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Bell Pottinger Private (legally BPP Communications Ltd.) was a British multinational
public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...
,
reputation management Reputation management, originally a public relations term, refers to the influencing, controlling, enhancing, or concealing of an individual's or group's reputation. The growth of the internet and social media led to growth of reputation managem ...
and marketing company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. On 12 September 2017 it went into
administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...
(bankruptcy) as a consequence of a scandal caused by its activities in South Africa. Bell Pottinger offered services such as
lobbying In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agency, regulatory agencie ...
, speech writing, reputation management, and
search engine optimisation Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the quality and quantity of website traffic to a website or a web page from search engines. SEO targets unpaid traffic (known as "natural" or "organic" results) rather than direc ...
to clients including companies, governments and rich individuals. It was the largest UK-based public relations consultancy measured by 2010 fee income. Lord Bell, who advised
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...
on media matters, was a co-founder of Bell Pottinger, which, until July 2012, was a wholly owned subsidiary of
Chime Communications plc Chime Communications Limited is a marketing services company headquartered in Westminster, London, United Kingdom. Chime is the holding company for companies which include sports marketing, public relations, advertising, digital, marketing, re ...
. In June 2012, Lord Bell and Bell Pottinger CEO James Henderson completed a £19.6 million management buyout from Chime, with Chime retaining a 25% stake in the business. The firm was described as having "the most controversial client list" in the PR industry. It was criticised numerous times for conflict-of-interest edits that the company made on Wikipedia pages that involved or were about their clients. According to the
Bureau of Investigative Journalism The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (typically abbreviated to TBIJ or "the Bureau") is a nonprofit news organisation based in London. It was founded in 2010 to pursue "public interest" investigations. al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
, for the reported sum of $540 million. During 2016 and 2017, a sustained "dirty campaign" by the firm came to light, in which it played on racial animosity in South Africa, including the creation of
fake news Fake news is false or misleading information presented as news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person or entity, or making money through advertising revenue.Schlesinger, Robert (April 14, 2017)"Fake news in reality ...
, to benefit its client Oakbay Investments, which is controlled by the controversial and influential
Gupta family The Gupta family is a wealthy Indian-born family with business interests in South Africa, whose most notable members are brothers Ajay, Atul, and Rajesh "Tony" Gupta—as well as Atul's nephews Varun, and US-based Ashish and Amol. The family ow ...
in South Africa and had strong ties to the then President Zuma's government. In 2017, the resulting scandal saw the firm disgraced and expelled from its professional body. Chief executive and largest shareholder James Henderson departed, lead partner Victoria Geoghegan was fired, and Chime, its second-largest shareholder, wrote off its investment and departed. There was an exodus of major clients and other senior staff, with the result that many onlookers thought the UK firm was highly likely to close, while operations in the Middle and Far East could be sold to new owners. On 12 September 2017, it was announced that Bell Pottinger had entered
administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...
, with some staff immediately being made redundant. A September 2017 review by law firm
Herbert Smith Freehills Herbert Smith Freehills is an international law firm with headquarters in London, United Kingdom and Sydney, Australia. It was formed on 1 October 2012 by a merger between the United Kingdom-based Herbert Smith, then a member of the "Silver Circl ...
Review by Herbert Smith Freehills, published September 2017
/ref> concluded that the firm had breached ethical standards, lacked appropriate policies for managing controversial accounts, and had brought the PR industry into disrepute, and the
Public Relations and Communications Association The Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) is a trade association for the public relations sector in the United Kingdom. The association lobbies on behalf of its member companies and also provides a forum for sharing information. ...
(PRCA) said the firm had received a "damning indictment", having breached four of its conduct charter clauses. The firm had previously claimed that the allegations were purely a smear campaign having no truth to them. Following the company's collapse owing creditors £14 million, administrator BDO was reported to be pursuing around 40 former Bell Pottinger partners to repay around £4 million, with Henderson asked to repay £400,000. In April 2019, BDO said it could bring lawsuits against former Bell Pottinger partners for their involvement in work for Oakbay, which breached partnership agreements. Former Bell Pottinger partners also faced potential disqualification from acting as company directors by the
Insolvency Service The Insolvency Service is an executive agency of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy with headquarters in London. It has around 1,700 staff, operating from 22 locations across Great Britain. The Insolvency Service admin ...
.


