

Links

Services

Brunswick has ranked at the top or near the top of league tables for financial communications consultancies. It advises clients on public affairs, media and investor relations, mergers and acquisitions, competition and regulatory issues, crisis management, international communications and corporate reputation.[2]

On public affairs, Brunswick says:

"Our team includes former senior government advisers and political campaign staff who understand the context in which decisions are taken in government, the relative influence of the stakeholders involved and can advise on the most effective communication of a client's case. We work closely with in-house government relations teams and external lobbying firms to help broaden public support for our client's position and build a better understanding of their business among their relevant government audiences."[2]

CFO Europe reports in March 2006 on its role in corporate deals:

Brunswick has long been seen as epitomising the influence-and-access game in deals circles, something that it is exporting to other centres. Notably, in 2001 Brunswick recruited as head of its US operations Steve Lipin, a former Wall Street Journal M&A reporter with a reputation for aggressively leveraging his newspaper’s franchise to get news scoops on deals. [Brunswick] has had its share of controversy over its aggressive tactics. Also in 2001, for example, a former client, Jupiter Asset Management (which had been acquired by Commerzbank), threatened to sue Brunswick after the PR firm sent a dossier to several London newspapers claiming that Jupiter was in financial trouble.[3]

Political connections

Brunswick founder, Alan Parker is a close personal friend of Gordon Brown and his wife Sarah Brown. The former prime minister is godfather to one of Parker's children and Sarah used to work at Brunswick. It was Parker who recommended Stephen Carter, former Ofcom chief executive and (briefly) the chief executive of Brunswick, to be the PM's new chief of strategy. When Brown visited China and India at the beginning of 2008, he was accompanied not only by Carter but Parker as well, prompting one observer to ask - was the prime minister getting two advisers for the price of one?[4]

David Cameron, at the time leader of the UK Conservative Party and now UK PM, also attended Parker's wedding, alongside the Browns. Parker was pictured on holiday in South Africa in 2008 with Cameron[5]

  • Previously, in 1999-2000, Brunswick paid more than £5,000 to the Labour Party for 'tickets for dinners', and in 2001 gave £9,000 to Labour.[6]
  • Brunswick also donated the services of an employee to the Government to help work on the Financial Services and Markets Bill - legislation which will regulate business in the City and which would provide invaluable information to Brunswick's clients."[7]

Relations with the media

Brunswick and Parker have "a network of close contacts at the top of British companies and a similar network within the financial press. As an intermediary between these two networks he tries to shape perceptions of companies or business people."[9]

The significance of a financial PR to journalists is explained by David Michie in 1997:

'Even the most energetic reporters know that they have to be somewhat deferential in the presence of a powerful publicist. No one on a national beat can afford to be on the wrong side of [those who]..represent a third of the most quotable sources in the country in the more liberal British media, reporters are less deferential to anyone; but even so the same principle holds true the most important corporate spin doctors include Alan Parker, creator of Brunswick.[10]

Besides hiring senior journalists, Brunswick provides other services to media professionals as the Independent notes in 1995:

It looks like marshmallows around the camp fire in Lincoln's Inn Field for the Daily Telegraph's City office. Staff have been three-line whipped for a bit of weekend bonding on 18 November at what looks suspiciously like the offices of Brunswick, the PR agency. A mysterious memo to staff from Neil Collins, the City editor, explains: "It's an away day to discuss the future of the City Pages. Although attendance is not compulsory those of a paranoid disposition will regret not being there and the rest of us might have a good time (although some work will be done). There will be no counselling. At this stage I do not intend to answer press inquiries. . . A wise move. While they would not confirm it, the navel gaze is apparently being run by Professional Presentations, a human resources consultancy based in Brunswick's offices and run by Lucy Parker, sister of the PR agency's Alan Parker.[11]

However, Brunswick is not beloved by all financial journalists, as this City Diary entry in 2001 shows:

The phones were out of order at Brunswick - the PR company that is to the City what lint is to pockets (annoying and hard to get rid of) - for most of yesterday. Net productivity in the City soared as a result. (If anyone at Cable & Wireless fancies making £50 in return for cutting them off again, give me a call.)[12]

History and structure

The Brunswick Group was founded in 1987. In 2009 it employed 440 people based in 15 offices in 11 countries. It has developed a robust international network - for instance, after establishing a strong presence in New York, Brunswick cracked the US West Coast by opening a San Francisco office and picking up clients of the calibre of Gap, Google, Sun Microsystems and Cisco.

