Difference between revisions of "Fishburn Hedges"

From Powerbase
Jump to: navigation, search
(December 2016-February 2017)
 
(128 intermediate revisions by 9 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
Fishburn Hedges is a corporate communications company (PR firm) owned by [[Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO]], the UK's largest advertising agency, which is, in turn, ultimately owned by the global communications group [[Omnicom]].
+
{{Template:Lobbying_Portal_badge}}[[File:Fishburn.JPG|right|thumb|200px|Fishburn Hedges London office, 77 Kingsway, London]]
  
==Company Overview==
+
==Background==
===History===
+
'''Fishburn Hedges''' is a corporate communications company. It offers PR and lobbying services. It is owned by [[Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO]], the UK's largest advertising agency, which is, in turn, ultimately owned by the global communications group [[Omnicom]].  
[[Fishburn Hedges]] was established in 1991 as a corporate communications company that specialises in public relations, advising companies on how best to communicate ideas and products to their target audience. <ref>Fishburn Hedges, [http://www.fishburn-hedges.co.uk/aboutus/ About Us]</ref>
 
  
 +
It has worked for some of the most controversial corporations, including [[Shell]] and [[British American Tobacco]].
  
John Williams  an independent consultant specialising in corporate marketing and reputation was co-founder and its former Chairman, having started his career in consumer advertising with [[J. Walter Thompson]]. At Fishburn Hedges, he is said to have developed a particular interest in corporate social responsibility and also built a practice serving the not-for-profit sector. He worked for five years with [[Shell]] on their global stakeholder engagement programme.   
+
In November 2013 the Fishburn Hedges Group announced it was bringing together its PR agencies, Fishburn Hedges and [[Seventy Seven]], and design business, [[Further]], to form a single company, '''Fishburn'''. The new firm comprises four core groups:
 +
:*"Strategy, Planning & Insights, which Fishburn describes as “the strategic planning heart of the business in a communications world increasingly driven by research, data and analytics.” A dedicated team will focus on data and research-led insight, strategic consultancy, analytics and evaluation.
 +
:*Digital: A newly assembled team will combine the existing digital expertise of all three businesses.
 +
:*Creative:  A new creative community from across the businesses will bring together brand design, digital creative, PR campaign creative and content creation.
 +
:*Client advisory. The new business will provide consultancy expertise from reputation management, financial communication and public affairs, to consumer brand communications, sustainability consulting, employee engagement, brand consulting and corporate reporting".<ref> [http://www.holmesreport.com/news-info/14268/Fishburn-Hedges-Restructures-And-Rebrands.aspx Fishburn Hedges restructures and rebrands], ''The Holmes Report'', 24 November 2013, accessed 10 October 2014 </ref>
  
He is currently Chairman of the governance and leadership think tank, [[Tomorrow's Company]], a board member of [[Business in the Community]] and was, until recently, deputy Chair of ChildLine.
+
In November 2015, after much speculation, it was announced that '''Fishburn Hedges''' and [[Fleishman-Hillard]] would merge their UK operations, including their staff and offices. They will reside at Omnicom's Bankside premises, with over 200 staff. The merged companies are expected to gross £25-£30 million annually. <ref>[http://www.prweek.com/article/1370964/fleishmanhillard-fishburn-merge-uk-operations-form-fleishmanhillard-fishburn John Harrington, 'Fleishmann-Hillard and Fishburn Hedges merge UK operations'], ''PRWeek'', [date needed] accessed 2 November 2015</ref>
  
Williams is currently a Charity Commissioner, with the Charity Commission, as one of the five non-executive Commissioners responsible for the regulation of 190,000 charities in England and Wales.<ref>http://www.executivephilanthropy.com/speakers.html</ref>
+
==Origins of the company==
 +
Fishburn Hedges was established in 1991 as a corporate communications company specialising in public relations, advising companies on how best to communicate ideas and products to their target audience.<ref>Fishburn Hedges, [http://www.fishburn-hedges.co.uk/aboutus/ About Us]</ref> Five founders of the company - [[Neil Hedges]] and chairman [[Dale Fishburn]], together with [[Andrew Boys]], [[John Williams]] and [[Charles Downing]] put up £150,000 to start up the company.<ref>Clinton Manning, 'PR MEN SET FOR A pounds 15M AD-VANTAGE', The Mirror, 17 January 1996</ref>  
  
===Activities===
+
'The firm opened for business the day the Gulf War started and in the depths of the recession. But it made more than pounds 1 million profit last year and has picked up top clients such as [[Barclays]], [[Rothschild]] and [[Eagle Star]].'<ref>Clinton Manning, 'PR MEN SET FOR A pounds 15M AD-VANTAGE', The Mirror, 17 January 1996</ref> In 1996 Fishburn Hedges was taken over by [[Abbot Mead Vickers]] ad company for a reported fee of between £4 and 15 million.<ref>DAILY MAIL (London) January 17, 1996 SECTION: Pg. 68 </ref>
FH representatives say that they draw ideas from all over the place:
+
 
 +
==The founders==
 +
[[John Williams]],  an independent consultant specialising in corporate marketing and reputation, was co-founder and its former Chairman, having started his career in consumer advertising with [[J. Walter Thompson]]. At Fishburn Hedges, he is said to have developed a particular interest in corporate social responsibility and also built a practice serving the not-for-profit sector.<ref>Executive Philanthropy, The speakers, [http://www.executivephilanthropy.com/speakers.html#10 John Williams], accessed 25 September 2008</ref>  He worked for five years with [[Shell]] on their global stakeholder engagement programme.   
 +
 
 +
He is currently chairman of the governance and leadership think tank, [[Tomorrow's Company]], a board member of [[Business in the Community]] and was, until recently, deputy Chair of [[ChildLine]]. Williams is currently a Commissioner with the [[Charity Commission]], as one of the five non-executive Commissioners responsible for the regulation of 190,000 charities in England and Wales.<ref>http://www.executivephilanthropy.com/speakers.html</ref>
 +
 
 +
==PR campaigns==
 +
The Fishburn Hedges website outlines the services it provides to clients as:
 +
*government relations and regulatory affairs to campaigning - aka lobbying
 +
*reactive crisis and issue management to planned corporate positioning
 +
*corporate ethics to corporate community involvement<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20060111190701/http://www.fishburnhedges.co.uk/Content/what_we_do/BinDat/Public_Affairs_Brochure.pdf Public Affairs Brochure] retrieved from the Internet archive of 11 January 2006 on 31 July 2007. </ref>
 +
 
 +
It has used the following techniques:
 +
 
 +
===Front groups===
 +
Fishburn Hedges was the organizer of the tobacco industry front group [[Associates for Research into the Science of Enjoyment]], or ARISE.<ref>See the press release issued by Fishburn Hedges: PR Newswire Europe November 6, 1996 '9OS GUILT-TRAP COULD THREATEN UK HEALTH, SAY SCIENTISTS, SECTION: GENERAL AND CITY NEWS.  See also the catalogue entry at the Tobacco Legacy Documents website: [http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/umh29e00 Title: ARISE (ASSOCIATES FOR RESEARCH INTO THE SCIENCE OF ENJOYMENT) OVERSEAS AGENCY BRIEF] Organization Author FISHBURN HEDGES  The pdf itself is [http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/umh29e00/pdf;jsessionid=FCE8E51A94522E41C39E346C17E48EFD Title: ARISE (ASSOCIATES FOR RESEARCH INTO THE SCIENCE OF ENJOYMENT) OVERSEAS AGENCY BRIEF] Organization Author FISHBURN HEDGES, accessed 25 September 2008</ref>
 +
 
 +
==='Grass roots' involvement===
 +
The firm also operates a group called the [[Pre-school Learning Alliance]]. It describes itself as "a leading educational charity specialising in the early years". According to its website:
 +
 
 +
:"The Pre-school Learning Alliance is the largest grass-roots movement committed to the education and well-being of children and to the value of education as the means to a better life for the community as a whole."
 +
 
 +
Fishburn Hedges says of its work with the Alliance:
 +
:"As part of our work with the Pre-school Learning Alliance, we combined a major conference on early years education and childcare, addressed by the Education Secretary, with the presentation by pre-school children of a cake to the PM at Number Ten as it was his birthday."<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20060111190701/http://www.fishburnhedges.co.uk/Content/what_we_do/BinDat/Public_Affairs_Brochure.pdf Public Affairs Brochure] retrieved from the Internet archive of 11 January 2006 on 31 July 2007. </ref>
 +
 
 +
The VP of the Alliance is [[Graham McMillan]] — Director of [[Fishburn Hedges]]. The Alliance is partly funded by corporate partners including (in 2008) [[Tesco]], [[Fisher-Price]] and [[Abbey Home Media]], creators and distributors of pre-school children's programming for broadcast, audio, video, DVD and publishing channels.<ref>http://www.pre-school.org.uk/about-us/partners/, accessed 25 September 2008</ref>  One assumes the corporate funders are interested in accessing markets.
 +
 
 +
===Monitoring activists===
 +
Fishburn Hedges also takes a keen interest in activist campaigns if they prompt TV and radio coverage.  When a customer ([[Steve Pardoe]]) alleged on his website that [[BT Cellnet]] "had been making unauthorised debits from thousands of people's bank and credit card accounts, then cynically fobbing off their victims,"<ref>Steve Pardoe [http://www.pardoes.com/cellnet/precis.htm Steve Pardoe's Cellnet Précis Page], accessed 10 December 2007.</ref> the campaign grew to attract mainstream media attention and so Fishburn helped out with some of that "reactive crisis and issue management"<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20060111190701/http://www.fishburnhedges.co.uk/Content/what_we_do/BinDat/Public_Affairs_Brochure.pdf Public Affairs Brochure] retrieved from the Internet archive of 11 January 2006 on 31 July 2007. </ref> According to Steve Pardoe:
 +
:"BT Cellnet and their PR firm, Fishburn Hedges, visited this site on 16 February, the day before transmission, and later in the week. Fishburn Hedges' visit was presumably to gauge the extent and detail of media exposure of Cellnet's fraud.<ref>Steve Pardoe [http://www.pardoes.com/cellnet/media.htm  Steve Pardoe's Cellnet Media Page], accessed, 10 December 2007.</ref>
 +
 
 +
The "Corporate use of codes of ethics: 2004 survey" was put together by Fishburn Hedges and it reportedly shows "that responsibility for how corporate codes of ethics operate is increasingly being taken seriously by directors and boards in Britain's biggest companies."<ref>ACCA Global, [http://www.accaglobal.com/publications/as_index/ Publications]</ref> Given the Fishburn Hedges approach, it is difficult to know if this is true or the result of a "pretence of sincerity".
 +
 
