Gordon Beattie
Gordon Beattie is the founder of Beattie Media the biggest and most controversial PR firm in Scotland.
Beattie media came to public atantion in September 1999 when the Observer newspaper published a sting on two key employees, Kevin reid, son of then Scottish Secretary John Reid, and Alex Barr.
Reid and Barr were asked about their contacts with politicians and what differentiated Beattie Media from competitors. Barr mentioned his former colleague Jack McConnell was now Minister of Finance in the Scottish Executive. He also pointed out that the Beattie Media did ‘a lot of [PR] work with the public sector, and with large corporate organisations and we are constantly involving politicians in launches, exhibitions, speeches, presentations, that type of thing’ (Observer transcript, 1999: 3). Barr stressed Beattie Media’s links to the business community in Scotland:
We’re in contact on a very regular basis, not only with politicians and the Scottish Office (sic), but also with business journalists, industry journalists, and movers and shakers within local authorities and local enterprise companies…So we’ve got our finger on the pulse of what’s happening in business and in construction. (Observer transcript 1999: 6)
Beattie is also a Director of Decus Ltd