The Brunswick Group has been through many different names and identities. Records available at companies House show that Brunswick used to be called Lincoln Research Ltd. Its name was changed to Brunswick Public Relations Limited on 6 March 1997. [13] Other companies in the group or of which Alan Parker or John Andrew Fenwick are Directors have also gone through name changes.

Subsidiaries

People

UK

  • Alan Parker, founder and chairman. Parker owns 88 percent of Brunswick's Channel Islands holding company, Wynnstay, giving him control of the agency and a stake in the company worth an estimated £114m. Parker's personal assets are thought to be around £6m.
  • Andrew Fenwick, co-founder, vice chairman and chief financial officer, London. Owns a combined 10% of Brunswick joint with Louise Charlton.[17]
  • Louise Charlton, co-founder and vice chairman, London. Owns a combined 10% of Brunswick joint with Andrew Fenwick.[17]
  • Andrew Garfield, partner. Former financial editor of the Independent.
  • Gill Ackers, partner, London. One of the partners leading Brunswick's financial institutions team and also its media group, Gill has particular expertise in strategic positioning, reputation management and profile-raising having worked with a range of listed and unlisted corporates across Europe. Gill has advised on mergers, acquisitions and disposals and her expertise also extends to crisis and issue management, covering everything from crises in corporate performance to financial fraud, blackmail, and investigative journalism into individuals. Before joining Brunswick, Gill was head of media for the London Stock exchange. She was recently a member of the FSA's Continuing Obligations theme team, reviewing and advising on policy as part of the comprehensive review of the listing rules.[2]
  • Kim Fletcher, partner, London. Former editor of The Independent on Sunday and was editorial director - one of three joint managing directors - of Telegraph Group. Is also chairman of the National Council for the Training of Journalists.
  • Andrew Porter, partner, London. Ex-political editor at the Daily Telegraph, Deputy Political Editor for the Sunday Times and The Sun [18]
  • Alex Finnegan, director, London. Former parliamentary researcher to Anne Snelgrove MP and intern at the Labour Party.
  • Chris Blundell, partner, London. Previously worked in the press office of 10 Downing Street and on political campaigns in the United States.
  • Charlotte Winsley. director, London. Broadcast officer for William Hague's 2001 General Election campaign, head of broadcast for Conservative Central Office 2001-2004 and head of media, for Steve Norris' London Mayoral Election Campaign in 2004.
  • Lucy Parker, partner, London. Sister of founder and chairman, Alan Parker. Led a task force on Talent and Enterprise under Gordon Brown and helped to transform Brown's image.[19]
  • Sir Nigel Sheinwald, senior counselor, London. "Before serving as the Ambassador to the United States from 2007 to 2012, he served as the Prime Minister’s principal foreign policy and defense adviser in Downing Street and had over a decade working at senior levels with the European Union, including as the UK Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the EU (2000-2003) and as Europe Director in the UK’s Foreign Office. He has also held a number of other diplomatic posts, including as Foreign Office Press Secretary in the 1990s and in Moscow. He is currently on the board of Royal Dutch Shell".[20]
  • Stuart Hudson, director, London. Special Adviser to Gordon Brown between 2008 and 2010.[21]
  • Fiona Micallef-Eynaud (née Mulcahy), director, London. Before joining Brunswick in 2008, she was an Associate Director in Citigate Dewe Rogerson's financial PR practice.[22]
  • Richard Jacques, partner, London. Before joining Brunswick in 2000, he was a diplomat based in Brussels representing the UK Government on industry and competition issues.[23]
  • Richard Meredith, partner, London. Before joining Brunswick in 2012, he was Communications Director for national security issues in the UK government.[24]
  • Azhar Khan, director, London. Joined Brunswick in 2007 from the Mayor of London’s office where he worked in the International Affairs division.[25]
  • Simon Sporborg, managing partner, London. Before joining Brunswick, Sporborg completed an MBA at Cass Business School and served in the British Army.

As of 2014:

Aideen Lee | Sir Alan Parker | Alastair Morton | Alex Finnegan | Andrew Fenwick | Andrew Garfield | Andrew Mitchell | Andrew Porter | Andy Rivett-Carnac | Anita Scott | Azadeh Varzi | Azhar Khan | Ben Rawlingson Plant | Bill Krarup | Brian Buckley | Carole Cable | Catherine Samy | Cathy Wearing | Charlie Potter | Charlotte Winsley | Chris Blundel | Clemmie Raynsford | Craig Breheny | Daisuke Tsuchiya | Dania Saidam | David Litterick | David Yelland | Debbie Higgins | Eilís Murphy | Elizabeth Adams | Elvira Eilert Pignal | Fiona Micallef-Eynaud | Frank Villaz | Gill Ackers | James Dray | James Olley | Jarrad Comley | Joe Shipley | Jon Coles | Jon Miller | Jonathan Glass | Justine McIlroy | Katie Ioanilli | Keelin MacGreevy | Khozem Merchant | Kim Barnes | Kim Fletcher | Laura Buchanan | Louise Charlton | Lucy Parker | Max McGahan | Melissa Ward | Michael Harrison | Mike Smith | Nick Claydon | Nick Cosgrove | Nina Coad | Patrick Handley | Phil Riggins | Pip Green | Polly James | Richard Carpenter | Richard Jacques | Richard Meredith | Richard Monturo | Robin Wrench | Roddy McDougall | Rosalee Rich | Rosheeka Field | Roxy Fry | Rurik Ingram | Sarah West | Sheila Robinson | Simon Leigh | Simon Sporborg | Sir Nigel Sheinwald | Sophie Brand | Stuart Donnelly | Stuart Hudson | Tim Danaher | Tim May | Toby Low | Tom Burns | Tom Williams[26]

Dubai

  • Rupert Young, partner, Dubai. Launched Brunswick's office in Dubai in January 2007. He has been a communications consultant for fifteen years, the last eleven with Brunswick in London. He has a strong track record of advising senior management of Gulf and European businesses on corporate positioning, business launches and IPOs, mergers and acquisitions and the management of major issues. Is thought of as one of the most influential Brits in the UAE.[27]

Asia

  • Tim Payne, senior partner, head of Asia and Hong Kong. He has been with Brunswick for 11 years, working in London, New York and Hong Kong. Before joining Brunswick, he was a campaign director of the UK Liberal Democrat Party, running many of their parliamentary campaigns and by-elections.

USA

  • Bill Pendergast, partner, Dallas. Former executive at FleishmanHillard and vice president at Ketchum. Pendergast's expertise is in corporate reputation, crisis communications and the telecommunications sector, along with senior agency leadership experience.[28]
  • Aman Battish, director, San Fransisco. Former vice president at APCO Worldwide.
  • Antonio Ortolani, director, New York. Previously worked for Edelman and Weber Shandwick.
  • Erik Hotmire, director, Washington DC. Worked as senior adviser to the Chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Special Assistant to the President and a White House and Senate spokesman.[29]
  • Julie Andreeff Jensen, partner, Washington DC. Led successful political public affair campaigns including President Obama's 2008 victory and Senator John Kerry's 2004 Iowa Caucus win.[30]
  • Nick Lovegrove, US managing partner, New York. Former senior advisor to the UK Prime Minister's strategy unit in 10 Downing Street in 2001.[31]


Former staff

Former state department spokesman James Rubin was hired in a blaze of publicity by top financial PR firm Brunswick some time ago. That gave founder Alan Parker the right to brag that he had bagged one half of the world's most glamorous media couples (Rubin is married to London-based CNN correspondent Christiane Amanpour). Now rumour has it that Rubin has quietly quit, although not many people at Brunswick's Holborn HQ will have noticed. 'He was in the office about as often as Johnny Vegas is in the gym,' says a Brunswick insider. [34]
  • Andy Browne from the Wall Street Journal (Asia) to work in Brunswick's Beijing office
  • Michael Lever, now at the Association for Financial Markets
  • Gregory Barker, now Minister of State at the Department for Energy and Climate Change was appointed an associate director at Brunswick in 1997
  • Tim Burt, former FT media editor.
  • Robert Moser, Managing Partner at Merchant
  • Michael Lever, former Partner. Previously at Credit Suisse where he was a Managing Director in Corporate Broking responsible for relationships with several leading financial institutions. Prior to that, he was a banking analyst specialising in the largest UK institutions and was head of banking research teams at several major investment banks including Credit Suisse and HSBC. Prior to entering stockbroking Michael spent nine years at the Bank of England primarily in Banking Supervision and as Deputy Group Leader of a team responsible for briefing the UK delegations to the IMF and World Bank.
  • Catherine Colloms. Prior to joining Brunswick, Catherine was a senior Diplomat with the Foreign Office. Her eight year tenure included roles as Ministerial speech writer for Douglas Alexander and [[Geoff Hoon], Political Advisor to the High Representative for Bosnia, Lord Ashdown, and coordinating part of the UK government's humanitarian response to September 11th. She specialises in crisis management, corporate reputation and advises on transactions, financial and public affairs issues.
  • Jonathan Rhodes, former partner, London. Former Shadow Cabinet special adviser for the Labour Party, during the four years up to the '97 Election. After the election, he joined PolyGram. He specialises in corporate communications, public affairs, and regulatory PR. Joined British Growth Fund (BGF) in 2011.
  • Graeme Trayner, former Partner leading the group's opinion research practice. His roots lie in political campaign research, having worked closely with Labour Party pollsters Deborah Mattinson and Philip Gould.[2] Now at Greenberg Quinlan Rosner
  • Andrew Hood. In 2002, Hood left his role as special adviser to the Labour Party in "controversial circumstances" by becoming a senior partner at Brunswick.[35] PR Week reported that Hood was "poached" from his role at the Ministry of Defence, potentially leading to a conflict of interest "as Brunswick clients include Rolls-Royce and Smiths Industries, which both supply to the defence sector indirectly".[36]