 +
===Specific campaigns===
 +
Specific campaigns Fishburn Hedges has carried out include:
 +
#"We have helped clients to win competition cases. We worked with [[J Sainsbury]] during the “Rip off Britain” furore to ensure that it came out of the Competition Commission inquiry into the major supermarkets with a clean bill of health. For [[William Hill]], we helped to persuade the competition authorities and the Trade & Industry Secretary to block the proposed merger of [[Ladbrokes]] with [[Coral]]."
 +
#"We have helped to reposition [[Powergen]] with government not only as a respected industry voice but also as leading the way on the environmental and social agenda."
 +
#FH’s clients have included two of the big five supermarkets: Sainsbury’s and Asda. Whereas the supermarkets have been criticized by food campaigners for being part of the obesity epidemic gripping the UK, FH has been attempting to portray its clients as part of the solution. FH says that the main focus of its activity has been to make sure that Sainsbury’s “is recognised as a leading player in the national debate about nutrition and healthy eating.”  The then head of FH’s public affairs Graham McMillan adds “The food industry needs to get on the front foot, and play a prominent role in the [obesity] debate rather than sticking its head in the sand or being defensive”<ref>[http://www.fishburn-hedges.co.uk/ourclients/casestudies/publicaffairs]</ref><ref>PR Week, “War on Obesity”, April 16, 2004, p23</ref>
 +
#In 2004, the partially privatized secretive government defence company [[Qinetiq]] hired FH to generate interest in its products amongst security, commercial defence, aerospace, aviation, transport, health and energy industries.<ref>PR Week, “Qinetiq Appoints FH For B2B Push”, July 23, 2004, p4</ref>
 +
#In July 2007, [[Starbucks]] UK awarded its PR contract to Fishburn Hedges. The coffee company was under fire - the company faced union-busting allegations in the US.  In 2006, [[Oxfam]] ran a campaign against it for blocking trademark applications by coffee-growers in Ethiopia. Over 90,000 people sent a message to the company from a Myspace page.  The year before, the company had been labelled “arrogant, intrusive and self-centred” by a survey of 8,000 consumers<ref>Daniel Gross, “Corporate Social Responsibility on Trial - Starbucks Behind the Brand,” Counterpunch, August 4 / 5, 2007</ref><ref>PR Week, “Charity PR: All for A Good Cause”, April 27, 2007</ref><ref>Donna Werbner,  “Starbucks Reviews PR To Build Ethical Image”, PR Week, January 14, 2005, p1</ref>.
 +
#In 2005 the Electoral Commission hired FH for around £100,000 a year to “increase voter engagement”. Angela Salt of the Commission said at the time: “We need to demonstrate that politics is personal. People must be engaged; we need to show them why this matters”. A misguided statement perhaps given FH’s role in helping clients, like Starbucks, who have been the target of political activism.<ref>Sarah Robertson, FH to build voter trust in English democracy, PR Week, 5 August 2005</ref>
 +
#[[Transport for London]] also paid FH a massive £100,000 a month for advice on [[Ken Livingstone]]'s congestion charge.  The total fee amounted to more than £2.4m over two years (2001-03).<ref> Julia Day [http://www.guardian.co.uk/congestion/story/0,12768,871332,00.html PR firm defends massive payment for London traffic advice] Tuesday April 10, 2001 MediaGuardian.co.uk</ref>
 +
#"Our work for [[Unilever]], one of the world’s largest food companies, has included communicating its approach to sustainable development to government, opinion formers, NGOs and the media. By working towards best practice, Unilever has added strength to its voice on all the major UK/EU policy issues facing food, farming and fisheries. The programme has included: working with [[Forum for the Future]], the NGO led by [[Jonathon Porritt]], which has advised on the development of Unilever’s Sustainable Agriculture Project."<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20060111190701/http://www.fishburnhedges.co.uk/Content/what_we_do/BinDat/Public_Affairs_Brochure.pdf Public Affairs Brochure] retrieved from the Internet archive of 11 January 2006 on 31 July 2007.</ref> [[Forum for the Future]] is actually a paradigmatic example of a front group and not actually an independent non-government organisation. According to documents lodged with the Charities commission in 2006 its income from business "as a proportion of total income" increased to "47 per cent of overall income (compared to 42 percent of total income in 2005)".<ref>THE FORUM FOR THE FUTURE Registered charity Company limited by guarantee [http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/registeredcharities/AccountListing.asp?charitynumber=1040519 REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST DECEMBER 2006], accessed 25 September 2008</ref> In the circular world of PR, the Forum is itself a client of FH, which in turn runs the Forum's website for it. [[Tetra Pak]], the carton manufacturing company owned by the Rausing family, is a "retail sector partner" of the Forum.<ref>Forum for the Future [http://www.forumforthefuture.org/partnerships/retail Retail Partners], accessed 25 September 2008</ref>  The company is also a client of Fishburn Hedges.<ref>[http://www.forumforthefuture.org.uk/TetraPakWastedopportunities_pdf_media_public.aspx Wasted Opportunities]</ref> These connections make it unclear whether the companies involved with the Forum are actually its clients, since they seems to make use of its services for what could be described as lobbying purposes. The Forum's ”business partners" are largely drawn from the UK’s FTSE 250 and include major multinationals such as [[Alliance Boots]], [[Cargill]], [[Unilever]], [[BP]], [[GlaxoSmithKline]], [[ICI]] [[Scottish & Newcastle]] and [[Vodafone]] – all of whom are not known for their environmental sustainability.<ref>Forum for the Future [http://www.forumforthefuture.org/partnerships/retail Retail Partners], accessed 25 September 2008</ref>
 +
 
 +
==Clients==
 +
{{‪Template:Fracking badge‬}}{{Template:Climate badge}}The company's list of clients include some of the UK's and US's biggest controversial corporations. FH handles [[Shell]]'s "Global reputation management programme"; the [[Bank of America]]'s "Media relations strategic counsel and public affairs internal communications"; [[Barclays Bank|Barclays]] "Personal finance media relations programme and business banking media relations programme"; [[BT|BT’s]] public relations programme with BT Retail; [[Serco]]; and [[IBM]].<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20060111190701/http://www.fishburn-hedges.co.uk/Content/clients/private.cfm Private clients] retrieved from the Internet archive of 11 January 2006 on 31 July 2007.</ref>
 +
 
 +
===Registrar of consultant lobbyists===
 +
Fishburn has been registered with the registrar of consultant lobbyists since April 2015. The registrar documents all clients on behalf of which the agency has met with a minister. Fishburn's listings since 2015 by quarter are as follows:
 +
====October-December 2015====
 +
[[Virgin Trains East Coast]] | [[Virgin Trains West Coast]] <ref>[https://registerofconsultantlobbyists.force.com/CLR_Public_Profile?id=001240000070BK5AAM Fishburn Communications profile 2015], [[Register of consultant lobbyists]], accessed 4 February 2016</ref>
 +
====July-September 2015====
 +
[[Britvic Soft Drinks]] | [[EE]] | [[Virgin Trains East Coast]] | [[Virgin Trains West Coast]]
 +
====April-June 2015====
 +
[[EE]] |  | [[Jaguar Land Rover]] | [[OPower]] | [[Virgin Trains]]
 +
====January-March 2015====
 +
[[EE]]
 +
 
 +
===APPC Register===
 +
===December 2016-February 2017===
 +
[[Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers]] | [[Carlyle Group]] | [[Danone Nutricia]] | [[EE]] | [[FCC Environment]] | [[JP Morgan]] | [[Lend Lease]] | [[Marks & Spencer]] | [[Omidyar Network]] | [[Qualcomm]]
 +
 
 +
===September 2016-November 2016===
 +
[[Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers]] | [[Carlyle Group]] | [[Chartered Institute of Housing]] | [[Danone Nutricia]] | [[EE]] | [[FCC Environment]] | [[JP Morgan]] | [[Lend Lease]] | [[Marks & Spencer]] | [[Nominet]] | [[Omidyar Network]] | [[PepsiCo UK]] | [[Qualcomm]]
 +
 
 +
===June 2016-August 2016===
 +
[[Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers]] | [[Britvic]] | [[Carlyle Group]] | [[Danone Nutricia]] | [[EEFCC Environment]] | [[JP Morgan]] | [[Lend Lease]] | [[Marks & Spencer]] | [[Omidyar Network]] | [[PepsiCo UK]] | [[Qualcomm]] | [[Virgin Trains East Coast]] | [[Virgin Trains West Coast]] <ref name="Jun16"> [http://www.appc.org.uk/register/profile/?company=FleishmanHillard%20Fishburn Current register 1st June 2016 - 31st August 2016], ''APPC'', accessed 24 November 2016. </ref>
 +
 
 +
===March 2016-May 2016===
 +
[[AB Sugar]] | [[Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers]] | [[Britvic]] | [[Carlyle Group]] | [[Danone Nutricia]] | [[EE]] | [[JP Morgan]] | [[Lend Lease]] | [[Marks & Spencer]] | [[Omidyar Network]] | [[PepsiCo UK]] | [[Qualcomm]] | [[SAP]] | [[Virgin Trains East Coast]] | [[Virgin Trains West Coast]] <ref name="Mar16"> [http://www.appc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/APPC-Register-May-2016-13.6.16.pdf Register for 1st March 2016 - 31st May 2016], ''APPC'', accessed 24 November 2016. </ref>
 +
 
 +
===December 2015-February 2016===
 +
*Having merged with Fleishman Hillard in November 2016
 +
[[AB Sugar]] |  [[Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers]] | [[Britvic]] | [[Carlyle Group]] | [[Danone Nutricia]] | [[EE]] | [[JP Morgan]] | [[Lend Lease]] | [[Marks & Spencer]] | [[Omidyar Network]] | [[PepsiCo UK]] | [[Qualcomm]] | [[SAP]] | [[Virgin Trains East Coast]] | [[Virgin Trains West Coast]] <ref name="Dec15">[http://www.appc.org.uk/members/register/register-profile/?company=FleishmanHillard%20Fishburn Fleishman Hillard Fishburn Register 1st December 2015-28th February 2016], ''APPC'', accessed 7 April 2016</ref>
 +
 
 +
===September 2015 - November 2015===
 +
[[AB Sugar]] | [[Aviva]] | [[Britvic]] | [[Clear Channel]] | [[EE]] | [[Energy UK]] | [[Gatwick Airport]] | [[Jaguar Land Rover]] | [[L'Oreal]] | [[Lend Lease]] | [[LV]] | [[Mastercard]] | [[Mobile Operators Association]] | [[Shell]] | [[Singapore Airlines]] | [[Tetra Pak]] | [[Texthelp]] | [[Virgin Trains East Coast]] | [[Virgin Trains West Coast]] <ref>[http://www.appc.org.uk/members/register/register-profile/?company=Fishburn Fishburn Hedges Register Sep-Nov 15], ''APPC.org'', accessed 2 February 2016</ref>
 +
 
 +
===June 2015 - August 2015===
 +
[[AB Sugar]] | [[Actis]] | [[Britvic]] | [[Cambridge Nanosystems]] | [[Clear Channel]] | [[EE]] | [[Energy UK]] | [[Gatwick Airport]] | [[Jaguar Land Rover]] | [[L'Oreal]] | [[Lend Lease]] | [[Mastercard]] | [[Mobile Operators Association]] | [[OPower]] | [[Shell]] | [[Singapore Airlines]] | [[Tetra Park]] | [[Texthelp]] | [[Virgin Trains East Coast]] | [[Virgin Trains West Coast]] <ref>[http://www.appc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/APPC-Register-August-2015.pdf Fishburn Hedges Register Jun-Aug15], ''APPC.org'', accessed 2 February 2016</ref>
 +
 
 +
===March 2015-May 2015===
 +
[[AB Sugar]] | [[Actis]] | [[Britvic]] | [[Cambridge Nanosystems]] | [[EE]] | [[Energy UK]] | [[Gatwick Airport]] | [[Jaguar Land Rover]] | [[L'Oreal]] | [[Lend Lease]] | [[Mace]] | [[Master Card]] | [[Mobile Operators Association]] | [[OPower]] | [[Shell]] | [[Tetra Pak]] | [[Texthelp]] | [[Virgin Trains East Coast]] | [[Virgin Trains West Coast ]] <ref> [http://www.appc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/MAY-2015-REGISTER-FINAL.pdf Register March 1 - May 31 2015]APPC.org, accessed 9 October 2015 </ref>
 +
 