History

Bell Pottinger's origins go back to 1985, when Timothy Bell and
Frank Lowe Frank Lowe (June 24, 1943 – September 19, 2003) was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and composer. Biography Born and brought up in Memphis, Tennessee, Lowe took up the tenor saxophone at the age of 12. As an adult he moved to San Fra ...
founded Lowe Bell as a subsidiary of Lowe Howard-Spink. Bell and Piers Pottinger bought out Lowe Bell in 1989, and it was subsequently floated in 1994 as Chime Communications plc but retained the name Lowe Bell on some of its subsidiary companies. In 1998, the subsidiaries were renamed as Bell Pottinger after Frank Lowe demanded that his name be removed. In 2000 the Bell Pottinger Group acquired Harvard Public Relations and QBO, which was renamed Bell Pottinger Public Relations. In 2001 Bell Pottinger acquired MMK in Germany and also The Smart Company, which was merged into Corporate Citizenship when the Group acquired it in 2007. In 2003 Resonate, a consumer
public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...
company was set up. In 2004 Bell Pottinger Communications USA was launched and in 2005 Bell Pottinger Middle East was launched with offices in
Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
in 2009. In 2009 Bell Pottinger Change & Internal Communications was launched and Ptarmigan in Leeds was acquired by the Bell Pottinger Group. In 2010 Pelham Public Relations, a financial public relations business founded by James Henderson, merged with Bell Pottinger Corporate and Financial. In 2011, the merged company was ranked 14th amongst global, and 8th amongst UK, M&A public relations advisers by
Mergermarket Acuris is a financial news and data firm known for its products fixed income research provider Debtwire and Mergermarket, a specialist in M&A intelligence. It is owned by ION Investment Group, a financial software and data business which owns F ...
, the ''
Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...
''-owned mergers and acquisitions data company. The company's M&A work included acting for
Northumbrian Water Group Northumbrian Water Group plc (NWG) is the holding company for several companies in the water supply, sewerage and waste water industries. Its largest subsidiary is Northumbrian Water Limited (NWL), which is one of ten companies in England and ...
in its agreed acquisition by
Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings CK Infrastructure Holdings Limited (CKI), is the largest publicly listed infrastructure company in Hong Kong with diversified investments in energy infrastructure, transportation Infrastructure, water Infrastructure and infrastructure related ...
, for
Richemont Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A., commonly known as Richemont, is a Switzerland-based luxury goods holding company founded in 1988 by South African businessman Johann Rupert. Through its various subsidiaries, Richemont produces and sells j ...
in its acquisition of Net a Porter, Qatar Investment Authority in its acquisition of
Harrods Harrods Limited is a department store located on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It is currently owned by the state of Qatar via its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority. The Harrods brand also applies to other ...
and for
Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, Dutch law. UMG's cor ...
in its acquisition of
EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...
Recorded Music. In 2012 it was the second biggest financial
public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...
company in the UK by volume of stock market listed clients, according to the Morningstar (formerly Hemscott) financial data group. In May 2012, it was reported that Lord Bell had agreed a £20 million deal to buy most of the Bell Pottinger branded PR businesses from Chime, with Chime retaining a 25% stake in the venture and a seat on the board. The MBO was completed on 30 June 2012 with BPP Communications (Bell Pottinger Private) trading as an independent business from 1 July 2012. Chime retained the Good Relations group of PR businesses, including Harvard, Corporate Citizenship, MMK and Ptarmigan, and some UK regional offices formerly branded as Bell Pottinger were rebranded to Good Relations. Bell Pottinger Private acquired Centreground Political Communications Limited, founded by former Tony Blair adviser Darren Murphy, in June 2014. In September that year, the company launched a new service aimed at the luxury sector. In August 2016, it was announced that Lord Bell was quitting as Bell Pottinger chairman to set up an advisory firm, Sans Frontières. He retained a 7% stake in Bell Pottinger. He later (July 2017) claimed that he had left the company partly due to concerns over its "smelly" activities for a South African client, Oakbay Investments. The Bell Pottinger Group had been ranked number one in the ''
PRWeek ''PRWeek'' is a trade magazine for the public relations industry. The original UK edition was the brainchild of the late Geoffrey Lace who at the time worked for Haymarket. After failing to interest Haymarket in his idea he left to launch it on ...
'' and ''Marketing'' magazine league tables.