Clients

Brunswick are reluctant to advertise client details, and do not publish a list of clients. However, it's known that they represent firms below:

Financial sector

Environmental /Energy/ Infrastructure

FrackWell.png This article is part of the Spinwatch Fracking Portal and project
  • In February 2009, Brunswick won the retained financial comms account with the Drax Group, which operates the UK's largest coal-fired power station. The account is understood to be worth in excess of six-figures.[40]
  • EDF, the nuclear energy group. The Evening Standard noted in Jan 2008 how EDF's lobbying ties might help its case for new nuclear build in the UK: “EDF Energy is doing the Government's bidding and wants to build four new nuclear power stations in the UK. As City Spy reported, the EDF director on the nuclear side is Andrew Brown, brother of Gordon. Who do EDF use as their PR advisers? Brunswick. And where has Brunswick's CEO Stephen Carter gone? Gordon Brown's office. And who is Gordon Brown godfather to? The son of Alan Parker, the boss of Brunswick.”[41]
  • British Airways
  • Blue Circle
  • Anglo American mining giant have their UK financial PR account with Brunswick on a long term basis, except between Dec 2007 and Nov 2009, when they moved to Financial Dynamics due to a perceived conflict of interest while Brunswick were also advising BHP Billiton[42].
  • BHP Billiton[43]
  • Cuadrilla - circa June 2012. Joe Shipley and Emma Walsh listed as media contacts.
  • Brunswick previously worked with former BP CEO Lord Browne, 'with founder Alan Parker personally advising Browne during his resignation from the oil giant after the publication of details concerning his personal life' according to PR Week. Brunswick partners Andrew Mitchell and Robin Wrench handled comms for Browne's Riverstone Holdings, when it floated investment company Riverstone Energy in October 2013 [44]

Media

Football

When businessman Charles Koppel planned to move Wimbledon Football Club to a new bigger venue in Milton Keynes the fans were infuriated and started to boycott the club. The Wimbledon Independent Supporters Assocation noted that “Mr Koppel’s reaction to the fans demands for a return to the club’s former ground at Plough Lane was to try to mobilise a few local residents into support for the Milton Keynes extravagance. A press statement by these residents rather lost its impact when all media enquiries were referred to Brunswick Public Relations, the PR firm employed by Mr Koppel.”[47]

Other

Previous clients / projects

  • In July 2002 the Wall Street Journal reported that Martha Stewart had hired the Brunswick Group to massage her image in the wake of allegations that she profited from insider trading. [50]
  • In March 2004, the controversy over the exaggeration of the oil and gas reserves of Shell Oil resulted in the resignation of the then chairman, Philip Watts, and Walter van de Vijver, who was responsible for exploration and production. In an attempt to manage the crisis Shell hired the Brunswick Group to help it manage the crisis. "Brunswick has recently come on board, but we don't really say much more about what they do," Corrigan told PR Week. [51]

Contact details

Map of Brunswick office
16 Lincoln's Inn Fields
London WC2A 3ED
UK
Web: http://www.brunswickgroup.com www.brunswickgroup.com