 +
===December 2014-February 2015===
 +
[[AB Sugar]] | [[Actis]] | [[Body Shop]] | [[Britvic]] | [[Cambridge Nanosystems]] | [[EE]] | [[Energy UK]] | [[Gatwick Airport]] | [[Jaguar Land Rover]] | [[L'Oreal]] | [[Mace]] | [[MasterCard]] | [[Opower]] | [[Shell]] | [[Virgin Trains]]<ref name="dec14"/>
 +
 
 +
===September 2014-November 2014===
 +
[[AB Sugar]] | [[Actis]] | [[BBA]] | [[Body Shop]] | [[Britvic]] | [[Cambridge Nanosystems]] | [[EE]] | [[Energy UK]] | [[Gatwick Airport]] | [[Jaguar Land Rover]] | [[L'Oreal]] | [[Mace]] | [[MasterCard]] | [[Opower]] | [[Shell]] | [[Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay]] | [[Virgin Trains]]<ref name="Sept14"/>
 +
 
 +
===June 2014-August 2014===
 +
[[AB Sugar]] | [[Barratt London]] | [[Body Shop]] | [[Britvic]] | [[Cambridge Nanosystems]] | [[EE]] | [[Energy UK]] | [[Gatwick Airport]] | [[Gondola Group]] | [[Jaguar Land Rover]] | [[L'Oreal]] | [[Mace]] | [[MasterCard]] | [[MTR Corporation]] | [[Network Rail Property]] | [[Opower]] | [[Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay]] | [[Virgin Trains]]<ref name="June"/>
 +
 
 +
===March 2014-May 2014===
 +
[[AB Sugar]] | [[Britvic]] | [[Cambridge Nanosystems]] | [[Digital]] UK | [[EE]] | [[Energy UK]] | [[Gatwick Airport]] | [[Gondola Group]] | [[Jaguar Land Rover]] | [[L'Oreal]] | [[Mace]] | [[MTR Corporation]] | [[Network Rail]] | [[Property Opower]] | [[SMMT]] | [[Tetra Pak]] | [[Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay]] | [[Virgin Trains]]<ref name="MQ"/>
 +
 
 +
===December 2013-February 2014===
 +
[[AB Sugar]] | [[Aimia]] | [[Britvic]] | [[Digital]] UK | [[EE]] | [[Energy UK]] | [[Gatwick Airport]] | [[Jaguar Land Rover]] | [[Mace]] | [[MTR Corporation]] | [[Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics]] | [[Serco]] | [[Tetra Pak]] | [[Virgin Trains]] | [[Weve]]<ref name="MR"/>
 +
 
 +
===September 2013-November 2013===
 +
[[AB Sugar]] | [[Aimia]] | [[Britvic]] | [[Digital UK]] | [[Dyncorp International]] (UK) | [[Energy UK]] | [[Financial Ombudsman Service]] | [[Gatwick Airport]] | [[Jaguar Land Rover]] | [[Mace]] | [[MTR Corporation]] | [[Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics]] | [[Serco]] | [[Tetra Pak]] | [[Virgin Trains]] | [[Weve]]<ref name="MS"/>
 +
 
 +
===June 2013-August 2013===
 +
[[AB Sugar]] | [[Aimia]] | [[Britvic]] | [[Celesio]] UK | [[Digital]] UK | [[Energy UK]] | [[Financial Ombudsman Service]] | [[Gatwick Airport]] | [[Jaguar Land Rover]] | [[Mace]] | [[MTR Corporation]] | [[NetJets]] Europe | [[Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics]] | [[Serco]] | [[Tetra Pak]] | [[Virgin Trains]] | [[Weve]]<ref name="MT"/>
 +
 
 +
===March 2013-May 2013===
 +
[[Aimia]] | [[Avanta]] | [[Britvic]] | [[Celesio]] UK | [[Digital]] UK | [[Energy UK]] | [[Financial Ombudsman Service]] | [[Gatwick Airport]] | [[Jaguar Land Rover]] | [[Mace]] | [[MTR Corporation]] | [[NetJets]] Europe | [[Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics]] | [[Serco]] | [[Tetra Pak]] | [[Virgin Trains]] | [[Weve]]<ref name="MU"/>
 +
 
 +
===December 2012-February 2013===
 +
[[Avanta]] | [[Britvic]] | [[Celesio]] UK | [[Digital]] UK | [[Energy UK]] | [[Financial Ombudsman Service]] | [[Gatwick Airport]] | [[Jaguar Land Rover]] | [[John Lewis Partnership]] | [[Mace]] | [[MTR Corporation]] | [[NetJets]] Europe | [[Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics]] Tetra Pak | [[Virgin Trains]] | [[Wyld]]<ref name="MV"/>
 +
 
 +
===Client list in 2008===
 +
Lobbying clients declared in 2008:<ref>Fishburn Hedges, Fee-Paying clients for whom UK PA consultancy services provided this quarter, ‘’APPC Register’’ March – May 2008</ref><br>
 +
[[ABPI]] | [[Atos Origin]] | [[Aviva ]] | [[British Dental Association]] | [[Capital One]] | [[Carbon Trust]] | [[Construction Skills]] | [[Digital UK]] | [[ERSA]] | [[EEDA]] | [[Investors in People]] |  [[Job Centre Plus]] | [[JPMorgan ]] | [[Laing O’Rourke]] | [[Norwich Union]] | [[Pension Protection Fund]] | [[ResCare]] | [[Sainsbury’s]] | [[Starbucks]] | [[Tetra Pak]] | [[Virgin Trains]] | [[West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority]] / [[West Midlands Metropolitan Authorities]] | [[WRAP]]
 +
 
 +
===Client list 2007===
 +
[[Amway]] | [[ASDA]] | [[Association of British Pharmaceutical Industries]] | [[Bank of America]] | [[Barclays]] | [[British Library]] | [[British Marine Federation]] | [[Barrow Cadbury Trust]] | [[Carbon Trust]] | [[National Express]] | [[National Treatment Agency]] |
 +
[[Powergen]] | [[Pre-school Learning Alliance]] | [[Royal College of Nursing]] | [[Scottish Widows]] | [[Shell International]] | [[South Bank Centre]] | [[Transport for London]] | [[TetraPak]] | [[Unilever]]<ref> "Client List, Fishburn Hedges, http://www.fishburn-hedges.co.uk/ourclients/corporate_and_professional_services/; "Client List", Fishburn Hedges, http://www.fishburn-hedges.co.uk/ourclients/public_sector__social_affairs_and_not-for-profit_organisations/
 +
</ref>
 +
 
 +
==People==
 +
FH's people come from a range of backgrounds:
  
 
:Typically our client teams will mix career PR practitioners with consultants who have professional experience in that client’s field.  Our consultants include former bankers, advertising planners, authors, civil servants, trade unionists, stock brokers, charity fund raisers and, of course, journalists.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20060111190701/http://www.fishburn-hedges.co.uk/Content/home/people.cfm  People] retrieved from the Internet archive of 11 January 2006 on 31 July 2007.</ref>
 
:Typically our client teams will mix career PR practitioners with consultants who have professional experience in that client’s field.  Our consultants include former bankers, advertising planners, authors, civil servants, trade unionists, stock brokers, charity fund raisers and, of course, journalists.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20060111190701/http://www.fishburn-hedges.co.uk/Content/home/people.cfm  People] retrieved from the Internet archive of 11 January 2006 on 31 July 2007.</ref>
  
The journalists are, of course, the greatest influence and one can see here a similar example of the merger between journalism and PR promoted by [[Editorial Intelligence]].  Perhaps coincidentally F-H is one of the main backers of ei with chief Exec [[Ron Finlay]] and adviser to the project.
+
According to Fishburn Hedges’s own website: "all PRs should take note that purple type on their CV, a thorough knowledge of EastEnders and frequent pretence of sincerity goes a long way".<ref>Fishburn Hedges [http://web.archive.org/web/20060111190701/http://www.fishburnhedges.co.uk/content/home/news.cfm We owe you a long lunch...] Financial Adviser 128 words, 26 August 2004, English (c) 2004 Financial Adviser, retrieved from the Internet archive of 11 January 2006 on 31 July 2007.</ref>
  
The company's list of clients are some of the UK's and US's biggest controversial corporations. FH handles [[Shell]]'s 'Global reputation management programme'; the [[Bank of America]]'s 'Media relations strategic counsel and public affairs internal communications'; [[Barclay’s Bank|Barclay's]] 'Personal finance media relations programme and business banking media relations programme'; [[BT|BT’s]] public relations programme with BT Retail; [[Serco]]; and [[IBM]].<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20060111190701/http://www.fishburn-hedges.co.uk/Content/clients/private.cfm Private clients] retrieved from the Internet archive of 11 January 2006 on 31 July 2007.</ref>
+
===Senior team===
 +
*[[Ali Gee]], CEO. Former executive vice president at [[Edelman]].
 +
*[[Nadia Gabbie]], managing director, consumer
 +
*[[Paul Farrow]], managing director, financial and professional services
 +
*[[Heather Jones]], chief financial officer
 +
*[[Leah Katz]], chief client and operations officer
 +
*[[Peter Meikle]], head of news. Has worked on [[Channel 4]] News, [[ITV]] News, [[GMTV]] and [[Daybreak]]
 +
*[[Simon Matthews]], chairman
 +
*[[Jessica Morris]], managing director, Fishburn New York
 +
*[[Theresa O’Sullivan]], operations manager
 +
*[[Dominic Pendry]], managing director, corporate
 +
*[[Rory Scanlan]], managing director, public affairs
 +
*[[Jessie Wixon]], vice president
 +
*[[Debi Warman]], head of production
  
And what do they get for their money? According to FH’s own website: ‘all PRs should take note that purple type on their CV, a thorough knowledge of East Enders and frequent pretence of sincerity goes a long way’.<ref>Fishburn Hedges [http://web.archive.org/web/20060111190701/http://www.fishburnhedges.co.uk/content/home/news.cfm We owe you a long lunch...] Financial Adviser 128 words, 26 August 2004, English (c) 2004 Financial Adviser, retrieved from the Internet archive of 11 January 2006 on 31 July 2007.</ref>
+
===Lobbyists===
 +
*[[Rachel Barratt]], senior consultant. Joined FH in November 2010. Previously worked at [[DeHavilland Political Intelligence]] and volunteered for [[Andy Burnham]] during the Labour leadership campaign.
 +
*[[Jordan Bickerton]], consultant. Former intern at [[BP]], as a summer organiser for Obama for America in Virginia, July 2012 to September 2012.
 +
*[[William Blair]], associate director. Former Parliamentary assistant to [[Damian Green]] MP, policy officer at [[General Medical Council]], account manager at [[Weber Shadwick]] and account director at [[Bell Pottinger Communications]].
 +
*[[Ben Crosland]], associate director. Joined Fishburn from 10 Downing Street, where he worked in the PMs press team, has also worked at the [[HM Treasury]].
 +
*[[Rachel Galvin]], consultant
 +
*[[Ross Gill]], consultant. Former policy intern for [[David Lammy]] MP.
 +
*[[Matthew Keirle]], senior consultant. Previously worked for [[Lexington Communications]] and [[Burson Marsteller]].
 +
*[[Ben Lyons]], senior consultant.
 +
*[[Isabella Miller]], trainee consultant. Has worked in the [[European Parliament]] with [[Struan Stevenson]] MEP and [[Timothy Kirkhope]] MEP, as a parliamentary intern with Sir [[Menzies Campbell]] MP and [[Andrew Mitchell]] MP and at think tanks [[ResPublica]] and [[Reform]].<ref> [https://uk.linkedin.com/pub/isabella-miller/59/44a/511 Isabella Miller] ''Linkedin'', accessed 20 January 2015 </ref>
 +
*[[Dominic Pendry]], managing director, corporate. Former senior director at [[Edelman]] and head of communications for national infrastructure projects at [[Network Rail]].<ref> Ali Gee [http://www.thisisfishburn.com/blog-posts/fishburn-appoints-dominic-pendry-as-new-managing-director-corporate Fishburn appoints Dominic Pendry as new Managing Director, Corporate] ''Fishburn'', 12 May 2014, accessed 20 January 2015 </ref>
 +
*[[Joe Rankin]], consultant
 +
*[[Leigh Renders]], consultant
 +
*[[Holly Rouse]], associate director.
 +
*[[Rory Scanlan]], managing director public affairs. Worked on Tony Blair's press team during the 2001 and 2005 general elections.
 +
*[[David Skelton]], senior adviser. Former [[Conservative Party]] candidate for North Durham in the 2010 General Election, and deputy director of [[Policy Exchange]].
  
