Portland PR

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Portland is an international PR and lobbying consultancy founded in 2001 by Tim Allan, a former adviser to Tony Blair and director of corporate communications at BSkyB.

People

In September 2009 Conservative Party heavyweight Michael Portillo joined Portland as the agency set up a new high-level 'advisory council'. The two other advisory board members are Tony Ball and Sir Chris Powell.

A month later, in another coup for the agency, it also signed up the Sun's political editor George Pascoe-Watson, further strengthening its Tory credentials.

• Tim Allan
• Martin Sheehan -Partner, heads Portland's Communications practice. Joined Portland from the Prime Minister’s Office, where he was Head of Strategic Communication. Spent eight years in a range of senior communications roles at No10 under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Former spokesman for Cabinet Ministers including Alistair Darling.
• Toby Orr - Partner, founded Portland International Affairs in 2007. Previously a co-founder of Africa Practice, and a former Consultant within Weber Shandwick's International Government Affairs practice. Worked in the 2005 General Election team for Michael Howard, Conservative Party leader. In 2001 was Campaign Aide to Andrew Lansley, Chief Election Strategist. Also worked for Dick Gephardt in US Congress
• Claire Thom - Associate director
• Steve Morris - Managing partner - former adviser to Tony Blair on European issues (2002-007) and former head of the Downing Street Strategic Communications Unit, and Director of Communications at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
• Mark Flanagan - Partner for Digital Communications. Previously head of strategic communications at Downing Street working for the Labour and Coalition Governments
• Mark Wallace - Senior Account Manager, joined Portland in 2010 was previously Campaign Director at the TaxPayers’ Alliance
• Oliver Pauley - Partner, leads Portland’s Public Affairs practice. Joined in January 2011, after five years with Fleishman-Hillard as Director and Partner in its London Public Affairs team. Has advised global FMCG and financial services brands, and worked across regulated sectors including energy, water and telecoms.
• David Wallace - head of Portland’s writing practice, joined Portland in 2007 after a decade at Downing Street 'where he drafted millions of words for Tony Blair and other senior Government figures'. Before being appointed a special advisor, David was a national newspaper journalist based at Westminster for 15 years.
• Sam Sharps - Associate Director - joined Portland from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to lead accounts in the media and technology sectors. Previously worked closely with Jeremy Hunt and Ed Vaizey to develop the Coalition’s ICT programme, as well as building the UK’s business cyber-security strategy. In 2008 co-authored the Digital Britain White Paper. He has also worked in public affairs for Cable & Wireless.
• Laura Kyrke-Smith - Account Director on the Government Advisory team, 'plays a lead role in Portland’s reputation management and communications capacity-building work for overseas governments'. Joined Portland from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, where she was speech-writer to Ministers of State for Africa Lord Malloch-Brown and Baroness Kinnock. She also worked as a Policy Analyst in the FCO’s Strategy Unit. Previously worked for media think tank Polis and the Foreign Policy Centre.
• James O'Shaughnessy, joined Portland in January 2012 as "chief policy adviser", a newly created position. Was David Cameron’s former director of policy between 2007 and 2011, and a key figure in drafting the last Conservative manifesto. A statement issued by Portland said he would “advise clients on the priorities of the coalition and in particular the Conservative party”.

Former staff

• Henry de Zoete - now a special adviser to Education Secretary Michael Gove
• James Frayne - now Director of Communications at the UK Department for Education
  • Andrew Sholl
• Katie Thompson
• Lucy Aitkens
• Diane Barnes
• Diana Jackson

Clients

In 2011 lobbying clients listed on the APPC register included:
British Bankers Association | AB-InBev | Apple | Association of British Bookmakers | Basic Element | BTA Bank | Cable and Wireless | Coca-Cola Enterprises | Coca-Cola Great Britain | Falcon and Associates | GazProm | Google | Halite Energy Group | McDonald’s | NetJets | NSPCC | Plan UK | SAB Miller | Tesco | Government of Russia | Scout Association | Woodland Trust | Tullow Oil | UK Broadband | Virgin Media

Background

Private Eye reports in 2006:

The knives are out for former Downing Street aide Tim Allan... and they are being wielded by Labour MPs. Although Allan left Number Ten in 2000 to pursue a living in PR after six years as Alastair Campbell's deputy, this hardly represented a career change - his influence seems to linger on.

Allan now runs Portland PR whose clients include BSkyB, for whom he briefly worked. Last December he leaked to New Labour's favourite hack Tom Baldwin a tape of Today programme presenter John Humphrys making unflattering comments about various government ministers at a private business seminar. The resulting media furore was a double coup for Allan since it embarrassed Sky's main rival, the Beeb, and created trouble for Humphrys, a long-time thorn in the side of Allan's friends in Downing Street.

But Allan was himself the victim of a leak when, in February, documents advising Sky's head of communications Matthew Anderson on how to ingratiate himself with culture and media minister Tessa Jowell ended up in the papers (see Eye 1155).

Allan is also a close friend of pensions minister James Purnell - they were flatmates and Purnell was best man at Allan's wedding - who was identified in April as the man behind a story in the Guardian accusing Gordon Brown of trying to oust Tony Blair from power.

Now Labour backbenchers have started asking awkward questions about how far Allan's schmoozing of Whitehall really goes. In the last month, no fewer than nine questions have been tabled asking ministers 'what meetings officials in the [their] department have had with representatives of the public relations company Portland PR; what contracts Portland PR has with his Department and agencies for which he has responsibility; and what the nature of the contract is in each case'.

Most of the responses give nothing away ('The departments for which I am responsible do not maintain central lists of such meetings. Civil servants meet many people as part of the process of policy development and business delivery'), although leader of the House Jack Straw admits that two special advisers working for his predecessor Geoff Hoon had attended 'a summer garden party on 13 July 2005 hosted by Portland PR'.

What makes this development interesting is the identity of those tabling the questions, most of whom could never be bracketed in the 'awkward squad'. Leading the charge are key Gordon Brown allies Doug Henderson and Nick Brown. It was the latter who asked the prime minister, no less, what dealings his office had had with Portland.

An answer from Number Ten is still awaited. Allan's company has also been singled out in a Commons motion put down by former government whip Fraser Kemp, deploring Portland's role in preparing propaganda leaflets for Asda in a bid to persuade its workers to sign away their union negotiating rights. A tribunal fined the supermarket giant £850,000 for its actions, describing the leaflets as 'very hostile to trade unions, and highly disparaging of the process of collective bargaining'.

Resources

• Rebecca Seales, Lobby firm tries to get ‘wife beater’ nickname for Stella wiped off Wikipedia entry for beer, 4 January 2011.

Contact

Address: 1 Red Lion Court, London EC4A 3EB

Website: http://www.portland-communications.com/

Twitter: @PortlandComms

Notes

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