Westminster lobbying map

Click on a peg to see a brief summary of individual lobbying firms or organisations.
Click on the + (top right) inside each entry to continue reading the Spinprofiles profile in the map, or on the title to jump to the profile.
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51.513129, -0.124354, Fleishman-Hillard

One of the biggest PR and lobbying firms in the world, Fleishman-Hillard is heavily involved in lobbying for the biotechnology sector in the UK. Lobbyists include Kevin Bell, a former adviser to Thatcher; Nick Williams, who was on Tony Blair’s media team; Simon Benson, an ex-special adviser to Home Secretary Jacqui Smith; and Sophie Pim, David Cameron’s former operations manager.

51.517975, -0.112156, Bell Pottinger

Under the Chairmanship of Lord Bell, lobbying firm Bell Pottinger Public Affairs openly refuses to disclose its client list. It includes arms company BAE Systems, which, when faced with an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office for allegedly “bribing” Saudi generals, benefited from a "well-orchestrated PR campaign, involving veteran fixer Tim Bell". The Government blocked the SFO inquiry in December 2006.

51.516897, -0.117203, Brunswick

Brunswick is one of the City's largest PR and lobbying firms, representing more than a fifth of Britain's FTSE 100 companies, although it doesn't reveal its client list. Its founder, Alan Parker, is a close friend of Gordon Brown. The prime minister is godfather to one of Parker's children and Sarah Brown used to work at Brunswick. It was Parker who recommended Brunswick's CEO, Stephen Carter, to be the PM's chief of strategy. Parker was pictured on holiday in South Africa in 2008 with David Cameron.

51.518885, -0.111695, Weber Shandwick

One of the largest PR companies in the world, Weber Shandwick has a long history of working for the nuclear industry in the UK, including British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL). It also worked for oil company Shell, including countering criticism over Shell’s role in Nigeria at the time of the execution of writer Ken Saro-Wiwa. Its lobbyists include Colin Byrne, ex-Labour Chief Press Officer. Staff have also included the PM’s brother Andrew Brown, MPs and a prospective Tory candidate.

51.500476, -0.080583, Chelgate

"Unusually discreet and low-profile" is how Chelgate describes its PR and lobbying service. More than half of its client relationships are subject to formal confidentiality agreements. "We think our clients should always have the right to expect professional confidentiality." Headed by Terence Fane-Saunders, widely regarded as one of the leaders of international PR, its known clients include the Duke of Sutherland.

51.504442, -0.08008, City Hall

Offices of the Mayor of London and the Greater London Authority

51.51194, -0.146101, PPS

PR and lobbying firm specialising in winning planning permission for developers, PPS lobbies for supermarkets, airport operators, quarrying firms, power companies and housebuilders. Founded by a former Labour staffer and an ex-Tory councilor, it was exposed by The London Evening Standard for using "trickery, deceit and manipulation" to secure planning permission for a controversial housing development.

51.511315, -0.136221, Cicero

London and Brussels-based lobbying firm Cicero is heavily involved in the financial services sector. It lobbies for banks, asset managers, mortgage lenders, insurers, hedge funds, financial trade bodies and private clients, including AXA, Abbey, JPMorgan, Jupiter, UBS, the Association of British Insurers, and the Investment Management Association. Lobbyists include a former aide to Nick Brown MP (one of Gordon Brown's closest allies), and a former vice president of JP Morgan and Citigroup.

51.497283, -0.135972, Edelman

Global PR and lobbying giant Edelman has worked for some major polluters including Shell, E.ON, and in 2006, climate change sceptics, the American Petroleum Institute. Edelman is also a leader in the use of co-opting environmental groups. It explains the rationale: “You’ve got an environmental disaster on your hands. Have you consulted with Greenpeace in developing your crisis response plan? Co-opting your would-be attackers may seem counterintuitive, but it makes sense when you consider that NGOs (non-governmental organisations) are trusted by the public nearly two-to-one to ‘do what’s right’.