===PR Campaigns===
+
===Former lobbyists===
[[Transport for London]] paid FH a massive £100,000 a month for 'advice' on [[Ken Livingstone]]'s congestion charge.   The total fee amounted to more than £2.4m over two years (2001-03). F-H (spot the ‘pretence of sincerity’?), says it is offering value for money.<ref> Julia Day [http://www.guardian.co.uk/congestion/story/0,12768,871332,00.html PR firm defends massive payment for London traffic advice] Tuesday April 10, 2001 MediaGuardian.co.uk</ref>
+
*[[Phil Drew]], associate director, head of corporate responsibility and sustainability communications and director. Formerly senior account manager at [[Unite]] and head of communications for [[Climate Week]]. Began work as a director on the Blaise Projects at the [[Brunswick Group]] in January 2015.<ref> [https://uk.linkedin.com/pub/phil-drew/7/851/329 Phil Drew] ''Linkedin'', accessed 20 January 2015 </ref>
 +
*[[Bex Bailey]], researcher. Joined FH straight from from university. Whilst at university Bailey worked as a Parliamentary assistant to [[Graham Allen]] and an intern for [[Ed Balls]]. Is now a political advisor to [[Liz Kendall]] MP<ref> [https://uk.linkedin.com/pub/bex-bailey/9/216/3a8 Bex Bailey] ''Linkedin'', accessed 20 January 2015 </ref> <ref> [http://109.123.64.213/about-us/people/bex-bailey Bex Bailey] ''Fishburn Hedges'', accessed 20 January 2015 </ref>
 +
*[[Rupert Lewis]], current director of public affairs at [[Ketchum Pleon]]<ref> [http://www.ketchum.com/nl/news/ketchum-pleon-names-rupert-lewis-director-corporate-and-public-affairs Ketchum Pleon Names Rupert Lewis Director of Corporate and Public Affairs] ''Ketchum'', 3 February 2012, accesed 10 October 2014 </ref>. Lewis is a former researcher for the Conservatives' current policy chief [[Oliver Letwin]], he assisted the leader of the Conservative home affairs team in the House of Lords, [[Baroness Anelay of St John's]], as well as former environment minister Sir [[Paul Beresford]]. Join FH from [[Bell Pottinger Public Affairs]] in 2006, was appointed consultant at [[Mandate Communications]] in 2010.<ref> [http://www.prweek.com/article/978480/public-affairs-week-lobbying Public Affairs: The Week in Lobbying] ''PR week'', 22 January 2010, accessed 10 October 2014 </ref>
 +
*[[Laura Montgomery]]. Ex-[[Lexington Communications]] lobbyist and former [[Conservative Party]] staffer Laura Montgomery joined FH in 2007.
 +
*[[Jo Murray]], currently head of communications at [[Guardian News & Media]]. Worked at Fishburn Hedges as associate director from April 2008 July 2010. Was formerly The [[Labour Party]]'s head of press and broadcasting a role Murray had held since 2005.
 +
*[[Lucy Burns]], currently a partner at [[Pagefield]]. Was head of public affairs at FH between October 2000 and March 2010, also a former researcher for [[Estelle Morris]] MP.
  
The FH website points to the following services it provides to clients:
+
====Revolving door====
 +
*[[Paul Hodgson]]. Became special adviser to the Energy and Climate Change Minister [[Ed Davey]] until the 2015 election.
  
*government relations and regulatory affairs to campaigning
+
===Staff===
*reactive crisis and issue management to planned corporate positioning
+
====December 2016-February 2017====
*corporate ethics to corporate community involvement<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20060111190701/http://www.fishburnhedges.co.uk/Content/what_we_do/BinDat/Public_Affairs_Brochure.pdf Public Affairs Brochure] retrieved from the Internet archive of 11 January 2006 on 31 July 2007. </ref>
+
[[Kelly Baker]] | [[Rachel Barrett]] | [[Segolene De Foucaud]] | [[Michelle Di Leo]] | [[Simon Finkelstein]] | [[David Lewy]] | [[Liam McCloy]] | [[Simon Richards]] | [[Benjamin Stetson]]
  
Let’s translate that a bit:
+
====September 2016-November 2016====
 +
[[Kelly Baker]] | [[Rachel Barrett]] | [[Jennifer Brindisi]] | [[Segolene De Foucaud]] | [[Michelle Di Leo]] | [[Jonathan Farrar-Bell]] | [[Simon Finkelstein]] | [[David Lewy]] | [[Liam McCloy]] | [[Dominic Pendry]] | [[Simon Richards]] | [[Benjamin Stetson]] | [[Caroline Winters]]
  
*use the subterranean skills of the lobbyist to schmooze politicians.
+
====June 2016-August 2016====
*try to convince us we want what their clients want and reframe the clients, perhaps by changing its name to something more innocent sounding.
+
[[Kelly Baker]] | [[Rachel Barrett]] | [[Jennifer Brindisi]] | [[Jack Carnell]] | [[Michelle Di Leo]] | [[Jonathan Farrar-Bell]] | [[Paulina Jakubec]] | [[David Lewy]] | [[Liam McCloy]] | [[Isabella Miller]] | [[Dominic Pendry]] | [[Simon Richards]] | [[Caroline Winters]] <ref name="Jun16"/>
*start a 'grass roots' organisation or perhaps a seemings independent foundation or institute which has the ostensible function of 'education' or environmental advocacy.
 
  
This is what FH themselves say they have done for their clients:
+
====March 2016-May 2016====
 +
[[Kelly Baker]] | [[Rachel Barrett]] | [[Jennifer Brindisi]] | [[Jack Carnell]] | [[Michelle Di Leo]] | [[Paulina Jakubec]] | [[Ben Lyons]] | [[Liam McCloy]] | [[Isabella Miller]] | [[Judith Moore]] | [[Dominic Pendry]] | [[Simon Richards]] | [[William Thavenot]] | [[Caroline Winters]] <ref name="Mar16"/>
  
#We have helped clients to win competition cases. For [[William Hill]], we helped to persuade the competition authorities and the Trade & Industry Secretary to block the proposed merger of [[Ladbrokes]] with [[Coral]]. We worked with [[J Sainsbury]] during the “Rip off Britain” furore to ensure that it came out of the Competition Commission inquiry into the major supermarkets with a clean bill of health.
+
====December 2015-February 2016====
#We have helped to reposition [[Powergen]] with government not only as a respected industry voice but also as leading the way on the environmental and social agenda
+
[[Kelly Baker]] | [[Rachel Barrett]] | [[Jennifer Brindisi]] | [[Jack Carnell]] | [[Michelle Di Leo]] | [[Paulina Jakubec]] | [[Matthew Keirle]] | [[Ben Lyons]] | [[Liam McCloy]] | I[[sabella Miller]] | [[Judith Moore]] | [[Dominic Pendry]] | [[Simon Richards]] | [[William Thavenot]] | [[Caroline Winters]] <ref name="Dec15"/>  
#Our work for [[Unilever]], one of the world’s largest food companies, has included communicating its approach to sustainable development to government, opinion formers, NGOs and the media. By working towards best practice, Unilever has added strength to its voice on all the major UK/EU policy issues facing food, farming and fisheries. The programme has included: working with [[Forum for the Future]], the NGO led by [[Jonathon Porritt]], which has advised on the development of Unilever’s Sustainable Agriculture Project.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20060111190701/http://www.fishburnhedges.co.uk/Content/what_we_do/BinDat/Public_Affairs_Brochure.pdf Public Affairs Brochure] retrieved from the Internet archive of 11 January 2006 on 31 July 2007. </ref>
 
  
Both the first and second of these are classic lobbying campaigns, and the second also suggests ‘corporate positioning’.  If we take the third in the list at face value and assume that [[Forum for the Future]] operates as described, this still leaves the conflict of interest represented by F-H retaining some of the worst corporate polluters as clients (such as [[Shell]] and [[Powergen]]).  
+
====September 2015-November 2015====
 +
[[Kelly Baker]] | [[Rachel Barrett]] | [[William Blair]] | [[Jack Carnell]] | [[Rachel Galvin]] | [[Matthew Keirle]] | [[Ben Lyons]] | [[Isabella Miller]] | [[Dominic Pendry]] | [[Joe Rankin]] | [[Holly Rouse]] | [[Rory Scanlan]] | [[Emma Tobin]]<ref>[http://www.appc.org.uk/members/register/register-profile/?company=Fishburn Fishburn Hedges clients, Sep-Nov15], ''APPC.org'', accessed 3 February 2016</ref>
  
However, [[Forum for the Future]] is actually a paradigmatic example of a front group and not actually an independent non-government organisation. In the circular world of PR the Forum is itself a client of FH, which in turn runs the forum's website for it.  [[Tetra Pak]] the carton manufacturing company owned by the Rausing family also works with (or is a client of?) the Forum.  The company is also a client of F-H<ref>[http://www.forumforthefuture.org.uk/TetraPakWastedopportunities_pdf_media_public.aspx Wasted Opportunities]</ref> The Forum's ”business partners" are largely drawn from the UK’s FTSE 250 and include major multi-nationals such as [[Unilever]], [[BP]], [[GlaxoSmithKline]], [[ICI]] and [[Vodafone]] – all of whom are not known for their environmental sustainability.
+
====June 2015-August 2015====
 +
[[Kelly Baker]] | [[Rachel Barratt]] | [[Jordan Bickerton]] | [[William Blair]] | [[Jack Carnell]] | [[Ben Crosland]] | [[Niamh Fogarty]] | [[Rachel Galvin]] | [[Matthew Keirle]] | [[Ben Lyons]] | [[Isabella Miller]] | [[Dominic Pendry]] | [[Joe Rankin]] | [[Holly Rouse]] | [[Rory Scanlan]] <ref> [http://www.appc.org.uk/members/register/register-profile/?company=Fishburn Register as of 31 August 2015]APPC.org, accessed 8 October 2015 </ref>
 +
 +
====March 2015-May 2015====
 +
[[Kelly Baker]] | [[Rachel Barratt]] | [[Jordan Bickerton]] | [[William Blair]] | [[Jack Carnell]] | [[Ben Crosland]] | [[Rachel Galvin]] | [[Matthew Keirle]] | [[Ben Lyons]] | [[Isabella Miller]] | [[Dominic Pendry]] | [[Joe Rankin]] | [[Holly Rouse]] | [[Rory Scanlan]] | [[David Skelton]] | [[Katherine Taunton]] <ref> [http://www.appc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/MAY-2015-REGISTER-FINAL.pdf Register of APPC members as of May 2015]APPC.org, accessed 7 October 2015 </ref>
  
