PR and reputation management

Giving to charity won’t wash the moral taint off a sleazy event

It's been a tough week for men who attended the Presidents Club fundraising dinner 2018. One moment they were drinking champagne with their mates and perhaps allegedly trying to cop a feel of a ‘host’ who’s young enough to be...


How to avoid the networking naughty list this Christmas

In the run up to Christmas, one of the fun parts of working so hard throughout the year is getting invited to all the festive parties. From the annual bash at your own organisation, to client events and industry dos,...


Do your own PR and say hello once in a while

Sometimes we can all get a little caught up in our worlds. From the man that I let in front of me in the coffee queue who failed to acknowledge the gesture, to the lady on the tube who also...


Pro bono week: something to shout about

It’s National Pro Bono Week – a chance to celebrate the breadth and impact of pro bono work undertaken by the legal profession across the year. The debate around whether or not lawyers should publicise their pro bono work is...


PR disaster: what we can learn from Bell Pottinger’s crisis

If you work in PR then you may remember where you were when you heard communications agency Bell Pottinger had been expelled from its own industry body – the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA). Together with ad giant Saatchi, the agency,...


Brands and banter on Twitter: recipe for disaster?

I'm sure over the summer holidays with all the family at home (or even worse in a hot car) there has been the occasional flare up. One such example of online bickering that the Daily Mirror thoughtfully summarised in this...


How important are relationships really?

Last week MD Communications celebrated its 7th birthday. Seven years ago while I was sat at my desk at the Law Society running the press office I knew I needed a fresh challenge. I set myself the goal of gaining three clients...


How to achieve strong and stable PR

Michael Gove, during last year's EU referendum campaign, famously declared that people had had enough of "experts". He had in mind the economists, scientists, lawyers and vice chancellors who thought Brexit was a terrible idea. Well, for now at least he's...


British Airways chaos – how I became part of the story

Never become the story, runs a well-worn piece of advice to PR professionals. It's a rule I broke this week, with a syndicated quote appearing in 40 international news outlets, including the LA Times, Telegraph, Guardian, Evening Standard and the...


The PR power of “I’m sorry”

Last week I flew to Miami to speak about the power of brands at an IE Law School conference. My flight with American Airlines was uneventful but given what I was due to speak about, it got me thinking about...