Operations

Bell Pottinger had offices in London, North America, the Middle East and south-east Asia. It offered consumer, corporate and financial, healthcare, technology, industrial, public affairs,
public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, infra ...
,
corporate social responsibility Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a form of international private business self-regulation which aims to contribute to societal goals of a philanthropic, activist, or charitable nature by engaging in or supporting volunteering or ethicall ...
,
internal communication Internal communications (IC) is the function responsible for effective communications among participants within an organization. The scope of the function varies by organization and practitioner, from producing and delivering messages and campaigns ...
, crisis and issues management services. The Bell Pottinger Private Group included Pelham Bell Pottinger, Bell Pottinger Public Relations, Bell Pottinger Sans Frontières, Bell Pottinger Public Affairs, Bell Pottinger Middle East (offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi), and Bell Pottinger USA. Bell Pottinger donated £11,900 to the
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
in the twelve months to September 2011. In 2012, the company planned to enable clients to attempt to influence European Union legislative processes by organising participation in "
European Citizens' Initiative The European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) is a European Union (EU) mechanism aimed at increasing direct democracy by enabling "EU citizens to participate directly in the development of EU policies", introduced with the Treaty of Lisbon in 2007. The ...
s", a mechanism intended for grassroots involvement.


Criticism


PR for countries with human rights violations

On 6 December 2011, the British national newspaper ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' ran a front-page story based on covert filming by the
Bureau of Investigative Journalism The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (typically abbreviated to TBIJ or "the Bureau") is a nonprofit news organisation based in London. It was founded in 2010 to pursue "public interest" investigations. reputation laundering Reputation laundering occurs when a person or an organization conceals unethical, corrupt, or criminal behavior by performing highly-visible positive actions with the intent to improve their reputation and obscure their history. Reputation launderi ...
for countries accused of human rights violations. Posing as representatives of a fake investment body linked to the Uzbekistan government, the journalists had filmed a presentation at which Bell Pottinger executives explained techniques used on behalf of their clients. At one point, Tim Collins of Bell Pottinger – who has close connections with Prime Minister
David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...
, Edward Llewellyn, and
Steve Hilton Stephen Glenn Charles Hilton (born 25 August 1969) is a British political commentator and former political adviser. He served as director of strategy for the British Prime Minister David Cameron from 2010 to 2012. Since 2017, Hilton has hosted ...
– had referred to "dark arts". It was also reported that senior executives at Bell Pottinger told the undercover reporters that they had written a key speech given by the Sri Lankan President to the United Nations, in which he had described military action against
Tamil Tiger The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...
separatists as "humanitarian". During a meeting with reporters, David Wilson – the chairman of Bell Pottinger Public Relations – had stated: "We had a team working in the President's office. We wrote the President's speech to the UN last year which was very well received... it went a long way to taking the country where it needed to go". One of the techniques specifically mentioned by Collins was the use of
search engine optimization Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the quality and quantity of Web traffic, website traffic to a website or a web page from web search engine, search engines. SEO targets unpaid traffic (known as "natural" or "Organ ...
to alter Google results. He said:
And where we want to get to – and this will take time, this is where David's team are magical – is you get to the point where even if they type in "Uzbek child labour" or "Uzbek human rights violation", some of the first results that come up are sites talking about what you guys are doing to address and improve that, not just the critical voices saying how terrible this all is.