===Front Groups===
+
====December 2014-February 2015====
FH also operates a Front Group called the [[Pre-school Learning Alliance]]:
+
[[Rebecca Bailey]] | [[Rachel Barrett]] | [[Jordon Bickerton]] | [[William Blair]] | [[Ben Crosland]] | [[Phil Drew]] | [[Rachel Galvin]] | [[Ross Gill]] | [[Matthew Keirle]] | [[Ben Lyons]] | [[Isabella Miller]] | [[Dominic Pendry]] | [[Joe Rankin]] | [[Leigh Renders]] | [[Holly Rouse]] | [[Rory Scanlan]] | [[David Skelton]] | [[Katherine Taunton]]<ref name="dec14"> [http://www.appc.org.uk/members/register/register-profile/?company=Fishburn Register 1st December 2014 - 28th February 2015] ''APPC'', accessed 24 March 2015 </ref>
  
:"As part of our work with the Pre-school Learning Alliance, we combined a major conference on early years education and childcare, addressed by the Education Secretary, with the presentation by pre-school children of a cake to the PM at Number Ten as it was his birthday."<ref>Check ref</ref>
+
====September 2014-November 2014====
 +
[[Rebecca Bailey]] | [[Rachel Barrett]] | [[Jordon Bickerton]] | [[William Blair]] | [[Ben Crosland]] | [[Phil Drew]] | [[Rachel Galvin]] | [[Ross Gill]] | [[Matthew Keirle]] | [[Ben Lyons]] | [[Isabella Miller]] | [[Dominic Pendry]] | [[Joe Rankin]] | [[Leigh Renders]] | [[Holly Rouse]] | [[Rory Scanlan]] | [[David Skelton]] | [[Katherine Taunton]]<ref name="Sept14"> [http://www.appc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/NOV-14-REGISTER-5.12.14.pdf Register 1st September 2014 - 30th November 2014] ''APPC'', accessed 20 January 2015 </ref>
  
The VP of the Alliance is [[Graham McMillan]] — Director of [[Fishburn Hedges]].  The whole project is largely an effort to offset the government's plans to offer free access to that which the Learning Alliance's 'partners' want to sell.<ref>[http://education.guardian.co.uk/curriculumonline/story/0,,884679,00.html BBC education chief falls on his sword] Owen Gibson Wednesday January 29, 2003
+
====June 2014-August 2014====
MediaGuardian.co.uk</ref>
+
[[Rebecca Bailey]] | [[Rachel Barrett]] | [[Jordon Bickerton]] | [[William Blair]] | [[Ben Crosland]] | [[Phil Drew]] | [[Jennifer Edwards]] | [[Rachel Galvin]] | [[Ross Gill]] | [[Matthew Keirle]] | [[Andrew Lewin]] | [[Ben Lyons]] | [[Joe Rankin]] | [[Leigh Renders]] | [[Holly Rouse]] | [[Rory Scanlan]] | [[David Skelton]] | [[Katherine Taunton]]<ref name="June"> [http://www.appc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/AUG-14-REGISTER-28.11.14.pdf Register 1st June 2014 - 31st August 2014] ''APPC'', accessed 16 October 2014 </ref>
  
===Monitoring activists===
+
====March 2014-May 2014====
Fishburn Hedges also takes a keen policing interest in activist campaigns if they prompt TV and radio coverage.  When a customer ([[Steve Pardoe]]) exposed on his website that [[BT Cellnet]] ‘had been making unauthorised debits from thousands of people's bank and credit card accounts, then cynically fobbing off their victims,’<ref>Steve Pardoe [http://www.pardoes.com/cellnet/precis.htm Steve Pardoe's Cellnet Précis Page], accessed 10 December 2007.</ref> the campaign grew to attract mainstream media attention and so Fishburn helped out with some of that ‘reactive crisis and issue management’<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20060111190701/http://www.fishburnhedges.co.uk/Content/what_we_do/BinDat/Public_Affairs_Brochure.pdf Public Affairs Brochure] retrieved from the Internet archive of 11 January 2006 on 31 July 2007. </ref>, including:
+
[[Bex Bailey|Rebecca Bailey]] | [[Rachel Barrett]] | [[Jordon Bickerton]] | [[William Blair]] | [[Phil Drew]] | [[Jennifer Edwards]] | [[Rachel Galvin]] | [[Ross Gill]] | [[Matthew Keirle]] | [[Andrew Lewin]] | [[Ben Lyons]] | [[Lewis Mooney]] | [[Joe Rankin]] | [[Leigh Renders]] | [[Holly Rouse]] | [[Rory Scanlan]] | [[David Skelton]] | [[Katherine Taunton]]<ref name="MQ"> [http://www.appc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/MAY-14-REGISTER-1.9.14.pdf Register for 1st March 2014 - 31st May 2014] ''APPC'', accessed 10 October 2014 </ref>
 
:BT Cellnet and their PR firm, Fishburn Hedges, visited this site on 16. February, the day before transmission, and later in the week. Fishburn Hedges' visit was presumably to gauge the extent and detail of media exposure of Cellnet's fraud. <ref>Steve Pardoe [http://www.pardoes.com/cellnet/media.htm  Steve Pardoe's Cellnet Media Page], accessed, 10 December 2007.</ref>
 
  
The 'Corporate use of codes of ethics: 2004 survey' was put together by Fishburn Hedges and it reportedly shows ‘that responsibility for how corporate codes of ethics operate is increasingly being taken by directors and boards in Britain's biggest companies.’<ref>ACCA Global, [http://www.accaglobal.com/publications/as_index/ Publications]</ref> Given the F-H approach, it is difficult to know if this is true or the result of a ‘pretence of sincerity’
+
====December 2013-February 2014====
 +
[[Bex Bailey]] | [[Rachel Barrett]] | [[Natalie Bateman]] | [[Jordan Bickerton]] | [[Martin Brown]] | [[Phil Drew]] | [[Jennifer Edwards]] | [[Rachel Galvin]] | [[Ross Gill]] | [[Andrew Lewin]] | [[James Lusher]] | [[Ben Lyons]] | [[Lewis Mooney]] | [[Leigh Renders]] | [[Holly Rouse]] | [[Rory Scanlan]] | [[David Skelton]] | [[Katherine Taunton]] | [[Tom Wadsworth]]<ref name="MR"> [http://www.appc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/FEB-14-REG-7.3.1411.pdf Register for 1st December 2013 - 28th February 2014] ''APPC'', accessed 10 October 2014 </ref>
  
==Staff==
+
====September 2013-November 2013====
 +
[[Bex Bailey]] | [[Rachel Barrett]] | [[Natalie Bateman]] | [[Jordan Bickerton]] | [[Martin Brown]] | [[Phil Drew]] | [[Jennifer Edwards]] | [[Rachel Galvin]] | [[Ross Gill]] | [[Jim Godfrey]] | [[Natasha Jones]] | [[Andrew Lewin]] | [[James Lusher]] | [[Ben Lyons]] | [[Lewis Mooney]] | [[Leigh Renders]] | [[Holly Rouse]] | [[Rory Scanlan]] | [[David Skelton]] | [[Katherine Taunton]] | [[Tom Wadsworth]] | [[John Williams]] <ref name="MS"> [http://www.appc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/13-NOV-REGISTER-26.2.1411.pdf Register for 1st September 2013 - 30th November 2013] ''APPC'', accessed 10 October 2014 </ref>
  
Staff listed on the company website are: <ref>"People", Fishburn Hedges, http://www.fishburn-hedges.com/aboutus/people/</ref>
+
====June 2013-August 2013====
 +
[[Lauren Arthur]] | [[Bex Bailey]] | [[Rachel Barrett]] | [[Natalie Bateman]] | [[Jordan Bickerton]] | [[Martin Brown]] | [[Phil Drew]] | [[Jennifer Edwards]] | [[Rachel Galvin]] | [[Ross Gill]] | [[Jim Godfrey]] | [[Natasha Jones]] | [[Andrew Lewin]] | [[James Lusher]] | [[Ben Lyons]] | [[Leigh Renders]] | [[Holly Rouse]] | [[Rory Scanlan]] | [[David Skelton]] | [[Tom Wadsworth]] | [[William Wallace]] | [[John Williams]]<ref name="MT"> [http://www.appc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Register-August-2014-FINAL11.pdf Register for 1st June 2013 - 31st August 2013] ''APPC'', accessed 10 October 2014 </ref>
  
*[[Andrew Marshall]]
+
====March 2013-May 2013====
*[[Andrew Reid]]
+
[[Lauren Arthur]] | [[Rachel Barrett]] | [[Natalie Bateman]] | [[Jordan Bickerton]] | [[Martin Brown]] | [[Harry Bush]] | [[Phil Drew]] | [[Jennifer Edwards]] | [[John Fingleton]] | [[Rachel Galvin]] | [[Ross Gill]] | [[Jim Godfrey]] | [[Shirin Homawala]] | [[Natasha Jones]] | [[Andrew Lewin]] | [[James Lusher]] | [[Ben Lyons]] | [[Leigh Renders]] | [[Holly Rouse]] | [[Rory Scanlan]] | [[Tom Wadsworth]] | [[William Wallace]] | [[John Williams]]<ref name="MU"> [http://www.appc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/13-MAY-REGISTER-FINAL-FINAL11.pdf Register for 1st March 2013 - 31st May 2013] ''APPC'', accessed 10 October 2014 </ref>
*[[Andy Berry]]
 
*[[Chris Reed]]
 
*[[Clare Looker]]
 
*[[Daniel Mines]]
 
*[[Elizabeth Bickham]]
 
*[[Fiona Thorne]]
 
*[[Lucy Burns]]
 
*[[Marc Moninski]]
 
*[[Morgan Bone]]
 
*[[Neil Hedges]]
 
*[[Nick Wright]]
 
*[[Philippa Dale-Thomas]]
 
*[[Rachel Jones]]
 
*[[Ron Finlay]]
 
*[[Sarah Croom-Johnson]]
 
*[[Simon Burton]]
 
*[[Simon Matthews]]
 
*[[Suzanne Morris]]
 
  
==Clients==
+
====December 2012-February 2013====
===2007===
+
[[Lauren Arthur]] | [[Rachel Barrett]] | [[Natalie Bateman]] | [[Ayesha Bharmal]] | [[Jordan Bickerton]] | [[Martin Brown]] | [[Harry Bush]] | [[Jennifer Edwards]] | [[Rachel Galvin]] | [[Ross Gill]] | [[Jim Godfrey]] | [[Paul Hodgson]] | [[Shirin Homawala]] | [[Natasha Jones]] | [[Andrew Lewin]] | [[James Lusher]] | [[Ben Lyons]] | [[Thomas Morris]] | [[Leigh Renders]] | [[Holly Rouse]] | [[Rory Scanlan]] | [[Tom Wadsworth]] | [[John Williams]] | [[Laura Wyld]]<ref name="MV"> [http://www.appc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/latest-register_1Dec2012_28Feb2013.pdf Register for 1st December 2012 - 28th February 2013] ''APPC'', accessed 10 October 2014 </ref>
Fishburn Hedges' clients in 2007 included: <ref> "Client List, Fishburn Hedges, http://www.fishburn-hedges.co.uk/ourclients/corporate_and_professional_services/; "Client List", Fishburn Hedges, http://www.fishburn-hedges.co.uk/ourclients/public_sector__social_affairs_and_not-for-profit_organisations/
 