51.518168, -0.123557, Burson-Marsteller

One of the largest PR agencies in the world, Burson-Marsteller is also one of the most notorious. It has a history of working with repressive governments, including Nigeria in 1960s, Argentina in the '70s, and Indonesia when it was accused of genocide in East Timor. It also did Union Carbide's PR after the Bhopal disaster in India. Lobbying clients in 2009 include Tate & Lyle, Microsoft and HSBC. Lobbyists include worldwide CEO, Mark Penn (worked with Tony Blair on his third term re-election campaign), Edward Staite (former official spokesman for Shadow Chancellor George Osborne), and Gavin Grant (close ties to the Lib Dems).

51.517122, -0.122469, Lexington Communications

PR and lobbying firm Lexington Communications is closely linked to the Labour Party. It is heavily involved in the push for genetically modified crops in the UK. GM clients include BASF, Syngenta, Novartis, and the umbrella group the Agricultural Biotechnology Council (ABC). As part of its work for the ABC in 2008, Lexington was involved in lobbying the government to be allowed to hide the locations of GM crop trials. Lobbyists include: Jo-Anne Daniels, ex-Treasury and former adviser to Gordon Brown.

51.515629, -0.131694, Hill and Knowlton

Described by a former employee as “a company without a moral rudder", Hill and Knowlton was for years the largest PR company in the world. Best known for its central role in the tobacco industry’s campaign to deny the health risks of smoking. One H&K memo from the sixties reads: “The most important type of story is that which casts doubt on the cause and effect theory of disease and smoking” and headlines “should strongly call out the point - Controversy! Contradiction! Other Factors! Unknowns!” Today it lobbies for the London Chamber of Commerce, Government of Singapore and Sainsburys among others.

51.517779, -0.11174, FD

Financial and corporate PR and lobbying firm, FD claims that "an increasing number of our clients are involved in tenders for major public sector contracts". Helping them through the procurement process are FD lobbyists, including a former director of the Financial Services Authority, a former special adviser in the Department for Trade and Industry, and a Conservative Party activist and prospective candidate. FD doesn't publish a client list.

51.521171, -0.112684, Hanover

PR and lobbying firm Hanover was criticised in 2007 for pitching to a prospective client that it could organise a trip to Downing Street. As part of this it hoped to arrange “photocalls with ministers. The key photocall will be with Gordon Brown,” for which it would charge £5,100. Clients paying for Hanover to lobby include Pfizer, Diageo, BSkyB, and Lockheed Martin. It is run by former press Secretary to John Major, Charles Lewington.

51.507433, -0.128329, Sovereign Strategy

Sovereign Strategy is a lobbying firm with links to the Labour party, founded by the former Labour Party Leader in the European Parliament, Alan Donnelly. It has a history of employing elected officials, including Jack Cunningham, now Lord Cunningham. Reportedly in 2008, Cunningham gave the City of London Corporation - a Sovereign Strategy client - confidential advice about two bills going through parliament which affected the authority. Sovereign Strategy also counts nuclear interests among its clients.

51.517529, -0.130996, Grayling Political Strategy

Grayling Political Strategy and Westminster Strategy are both lobbying firms owned by Tory Lord Chadlington's PR group Hunstworth. Grayling is heavily involved in the push for new nuclear power in the UK, providing lobbying services for British Energy, AMEC and until recently the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority. GPS is simultaneously lobbying for the Carbon Trust, a publicly-funded organisation entrusted with kick starting the low-carbon economy.

51.509878, -0.144584, Indigo Public Affairs

Indigo Public Affairs is a niche lobbying firm focusing on planning issues with offices in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Newcastle. It claims it can help clients:

   * Gain planning committee approval
   * Manage communications for large regeneration projects
   * Achieve planning policy in the green belt for housebuilders

* Manage 'stakeholder communications' to gain approval for a local PFI or PPP project.

51.506954, -0.14734, Chime Communications

“Public relations companies in Chime Communications Plc have been shaping public opinion for decades. According to its website: "We help clients… shape regulatory environments. We also have to save companies from crisis, defend reputations, and calm hostile media.” Chime is the holding company for the UK's biggest Public Relations Group. It is part-owned by WPP. Lobbying companies owned by Chime include Bell Pottinger Public Affairs, Bell Pottinger Sans Frontieres, and Good Relations.