Connections with the British government

In a covert recording, the executives claimed to have access to or relationships with numerous senior British politicians, including Prime Minister David Cameron; the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
George Osborne George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born Gideon Oliver Osborne; 23 May 1971) is a former British politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the ...
; David Cameron's former Director of Strategy, Steve Hilton;
James Arbuthnot James Norwich Arbuthnot, Baron Arbuthnot of Edrom, (born 4 August 1952), is a British Conservative Party politician. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Wanstead and Woodford from 1987 to 1997, and then MP for North East Hampshire from ...
(chair of the
Defence Select Committee The Defence Select Committee is one of the Select Committees of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, having been established in 1979. It examines the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Ministry of Defence and its associated pub ...
); and MP
Rory Stewart Roderick James Nugent Stewart (born 3 January 1973) is a British academic, diplomat, author, broadcaster, former soldier and former politician. He is the president of GiveDirectly, a visiting fellow at Yale University's Jackson Institute for ...
. Collins also claimed that Bell Pottinger had been involved in David Cameron raising a matter with the Chinese government on behalf of a Bell Pottinger client, saying:
…Just as a final example just for you... I'm not saying we can always do this but just as an example of what we can sometimes do. Three weeks ago, we were rung up at 2.30 on a Friday afternoon by one of our clients,
Dyson Dyson may refer to: * Dyson (surname), people with the surname Dyson * Dyson (company), a Singaporean multinational home appliances company founded by James Dyson * Dyson (crater), a crater on the Moon * Dyson (operating system), a Unix general-pur ...
... They rang up and they said look, we've got a huge issue, and that is that a lot of our products are being completely ripped off in China, to the point where they're not just completely duplicating the product... (The) Chinese government won't take it seriously, it's half past two on a Friday afternoon. On Saturday, the
Chinese Prime Minister The premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, commonly called the premier of China and sometimes also referred to as the prime minister, is the head of government of China and leader of the State Council of the People's ...
is coming in for a UK visit – can you please get the UK to raise it?...And I'm pleased to say that on the Saturday, David Cameron raised it with the Chinese Prime Minister and showed him the photos of the products. I'm not saying we can do that all the time but that is an illustration of what, if you have the right message – David Cameron, yes he was doing it for Dyson, yes he was doing it because we asked him to do it, he was doing this also because he thought this was also in the UK wider national interest. This was something where there would be a UK proper interest. But in terms of very fast turnaround and getting things done right at the top of government, if you've got the right message, yes, we can do it.
The allegations of Bell Pottinger directly influencing the British Prime Minister and other senior Government figures on behalf of private sector clients led to calls from the opposition Labour Party for the Cabinet Secretary Sir
Gus O'Donnell Augustine Thomas O'Donnell, Baron O'Donnell, (born 1 October 1952) is a former British senior civil servant and economist, who between 2005 and 2011 (under three Prime Ministers) served as the Cabinet Secretary, the highest official in the Bri ...
to launch an investigation, and from the
Alliance for Lobbying Transparency The Alliance for Lobbying Transparency is a UK-based organisation formed in September 2007 and formally launched in January 2008 and concerned with the influence of lobbying on government decision-making. The Alliance is also campaigning for a m ...
for the immediate introduction of a statutory register of lobbyists.


Editing Wikipedia

In December 2011, it came under public scrutiny after managers were secretly recorded talking to fake representatives of the Uzbek government and violating Wikipedia rules by removing negative information and replacing it with positive spin. On 8 December 2011, the UK national newspaper ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...
'' reported that some Wikipedia user accounts allegedly linked to Bell Pottinger had been suspended. Its report stated that "Further claims published in the ''Independent'' today suggested that the company made hundreds of alterations to Wikipedia entries about its clients in the last year, some of them adding favourable comments and others removing negative comments. Alterations were said to have been made by a user – traced to a Bell Pottinger computer – who used the pseudonym 'Biggleswiki'". Among the articles edited by "Biggleswiki" was the Wikipedia entry for
Dahabshiil Dahabshiil ( so, Dahabshiil, ar, دهب شيل) is an international funds transfer company, and is the largest money-transfer business in Africa. It's headquartered in Burao, Somaliland. Formed in the early 1970s, the firm operates from over 24 ...
, a funds transfer firm. On the same day, ''The Independent'' reported that Wikipedia co-founder
Jimmy Wales Jimmy Donal Wales (born August 7, 1966), also known on Wikipedia by the pseudonym Jimbo, is an American-British Internet entrepreneur, webmaster, and former financial trader. He is a co-founder of the online non-profit encyclopedia Wikipedi ...
had described Bell Pottinger as "ethically blind", after it had admitted altering Wikipedia pages relating to its clients. On 9 December 2011, ''The Independent'' published further allegations, including that Bell Pottinger had targeted the Wikipedia entry of
Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...
's sister-in-law, the environmental campaigner Clare Rewcastle Brown, and the South African arms manufacturer the
Paramount Group Paramount Group is a Global Aerospace & Defence group of companies operating in the global defence, internal security and peacekeeping industries. Established in South Africa in 1994, it offers a range of military aircraft, armoured vehicles, ma ...
. On the same day, it was reported that a parliamentary investigation into lobbying firms, including Bell Pottinger, and their links with ministers, would be launched, and that an internal investigation had begun at Bell Pottinger. In response to the articles published on 6 to 9 December 2011, Bell Pottinger lodged a complaint to the
Press Complaints Commission The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) was a voluntary regulatory body for British printed newspapers and magazines, consisting of representatives of the major publishers. The PCC closed on Monday 8 September 2014, and was replaced by the Indep ...
(PCC) against the ''Independent'', claiming that the information about its activities published by the newspaper had been obtained through subterfuge and was not of sufficient public interest to merit the Bureau of Investigative Journalism's undercover investigation.Press Complaints Commission (July 2012)
"PCC rejects complaint from Bell Pottinger following undercover Independent articles"
Press Complaints Commission, 26 July 2012. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
However, in its ruling, the PCC agreed with the Bureau that there was a "broad public interest in exploring the relationship between lobbying and politics" and that it would not have been possible to obtain details of the techniques used by the lobbying company through other means. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism's editor, Iain Overton, welcomed the PCC's ruling, saying: "During our undercover filming Bell Pottinger executives explained to us that one of the PR tools they used to attack news stories was to make an official complaint to the PCC. True to its word, Bell Pottinger went on the offensive following our exposé claiming foul". In June 2014, Bell Pottinger was a notable absentee from a group of major agencies which publicly pledged to abide by Wikipedia's rules and end the practice of amending their clients' Wikipedia pages.