</ref>
 
  
*[[Amway]]
+
==Affiliations==
*[[ASDA]]
+
*In 2008, Fishburn Hedges was reported to be a member of the [[Global Financial Communication Network]], ([[GFC/Net]]), a "financial and corporate communications network linking leading independent public relations consultancies in major financial markets around the world."<ref> GFC/Net [http://www.gfcnet.com/members.php Members] Accessed 13th February 2008</ref>
*[[Association of British Pharmaceutical Industries]]
 
*[[Bank of America]]
 
*[[Barclays]]
 
*[[British Library]]
 
*[[British Marine Federation]]
 
*[[Barrow Cadbury Trust]]
 
*[[Carbon Trust]]
 
*[[National Express]]
 
*[[National Treatment Agency]]
 
*[[Powergen]]
 
*[[Pre-school Learning Alliance]]
 
*[[Royal College of Nursing]]
 
*[[Scottish Widows]]
 
*[[Shell International]]
 
*[[South Bank Centre]]
 
*[[Transport for London]]
 
*[[TetraPak]]
 
*[[Unilever]]
 
  
===2008===
+
*Fishburn Hedges is one of the main backers of [[Editorial Intelligence]], with chief executive [[Ron Finlay]] an adviser to the project. [[Editorial Intelligence]] goes further than perhaps any other organisation in blurring the lines between journalism and PR.
[[ABPI]] | [[Atos Origin]] | [[Aviva ]] | [[Capital One]] | [[CITB Construction Skills]] | [[Digital UK]] | [[ERSA]] | [[EEDA]] | [[Job Centre Plus]] | [[JPMorgan ]] | [[Laing O’Rourke]] | [[Norwich Union]] | [[Pension Protection Fund]] | [[Sainsbury’s]] | [[Starbucks]] | [[Tetra Pak]] | [[Virgin Trains]] | [[West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority]] / [[West Midlands Metropolitan Authorities]]<ref>Fishburn Hedges, Fee-Paying clients for whom UK PA consultancy services provided this quarter, ‘’APPC Register’’ March – May 2008</ref>
 
  
In 2008, Fishburn Hedges is reported to be a member of [[GFC/Net]]<ref> GFC/Net [http://www.gfcnet.com/members.php Members] Accessed 13th February 2008</ref>
+
==Contacts==
 +
77 Kingsway, London WC2B 6SR
  
==External Resources==
+
==Affiliated pages==
 
*[[Fishburn Hedges UK Clients and Staff 30.11.03 to 3.05.04]]
 
*[[Fishburn Hedges UK Clients and Staff 30.11.03 to 3.05.04]]
 
*[[Fishburn Hedges UK Staff and clients, 1 June 2005 to 30 Nov 2005]]
 
*[[Fishburn Hedges UK Staff and clients, 1 June 2005 to 30 Nov 2005]]
 +
 +
==Resources==
 +
See: [[Fracking lobbying firms]]
 +
 +
See: [[Fracking Spads]]
 +
*Melissa Jones and Andy Rowell, [http://www.spinwatch.org/index.php/issues/climate/item/5765-access-all-areas-frackers-lobbyists-and-the-revolving-door Access all areas: Westminster's (vast) fracking lobby exposed], 29 April 2015.
  
 
==Notes==
 
==Notes==
Line 128: Line 263:
 
[[Category:Public relations firms]]
 
[[Category:Public relations firms]]
 
[[Category:PR Industry]]
 
[[Category:PR Industry]]
 +
[[Category:Nuclear Spin]]
 +
[[Category:Financial sector lobbying]]
 +
'''[http://www.powerbase.info/index.php?title=Lobbying_Portal Back to Lobbying Portal]'''

Latest revision as of 13:23, 3 March 2017

Twenty-pound-notes.jpg This article is part of the Lobbying Portal, a sunlight project from Spinwatch.
Fishburn Hedges London office, 77 Kingsway, London

Contents

Background

Fishburn Hedges is a corporate communications company. It offers PR and lobbying services. It is owned by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, the UK's largest advertising agency, which is, in turn, ultimately owned by the global communications group Omnicom.

It has worked for some of the most controversial corporations, including Shell and British American Tobacco.

In November 2013 the Fishburn Hedges Group announced it was bringing together its PR agencies, Fishburn Hedges and Seventy Seven, and design business, Further, to form a single company, Fishburn. The new firm comprises four core groups:

  • "Strategy, Planning & Insights, which Fishburn describes as “the strategic planning heart of the business in a communications world increasingly driven by research, data and analytics.” A dedicated team will focus on data and research-led insight, strategic consultancy, analytics and evaluation.
  • Digital: A newly assembled team will combine the existing digital expertise of all three businesses.
  • Creative: A new creative community from across the businesses will bring together brand design, digital creative, PR campaign creative and content creation.
  • Client advisory. The new business will provide consultancy expertise from reputation management, financial communication and public affairs, to consumer brand communications, sustainability consulting, employee engagement, brand consulting and corporate reporting".[1]

In November 2015, after much speculation, it was announced that Fishburn Hedges and Fleishman-Hillard would merge their UK operations, including their staff and offices. They will reside at Omnicom's Bankside premises, with over 200 staff. The merged companies are expected to gross £25-£30 million annually. [2]

Origins of the company

Fishburn Hedges was established in 1991 as a corporate communications company specialising in public relations, advising companies on how best to communicate ideas and products to their target audience.[3] Five founders of the company - Neil Hedges and chairman Dale Fishburn, together with Andrew Boys, John Williams and Charles Downing put up £150,000 to start up the company.[4]

'The firm opened for business the day the Gulf War started and in the depths of the recession. But it made more than pounds 1 million profit last year and has picked up top clients such as Barclays, Rothschild and Eagle Star.'[5] In 1996 Fishburn Hedges was taken over by Abbot Mead Vickers ad company for a reported fee of between £4 and 15 million.[6]

The founders

John Williams, an independent consultant specialising in corporate marketing and reputation, was co-founder and its former Chairman, having started his career in consumer advertising with J. Walter Thompson. At Fishburn Hedges, he is said to have developed a particular interest in corporate social responsibility and also built a practice serving the not-for-profit sector.[7] He worked for five years with Shell on their global stakeholder engagement programme.

He is currently chairman of the governance and leadership think tank, Tomorrow's Company, a board member of Business in the Community and was, until recently, deputy Chair of ChildLine. Williams is currently a Commissioner with the Charity Commission, as one of the five non-executive Commissioners responsible for the regulation of 190,000 charities in England and Wales.[8]

PR campaigns

The Fishburn Hedges website outlines the services it provides to clients as:

  • government relations and regulatory affairs to campaigning - aka lobbying
  • reactive crisis and issue management to planned corporate positioning
  • corporate ethics to corporate community involvement[9]

It has used the following techniques:

Front groups

Fishburn Hedges was the organizer of the tobacco industry front group Associates for Research into the Science of Enjoyment, or ARISE.[10]

'Grass roots' involvement

The firm also operates a group called the Pre-school Learning Alliance. It describes itself as "a leading educational charity specialising in the early years". According to its website:

"The Pre-school Learning Alliance is the largest grass-roots movement committed to the education and well-being of children and to the value of education as the means to a better life for the community as a whole."

Fishburn Hedges says of its work with the Alliance:

"As part of our work with the Pre-school Learning Alliance, we combined a major conference on early years education and childcare, addressed by the Education Secretary, with the presentation by pre-school children of a cake to the PM at Number Ten as it was his birthday."[11]

The VP of the Alliance is Graham McMillan — Director of Fishburn Hedges. The Alliance is partly funded by corporate partners including (in 2008) Tesco, Fisher-Price and Abbey Home Media, creators and distributors of pre-school children's programming for broadcast, audio, video, DVD and publishing channels.[12] One assumes the corporate funders are interested in accessing markets.

Monitoring activists

Fishburn Hedges also takes a keen interest in activist campaigns if they prompt TV and radio coverage. When a customer (Steve Pardoe) alleged on his website that BT Cellnet "had been making unauthorised debits from thousands of people's bank and credit card accounts, then cynically fobbing off their victims,"[13] the campaign grew to attract mainstream media attention and so Fishburn helped out with some of that "reactive crisis and issue management"[14] According to Steve Pardoe:

"BT Cellnet and their PR firm, Fishburn Hedges, visited this site on 16 February, the day before transmission, and later in the week. Fishburn Hedges' visit was presumably to gauge the extent and detail of media exposure of Cellnet's fraud.[15]

The "Corporate use of codes of ethics: 2004 survey" was put together by Fishburn Hedges and it reportedly shows "that responsibility for how corporate codes of ethics operate is increasingly being taken seriously by directors and boards in Britain's biggest companies."[16] Given the Fishburn Hedges approach, it is difficult to know if this is true or the result of a "pretence of sincerity".

Specific campaigns

Specific campaigns Fishburn Hedges has carried out include:

  1. "We have helped clients to win competition cases. We worked with J Sainsbury during the “Rip off Britain” furore to ensure that it came out of the Competition Commission inquiry into the major supermarkets with a clean bill of health. For William Hill, we helped to persuade the competition authorities and the Trade & Industry Secretary to block the proposed merger of Ladbrokes with Coral."
  2. "We have helped to reposition Powergen with government not only as a respected industry voice but also as leading the way on the environmental and social agenda."
  3. FH’s clients have included two of the big five supermarkets: Sainsbury’s and Asda. Whereas the supermarkets have been criticized by food campaigners for being part of the obesity epidemic gripping the UK, FH has been attempting to portray its clients as part of the solution. FH says that the main focus of its activity has been to make sure that Sainsbury’s “is recognised as a leading player in the national debate about nutrition and healthy eating.” The then head of FH’s public affairs Graham McMillan adds “The food industry needs to get on the front foot, and play a prominent role in the [obesity] debate rather than sticking its head in the sand or being defensive”[17][18]
  4. In 2004, the partially privatized secretive government defence company Qinetiq hired FH to generate interest in its products amongst security, commercial defence, aerospace, aviation, transport, health and energy industries.[19]
  5. In July 2007, Starbucks UK awarded its PR contract to Fishburn Hedges. The coffee company was under fire - the company faced union-busting allegations in the US. In 2006, Oxfam ran a campaign against it for blocking trademark applications by coffee-growers in Ethiopia. Over 90,000 people sent a message to the company from a Myspace page. The year before, the company had been labelled “arrogant, intrusive and self-centred” by a survey of 8,000 consumers[20][21][22].
  6. In 2005 the Electoral Commission hired FH for around £100,000 a year to “increase voter engagement”. Angela Salt of the Commission said at the time: “We need to demonstrate that politics is personal. People must be engaged; we need to show them why this matters”. A misguided statement perhaps given FH’s role in helping clients, like Starbucks, who have been the target of political activism.[23]
  7. Transport for London also paid FH a massive £100,000 a month for advice on Ken Livingstone's congestion charge. The total fee amounted to more than £2.4m over two years (2001-03).[24]
  8. "Our work for Unilever, one of the world’s largest food companies, has included communicating its approach to sustainable development to government, opinion formers, NGOs and the media. By working towards best practice, Unilever has added strength to its voice on all the major UK/EU policy issues facing food, farming and fisheries. The programme has included: working with Forum for the Future, the NGO led by Jonathon Porritt, which has advised on the development of Unilever’s Sustainable Agriculture Project."[25] Forum for the Future is actually a paradigmatic example of a front group and not actually an independent non-government organisation. According to documents lodged with the Charities commission in 2006 its income from business "as a proportion of total income" increased to "47 per cent of overall income (compared to 42 percent of total income in 2005)".[26] In the circular world of PR, the Forum is itself a client of FH, which in turn runs the Forum's website for it. Tetra Pak, the carton manufacturing company owned by the Rausing family, is a "retail sector partner" of the Forum.[27] The company is also a client of Fishburn Hedges.[28] These connections make it unclear whether the companies involved with the Forum are actually its clients, since they seems to make use of its services for what could be described as lobbying purposes. The Forum's ”business partners" are largely drawn from the UK’s FTSE 250 and include major multinationals such as Alliance Boots, Cargill, Unilever, BP, GlaxoSmithKline, ICI Scottish & Newcastle and Vodafone – all of whom are not known for their environmental sustainability.[29]

Clients

FrackWell.png This article is part of the Spinwatch Fracking Portal and project
Global warming.jpg This article is part of the Climate project of Spinwatch.