External links

References

  1. ↑ TOP 150 PR CONSULTANCIES: Brunswick -- bashful but still bullish, PR Week, 24 April 2008
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Brunswick's website, accessed March 2009
  3. ↑ [http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/5518719?f=singlepage CFO Europe, 7 March 2006
  4. ↑ Alan Parker profile, Guardian, 14 July 2008
  5. ↑ Alan Parker profile, Guardian, 14 July 2008
  6. ↑ Where the party got its money from, Guardian 9 sept 2001
  7. ↑ 'Staff for favours' row hits Treasury, Guardian, 25 June 2000
  8. ↑ Info-Dynamics Research, "Where are they now? The 1997/1998 Special Advisers to the Labour Government", GMB: April 2006 Briefing, p6, accessed 23.09.10
  9. ↑ Robert Peston, Who Runs Britain?, Hodder & Stoughton, 2008
  10. ↑ Michie D., 1997, " The Invisible Persuaders: How Britain's Spin Doctors Manipulate the Media", p.26
  11. ↑ CITY DIARY, Independent, Nov 2, 1995
  12. ↑ City Diary, Guardian, 13 February 2001
  13. ↑ Companies House 363s Annual Return for Brunswick Public Relations Limited, 18 June 1997
  14. ↑ Cantos
  15. ↑ The Lincoln Centre
  16. ↑ Merchant
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Salamander Davoudi Brunswick to release equity for partners Financial Times, 4 July 2011, accessed 20 October 2014
  18. ↑ Andrew Porter, Brunswick website, accessed 28 May 2012
  19. ↑ PR king Alan Parker, the No 10 favourite The Telegraph, 4 Apr 2008, accessed 20 October 2014
  20. ↑ Sir Nigel Sheinwald profile Brunswick Group, accessed 20 October 2014
  21. ↑ Stuart Hudson Linkedin, accessed 20 October 2014
  22. ↑ Fiona Micallef-Eynaud Brunswick Group, accessed 7 January 2015
  23. ↑ Richard Jacques Brunswick Group, accessed 7 January 2015
  24. ↑ Richard Meredith Brunswick Group, accessed 7 January 2015
  25. ↑ Azhar Khan Brunswick Group, accessed 7 January 2015
  26. ↑ Brunswick Group, People, accessed 8 September 2014
  27. ↑ Top 50 most influential Brits in the UAE Arabian Business, accessed 20 October 2014
  28. ↑ Bill Pendergast Joins Brunswick Group as Partner in Dallas Business Wire, 20 June 2013, accessed 20 October 2014
  29. ↑ Erik Hotmire Brunswick Group, accessed 7 January 2015
  30. ↑ Julie Andreef Jensen Brunswick Group, accessed 7 January 2015
  31. ↑ Nick Lovegrove Brunswick, accessed 7 January 2015
  32. ↑ Khidr Suleman Former Brunswick executive and Sun editor David Yelland opens advisory agency PR Week, 6 May 2015, accessed 6 May 2015.
  33. ↑ Alan Parker Guardian, 12 July 2004
  34. ↑ Media diary, 'Parker feels the rub as star signing quits', Observer Business Pages, Pg. 7, 25 April 2004.
  35. ↑ Info-Dynamics Research, "Where are they now? The 1997/1998 Special Advisers to the Labour Government", GMB: April 2006 Briefing, p6, accessed 23.09.10
  36. ↑ Staff writers, "Brunswick poaches MoD's top adviser", PR Week UK, 24.05.02, accessed 23.09.10
  37. ↑ Banking industry Insider's Guide: UK banks' reputation managers, PR Week, 03-Oct-08
  38. ↑ Banking industry Insider's Guide: UK banks' reputation managers, PR Week, 03-Oct-08
  39. ↑ PR Week, 20 Jan 2009
  40. ↑ Brunswick scoops Drax brief, PR Week, 25 Feb 2009
  41. ↑ Evening Standard, “Keeping It In The (Nuclear) Family”, January 16, 2008, p34
  42. ↑ Alec Mattinson,PR Week, November 20, 2009 Anglo American hands UK account back to Brunswick Accessed 14/07/10
  43. ↑ Alec Mattinson,PR Week, November 20, 2009 Anglo American hands UK account back to Brunswick Accessed 14/07/10
  44. ↑ Alec Mattinson, Brunswick backs float of Lord Browne's Riverstone energy fund, PR Week, 25 September 2013, acc 2 February 2014
  45. ↑ Media Guardian, 5 December 2006
  46. ↑ [1], accessed Sept 2014
  47. ↑ http://www.wisa.org.uk/cgi/l/articles/index.cgi?action=show&id=227 Wimbledon Independent Supporters Association], accessed March 2009
  48. ↑ Alec Mattinson Just Eat to use Brunswick for London float PR Week, 17 March 2014, accessed 8 September 2014
  49. ↑ Diana Bradley Brunswick aiding Burger King with PR for Tim Hortons deal, 15 August 2014, accessed 8 Sept 2014
  50. ↑ Sheldon Rampton Makeover for Martha Stewart PR Watch, 1 July 2002, accessed 10 March 2015
  51. ↑ PR Week"
  52. ↑ Hutchison to limit its Global Crossing role to get bid OK Taipei Times, 3 March 2003, accessed 10 March 2015
  53. ↑ Company News Feed formerly Regulatory News Service, 23 January 2007
  54. ↑ [2]
  55. ↑ [3]
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