51.510912, -0.138302, Social Affairs Unit

The Social Affairs Unit on Regent Street describes itself as a research and educational trust that addresses social, economic and cultural issues with "an emphasis on the value of personal responsibility".

   * Originally founded by the neo-liberal Institute of Economic Affairs
   * Interested in "a critical evaluation of the welfare state" and "English disdain for entrepreneurship and affluence and what - if anything - we ought to do about them

* Publishes the right wing, political monthly magazine Standpoint.

51.510176, -0.13104, Four Communications

Four Communications, HQ in Leicester Square with offices in Liverpool, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, boasts that its "political team has an outstanding network across all of the major political parties in Westminster." Its lobbyists include: Jeremy Fraser, former Leader of the London Borough of Southwark and Jim Dickson, former Leader of the council at London Borough of Lambeth. Recent clients include: Barclaycard, GlaxoSmith Klein, National Grid; property developers Barratt, Bovis Homes, Land Securities, Earls Court Limited, London & Associated Properties; and local councils London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, Lambeth, and Kingston.

51.517785, -0.141366, Mandate

Mandate is a PR and lobbying firm with offices in London and Washington that says it is "plugged into the corridors of power in the centres that matter," able to tell clients "what’s really happening, revealing so much more than appears on the surface." Its services include: changing regulation and crafting winning public sector tenders - "wins worth millions of pounds to our clients." It has lobbied for Bristol-Myers Squibb and Roche as well as the NHS Trust, Imperial College Healthcare and the Department for Children, Schools and Families. Lobbyists include head of health practice Mike Birtwistle who worked for the Government during the 2001 general election on health policy communication.

51.511952, -0.108341, International Policy Network

The International Policy Network is one of a number of right-wing think tanks that “misrepresent the science of climate change," according to the Royal Society. It used to receive funding from oil company, Exxon, which was stopped in 2007 following criticism. Julian Morris, Executive Director of the IPN is an ardent advocate of free markets and an opponent of attempts to mitigate climate change. Morris co-authored Global Warming: Apocalypse or Hot Air?, dismissed as “hard to take seriously”, by Sir Crispin Tickell, the Prime Minister’s chief environmental advisor.

51.514171, -0.12331, APCO

APCO is one of the largest privately-owned PR and lobbying firms in the world.It lobbies for large multinationals like Coca Cola and Microsoft, as well as many health-related firms. Its Managing Director, Darren Murphy, was a special adviser to former Health Secretary Alan Milburn MP (advising on both the content and delivery of the 10-year NHS Plan). It has also helped set up a number of corporate front groups like The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition, paid for by Philip Morris/ The purpose of TASSC, as described by one APCO memo, was “to link the tobacco issue with other more ‘politically correct’ products”.

51.515831, -0.119711, Fishburn Hedges

Fishburn Hedges, on Kingsway, is a PR and lobbying firm owned by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, the UK’s largest advertising agency. Its lobbyists include Jo Murray, ex- Labour Party press officer; Rory Scanlan, who worked in Blair’s press team; and Rupert Lewis, formerly worked for Conservatives’ current policy chief Oliver Letwin. It has helped manage Shell's global reputation for a decade, and it was hired by Starbucks in 2007, at a time when it faced union-busting allegations in the US.

51.512707, -0.120056, Food and Drink Federation

The Food and Drink Federation, which describes itself as the “voice of the UK food and drink manufacturing industry in the UK', is a very effective lobbying organisation. In 2005 it arranged over 3,000 briefings with government officials. It claims to "respond to society’s concerns about the health of the nation" but minutes of a meeting in 2004 show the FDF telling the government Minister for Public Health that the industry would oppose any proposals to reduce fat and sugar in foods. FDF DG in 2008, Melanie Leech, previously had a long career in the civil service.

51.517035, -0.095173, Global Government Relations

Global Government Relations is the lobbying arm of giant law firm DLA Piper. Its Co-chairman is Lord Tim Clement-Jones, a Liberal Democrat peer. Clients include the British Bankers' Association, Centrica and Standard Life. On lobbying, GLG says: “Influencing emerging policy and legislation can be crucial to commercial success. We help clients to build and maintain effective relationships with legislators and those who influence them."

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