The company's list of clients include some of the UK's and US's biggest controversial corporations. FH handles Shell's "Global reputation management programme"; the Bank of America's "Media relations strategic counsel and public affairs internal communications"; Barclays "Personal finance media relations programme and business banking media relations programme"; BT’s public relations programme with BT Retail; Serco; and IBM.[30]

Registrar of consultant lobbyists

Fishburn has been registered with the registrar of consultant lobbyists since April 2015. The registrar documents all clients on behalf of which the agency has met with a minister. Fishburn's listings since 2015 by quarter are as follows:

October-December 2015

Virgin Trains East Coast | Virgin Trains West Coast [31]

July-September 2015

Britvic Soft Drinks | EE | Virgin Trains East Coast | Virgin Trains West Coast

April-June 2015

EE | | Jaguar Land Rover | OPower | Virgin Trains

January-March 2015

EE

APPC Register

December 2016-February 2017

Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers | Carlyle Group | Danone Nutricia | EE | FCC Environment | JP Morgan | Lend Lease | Marks & Spencer | Omidyar Network | Qualcomm

September 2016-November 2016

Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers | Carlyle Group | Chartered Institute of Housing | Danone Nutricia | EE | FCC Environment | JP Morgan | Lend Lease | Marks & Spencer | Nominet | Omidyar Network | PepsiCo UK | Qualcomm

June 2016-August 2016

Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers | Britvic | Carlyle Group | Danone Nutricia | EEFCC Environment | JP Morgan | Lend Lease | Marks & Spencer | Omidyar Network | PepsiCo UK | Qualcomm | Virgin Trains East Coast | Virgin Trains West Coast [32]

March 2016-May 2016

AB Sugar | Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers | Britvic | Carlyle Group | Danone Nutricia | EE | JP Morgan | Lend Lease | Marks & Spencer | Omidyar Network | PepsiCo UK | Qualcomm | SAP | Virgin Trains East Coast | Virgin Trains West Coast [33]

December 2015-February 2016

  • Having merged with Fleishman Hillard in November 2016

AB Sugar | Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers | Britvic | Carlyle Group | Danone Nutricia | EE | JP Morgan | Lend Lease | Marks & Spencer | Omidyar Network | PepsiCo UK | Qualcomm | SAP | Virgin Trains East Coast | Virgin Trains West Coast [34]

September 2015 - November 2015

AB Sugar | Aviva | Britvic | Clear Channel | EE | Energy UK | Gatwick Airport | Jaguar Land Rover | L'Oreal | Lend Lease | LV | Mastercard | Mobile Operators Association | Shell | Singapore Airlines | Tetra Pak | Texthelp | Virgin Trains East Coast | Virgin Trains West Coast [35]

June 2015 - August 2015

AB Sugar | Actis | Britvic | Cambridge Nanosystems | Clear Channel | EE | Energy UK | Gatwick Airport | Jaguar Land Rover | L'Oreal | Lend Lease | Mastercard | Mobile Operators Association | OPower | Shell | Singapore Airlines | Tetra Park | Texthelp | Virgin Trains East Coast | Virgin Trains West Coast [36]

March 2015-May 2015

AB Sugar | Actis | Britvic | Cambridge Nanosystems | EE | Energy UK | Gatwick Airport | Jaguar Land Rover | L'Oreal | Lend Lease | Mace | Master Card | Mobile Operators Association | OPower | Shell | Tetra Pak | Texthelp | Virgin Trains East Coast | Virgin Trains West Coast [37]

December 2014-February 2015

AB Sugar | Actis | Body Shop | Britvic | Cambridge Nanosystems | EE | Energy UK | Gatwick Airport | Jaguar Land Rover | L'Oreal | Mace | MasterCard | Opower | Shell | Virgin Trains[38]

September 2014-November 2014

AB Sugar | Actis | BBA | Body Shop | Britvic | Cambridge Nanosystems | EE | Energy UK | Gatwick Airport | Jaguar Land Rover | L'Oreal | Mace | MasterCard | Opower | Shell | Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay | Virgin Trains[39]

June 2014-August 2014

AB Sugar | Barratt London | Body Shop | Britvic | Cambridge Nanosystems | EE | Energy UK | Gatwick Airport | Gondola Group | Jaguar Land Rover | L'Oreal | Mace | MasterCard | MTR Corporation | Network Rail Property | Opower | Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay | Virgin Trains[40]

March 2014-May 2014

AB Sugar | Britvic | Cambridge Nanosystems | Digital UK | EE | Energy UK | Gatwick Airport | Gondola Group | Jaguar Land Rover | L'Oreal | Mace | MTR Corporation | Network Rail | Property Opower | SMMT | Tetra Pak | Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay | Virgin Trains[41]

December 2013-February 2014

AB Sugar | Aimia | Britvic | Digital UK | EE | Energy UK | Gatwick Airport | Jaguar Land Rover | Mace | MTR Corporation | Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics | Serco | Tetra Pak | Virgin Trains | Weve[42]

September 2013-November 2013

AB Sugar | Aimia | Britvic | Digital UK | Dyncorp International (UK) | Energy UK | Financial Ombudsman Service | Gatwick Airport | Jaguar Land Rover | Mace | MTR Corporation | Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics | Serco | Tetra Pak | Virgin Trains | Weve[43]

June 2013-August 2013

AB Sugar | Aimia | Britvic | Celesio UK | Digital UK | Energy UK | Financial Ombudsman Service | Gatwick Airport | Jaguar Land Rover | Mace | MTR Corporation | NetJets Europe | Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics | Serco | Tetra Pak | Virgin Trains | Weve[44]

March 2013-May 2013

Aimia | Avanta | Britvic | Celesio UK | Digital UK | Energy UK | Financial Ombudsman Service | Gatwick Airport | Jaguar Land Rover | Mace | MTR Corporation | NetJets Europe | Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics | Serco | Tetra Pak | Virgin Trains | Weve[45]

December 2012-February 2013

Avanta | Britvic | Celesio UK | Digital UK | Energy UK | Financial Ombudsman Service | Gatwick Airport | Jaguar Land Rover | John Lewis Partnership | Mace | MTR Corporation | NetJets Europe | Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics Tetra Pak | Virgin Trains | Wyld[46]

Client list in 2008

Lobbying clients declared in 2008:[47]
ABPI | Atos Origin | Aviva | British Dental Association | Capital One | Carbon Trust | Construction Skills | Digital UK | ERSA | EEDA | Investors in People | Job Centre Plus | JPMorgan | Laing O’Rourke | Norwich Union | Pension Protection Fund | ResCare | Sainsbury’s | Starbucks | Tetra Pak | Virgin Trains | West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority / West Midlands Metropolitan Authorities | WRAP

Client list 2007

Amway | ASDA | Association of British Pharmaceutical Industries | Bank of America | Barclays | British Library | British Marine Federation | Barrow Cadbury Trust | Carbon Trust | National Express | National Treatment Agency | Powergen | Pre-school Learning Alliance | Royal College of Nursing | Scottish Widows | Shell International | South Bank Centre | Transport for London | TetraPak | Unilever[48]

People

FH's people come from a range of backgrounds:

Typically our client teams will mix career PR practitioners with consultants who have professional experience in that client’s field. Our consultants include former bankers, advertising planners, authors, civil servants, trade unionists, stock brokers, charity fund raisers and, of course, journalists.[49]

According to Fishburn Hedges’s own website: "all PRs should take note that purple type on their CV, a thorough knowledge of EastEnders and frequent pretence of sincerity goes a long way".[50]

Senior team

Lobbyists

Former lobbyists

Revolving door

  • Paul Hodgson. Became special adviser to the Energy and Climate Change Minister Ed Davey until the 2015 election.

Staff

December 2016-February 2017

Kelly Baker | Rachel Barrett | Segolene De Foucaud | Michelle Di Leo | Simon Finkelstein | David Lewy | Liam McCloy | Simon Richards | Benjamin Stetson

September 2016-November 2016

Kelly Baker | Rachel Barrett | Jennifer Brindisi | Segolene De Foucaud | Michelle Di Leo | Jonathan Farrar-Bell | Simon Finkelstein | David Lewy | Liam McCloy | Dominic Pendry | Simon Richards | Benjamin Stetson | Caroline Winters

June 2016-August 2016

Kelly Baker | Rachel Barrett | Jennifer Brindisi | Jack Carnell | Michelle Di Leo | Jonathan Farrar-Bell | Paulina Jakubec | David Lewy | Liam McCloy | Isabella Miller | Dominic Pendry | Simon Richards | Caroline Winters [32]

March 2016-May 2016

Kelly Baker | Rachel Barrett | Jennifer Brindisi | Jack Carnell | Michelle Di Leo | Paulina Jakubec | Ben Lyons | Liam McCloy | Isabella Miller | Judith Moore | Dominic Pendry | Simon Richards | William Thavenot | Caroline Winters [33]

December 2015-February 2016

Kelly Baker | Rachel Barrett | Jennifer Brindisi | Jack Carnell | Michelle Di Leo | Paulina Jakubec | Matthew Keirle | Ben Lyons | Liam McCloy | Isabella Miller | Judith Moore | Dominic Pendry | Simon Richards | William Thavenot | Caroline Winters [34]

September 2015-November 2015

Kelly Baker | Rachel Barrett | William Blair | Jack Carnell | Rachel Galvin | Matthew Keirle | Ben Lyons | Isabella Miller | Dominic Pendry | Joe Rankin | Holly Rouse | Rory Scanlan | Emma Tobin[58]

June 2015-August 2015

Kelly Baker | Rachel Barratt | Jordan Bickerton | William Blair | Jack Carnell | Ben Crosland | Niamh Fogarty | Rachel Galvin | Matthew Keirle | Ben Lyons | Isabella Miller | Dominic Pendry | Joe Rankin | Holly Rouse | Rory Scanlan [59]

March 2015-May 2015

Kelly Baker | Rachel Barratt | Jordan Bickerton | William Blair | Jack Carnell | Ben Crosland | Rachel Galvin | Matthew Keirle | Ben Lyons | Isabella Miller | Dominic Pendry | Joe Rankin | Holly Rouse | Rory Scanlan | David Skelton | Katherine Taunton [60]

December 2014-February 2015

Rebecca Bailey | Rachel Barrett | Jordon Bickerton | William Blair | Ben Crosland | Phil Drew | Rachel Galvin | Ross Gill | Matthew Keirle | Ben Lyons | Isabella Miller | Dominic Pendry | Joe Rankin | Leigh Renders | Holly Rouse | Rory Scanlan | David Skelton | Katherine Taunton[38]

September 2014-November 2014

Rebecca Bailey | Rachel Barrett | Jordon Bickerton | William Blair | Ben Crosland | Phil Drew | Rachel Galvin | Ross Gill | Matthew Keirle | Ben Lyons | Isabella Miller | Dominic Pendry | Joe Rankin | Leigh Renders | Holly Rouse | Rory Scanlan | David Skelton | Katherine Taunton[39]

June 2014-August 2014

Rebecca Bailey | Rachel Barrett | Jordon Bickerton | William Blair | Ben Crosland | Phil Drew | Jennifer Edwards | Rachel Galvin | Ross Gill | Matthew Keirle | Andrew Lewin | Ben Lyons | Joe Rankin | Leigh Renders | Holly Rouse | Rory Scanlan | David Skelton | Katherine Taunton[40]

March 2014-May 2014

Rebecca Bailey | Rachel Barrett | Jordon Bickerton | William Blair | Phil Drew | Jennifer Edwards | Rachel Galvin | Ross Gill | Matthew Keirle | Andrew Lewin | Ben Lyons | Lewis Mooney | Joe Rankin | Leigh Renders | Holly Rouse | Rory Scanlan | David Skelton | Katherine Taunton[41]

December 2013-February 2014

Bex Bailey | Rachel Barrett | Natalie Bateman | Jordan Bickerton | Martin Brown | Phil Drew | Jennifer Edwards | Rachel Galvin | Ross Gill | Andrew Lewin | James Lusher | Ben Lyons | Lewis Mooney | Leigh Renders | Holly Rouse | Rory Scanlan | David Skelton | Katherine Taunton | Tom Wadsworth[42]

September 2013-November 2013

Bex Bailey | Rachel Barrett | Natalie Bateman | Jordan Bickerton | Martin Brown | Phil Drew | Jennifer Edwards | Rachel Galvin | Ross Gill | Jim Godfrey | Natasha Jones | Andrew Lewin | James Lusher | Ben Lyons | Lewis Mooney | Leigh Renders | Holly Rouse | Rory Scanlan | David Skelton | Katherine Taunton | Tom Wadsworth | John Williams [43]

June 2013-August 2013

Lauren Arthur | Bex Bailey | Rachel Barrett | Natalie Bateman | Jordan Bickerton | Martin Brown | Phil Drew | Jennifer Edwards | Rachel Galvin | Ross Gill | Jim Godfrey | Natasha Jones | Andrew Lewin | James Lusher | Ben Lyons | Leigh Renders | Holly Rouse | Rory Scanlan | David Skelton | Tom Wadsworth | William Wallace | John Williams[44]

March 2013-May 2013

Lauren Arthur | Rachel Barrett | Natalie Bateman | Jordan Bickerton | Martin Brown | Harry Bush | Phil Drew | Jennifer Edwards | John Fingleton | Rachel Galvin | Ross Gill | Jim Godfrey | Shirin Homawala | Natasha Jones | Andrew Lewin | James Lusher | Ben Lyons | Leigh Renders | Holly Rouse | Rory Scanlan | Tom Wadsworth | William Wallace | John Williams[45]

December 2012-February 2013

Lauren Arthur | Rachel Barrett | Natalie Bateman | Ayesha Bharmal | Jordan Bickerton | Martin Brown | Harry Bush | Jennifer Edwards | Rachel Galvin | Ross Gill | Jim Godfrey | Paul Hodgson | Shirin Homawala | Natasha Jones | Andrew Lewin | James Lusher | Ben Lyons | Thomas Morris | Leigh Renders | Holly Rouse | Rory Scanlan | Tom Wadsworth | John Williams | Laura Wyld[46]

Affiliations

  • In 2008, Fishburn Hedges was reported to be a member of the Global Financial Communication Network, (GFC/Net), a "financial and corporate communications network linking leading independent public relations consultancies in major financial markets around the world."[61]

Contacts

77 Kingsway, London WC2B 6SR

Affiliated pages

Resources

See: Fracking lobbying firms

See: Fracking Spads

Notes

  1. Fishburn Hedges restructures and rebrands, The Holmes Report, 24 November 2013, accessed 10 October 2014
  2. John Harrington, 'Fleishmann-Hillard and Fishburn Hedges merge UK operations', PRWeek, [date needed] accessed 2 November 2015
  3. Fishburn Hedges, About Us
  4. Clinton Manning, 'PR MEN SET FOR A pounds 15M AD-VANTAGE', The Mirror, 17 January 1996
  5. Clinton Manning, 'PR MEN SET FOR A pounds 15M AD-VANTAGE', The Mirror, 17 January 1996
  6. DAILY MAIL (London) January 17, 1996 SECTION: Pg. 68
  7. Executive Philanthropy, The speakers, John Williams, accessed 25 September 2008
  8. http://www.executivephilanthropy.com/speakers.html
  9. Public Affairs Brochure retrieved from the Internet archive of 11 January 2006 on 31 July 2007.
  10. See the press release issued by Fishburn Hedges: PR Newswire Europe November 6, 1996 '9OS GUILT-TRAP COULD THREATEN UK HEALTH, SAY SCIENTISTS, SECTION: GENERAL AND CITY NEWS. See also the catalogue entry at the Tobacco Legacy Documents website: Title: ARISE (ASSOCIATES FOR RESEARCH INTO THE SCIENCE OF ENJOYMENT) OVERSEAS AGENCY BRIEF Organization Author FISHBURN HEDGES The pdf itself is Title: ARISE (ASSOCIATES FOR RESEARCH INTO THE SCIENCE OF ENJOYMENT) OVERSEAS AGENCY BRIEF Organization Author FISHBURN HEDGES, accessed 25 September 2008
  11. Public Affairs Brochure retrieved from the Internet archive of 11 January 2006 on 31 July 2007.
  12. http://www.pre-school.org.uk/about-us/partners/, accessed 25 September 2008
  13. Steve Pardoe Steve Pardoe's Cellnet Précis Page, accessed 10 December 2007.
  14. Public Affairs Brochure retrieved from the Internet archive of 11 January 2006 on 31 July 2007.
  15. Steve Pardoe Steve Pardoe's Cellnet Media Page, accessed, 10 December 2007.
  16. ACCA Global, Publications
  17. [1]
  18. PR Week, “War on Obesity”, April 16, 2004, p23
  19. PR Week, “Qinetiq Appoints FH For B2B Push”, July 23, 2004, p4
  20. Daniel Gross, “Corporate Social Responsibility on Trial - Starbucks Behind the Brand,” Counterpunch, August 4 / 5, 2007
  21. PR Week, “Charity PR: All for A Good Cause”, April 27, 2007
  22. Donna Werbner, “Starbucks Reviews PR To Build Ethical Image”, PR Week, January 14, 2005, p1
  23. Sarah Robertson, FH to build voter trust in English democracy, PR Week, 5 August 2005
  24. Julia Day PR firm defends massive payment for London traffic advice Tuesday April 10, 2001 MediaGuardian.co.uk
  25. Public Affairs Brochure retrieved from the Internet archive of 11 January 2006 on 31 July 2007.
  26. THE FORUM FOR THE FUTURE Registered charity Company limited by guarantee REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST DECEMBER 2006, accessed 25 September 2008
  27. Forum for the Future Retail Partners, accessed 25 September 2008
  28. Wasted Opportunities
  29. Forum for the Future Retail Partners, accessed 25 September 2008
  30. Private clients retrieved from the Internet archive of 11 January 2006 on 31 July 2007.
  31. Fishburn Communications profile 2015, Register of consultant lobbyists, accessed 4 February 2016
  32. 32.0 32.1 Current register 1st June 2016 - 31st August 2016, APPC, accessed 24 November 2016.
  33. 33.0 33.1 Register for 1st March 2016 - 31st May 2016, APPC, accessed 24 November 2016.
  34. 34.0 34.1 Fleishman Hillard Fishburn Register 1st December 2015-28th February 2016, APPC, accessed 7 April 2016
  35. Fishburn Hedges Register Sep-Nov 15, APPC.org, accessed 2 February 2016
  36. Fishburn Hedges Register Jun-Aug15, APPC.org, accessed 2 February 2016
  37. Register March 1 - May 31 2015APPC.org, accessed 9 October 2015
  38. 38.0 38.1 Register 1st December 2014 - 28th February 2015 APPC, accessed 24 March 2015
  39. 39.0 39.1 Register 1st September 2014 - 30th November 2014 APPC, accessed 20 January 2015
  40. 40.0 40.1 Register 1st June 2014 - 31st August 2014 APPC, accessed 16 October 2014
  41. 41.0 41.1 Register for 1st March 2014 - 31st May 2014 APPC, accessed 10 October 2014
  42. 42.0 42.1 Register for 1st December 2013 - 28th February 2014 APPC, accessed 10 October 2014
  43. 43.0 43.1 Register for 1st September 2013 - 30th November 2013 APPC, accessed 10 October 2014
  44. 44.0 44.1 Register for 1st June 2013 - 31st August 2013 APPC, accessed 10 October 2014
  45. 45.0 45.1 Register for 1st March 2013 - 31st May 2013 APPC, accessed 10 October 2014
  46. 46.0 46.1 Register for 1st December 2012 - 28th February 2013 APPC, accessed 10 October 2014
  47. Fishburn Hedges, Fee-Paying clients for whom UK PA consultancy services provided this quarter, ‘’APPC Register’’ March – May 2008
  48. "Client List, Fishburn Hedges, http://www.fishburn-hedges.co.uk/ourclients/corporate_and_professional_services/; "Client List", Fishburn Hedges, http://www.fishburn-hedges.co.uk/ourclients/public_sector__social_affairs_and_not-for-profit_organisations/
  49. People retrieved from the Internet archive of 11 January 2006 on 31 July 2007.
  50. Fishburn Hedges We owe you a long lunch... Financial Adviser 128 words, 26 August 2004, English (c) 2004 Financial Adviser, retrieved from the Internet archive of 11 January 2006 on 31 July 2007.
  51. Isabella Miller Linkedin, accessed 20 January 2015
  52. Ali Gee Fishburn appoints Dominic Pendry as new Managing Director, Corporate Fishburn, 12 May 2014, accessed 20 January 2015
  53. Phil Drew Linkedin, accessed 20 January 2015
  54. Bex Bailey Linkedin, accessed 20 January 2015
  55. Bex Bailey Fishburn Hedges, accessed 20 January 2015
  56. Ketchum Pleon Names Rupert Lewis Director of Corporate and Public Affairs Ketchum, 3 February 2012, accesed 10 October 2014
  57. Public Affairs: The Week in Lobbying PR week, 22 January 2010, accessed 10 October 2014
  58. Fishburn Hedges clients, Sep-Nov15, APPC.org, accessed 3 February 2016
  59. Register as of 31 August 2015APPC.org, accessed 8 October 2015
  60. Register of APPC members as of May 2015APPC.org, accessed 7 October 2015
  61. GFC/Net Members Accessed 13th February 2008

Back to Lobbying Portal