Fake terrorism-related media: propaganda campaign for US Department of Defense

It was revealed on 2 October 2016 that the
United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...
(DoD) paid Bell Pottinger $540 million to create fake terrorist videos, fake news articles for Arab news channels and propaganda videos. An investigation by the
Bureau of Investigative Journalism The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (typically abbreviated to TBIJ or "the Bureau") is a nonprofit news organisation based in London. It was founded in 2010 to pursue "public interest" investigations. The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Its work during the Iraq War came under the U.S.'s Information Operations Task Force and Joint Psychological Operations Task Force. As part of the project Bell Pottinger created fake videos that were approved by General
David Petraeus David Howell Petraeus (; born November 7, 1952) is a retired United States Army general and public official. He served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from September 6, 2011, until his resignation on November 9, 2012. Prior to ...
and that appeared to be the work of Al-Qaeda. It also created and distributed news stories that had the appearance of being produced by Arab media outlets. Lord Bell confirmed Bell Pottinger reported to the Pentagon, the
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
and the
U.S. National Security Council The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and foreign policy matters. Based in the White House, it is part of the Exe ...
on its work in Iraq.


Activities in South Africa

Bell Pottinger was accused of facilitating state capture by the
Gupta family The Gupta family is a wealthy Indian-born family with business interests in South Africa, whose most notable members are brothers Ajay, Atul, and Rajesh "Tony" Gupta—as well as Atul's nephews Varun, and US-based Ashish and Amol. The family ow ...
, in working to burnish the reputation of a family owned investment company, Oakbay Investments, with connections to former South African President
Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan name Msholozi, and was a former anti-aparth ...
. The accusations developed into a major South African political controversy, and led to further accusations of exploiting racial tensions in South Africa for commercial gain, the expulsion of the firm from its professional body, a mass exodus of clients, and, in September 2017, its closure.


Internet activities in 2016 and first clients depart

Bell Pottinger was introduced to the Guptas in January 2016 by Chris Geoghegan, father of Bell Pottinger executive Victoria Geoghegan, and a non-executive director of
Rentokil Initial Rentokil Initial is a British business services group based in Crawley, England. It was founded in 1925 as a pest-control business but subsequently expanded and diversified, in part through organic growth under the leadership of Sir Clive Thom ...
, and he received monthly fees totalling £120,000 from the agency for his services. In September 2017, he resigned from his role at Rentokil Initial. In late February 2016, several internet-based sources were altered to be more favourable to the Guptas. These included activities in Wikipedia, Twitter, chat rooms, blogs and on news articles related to the Gupta family. It was considered (by the ''
Mail and Guardian The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal syst ...
'') that these alterations were part of "a concerted online counter-propaganda campaign launched on behalf of the Gupta family". After emails from servers associated with Gupta newspapers were leaked, Bell Pottinger was reported to have been involved in substantial editing of the Wikipedia page about the Guptas; a Bell Pottinger employee was said to have emailed much of the content to a Gupta account for it to be uploaded. The firm was also reported to have manipulated Wikipedia on behalf of its clients in South Africa in 2016, including Oakbay Investments, affecting the company's relationships with other agency customers. After ''
Business Day A business day means any day except any Saturday, any Sunday, or any day which is a legal holiday or any day on which banking institutions are authorized or required by law or other governmental action to close. The definition of a business day ...
'' reported that Bell Pottinger had taken on Oakbay Investments as a client,
Investec Investec is an Anglo-South African international banking and wealth management group. It provides a range of financial products and services to a client base in Europe, Southern Africa, and Asia-Pacific. Investec is dual-listed on the London S ...
stopped using Bell Pottinger's services in March 2016. In December 2016, it was reported that South African billionaire
Johann Rupert Johann Peter Rupert (born 1 June 1950) is a South African billionaire businessman, who is the eldest son of business tycoon Anton Rupert and his wife Huberte. He is the chairman of the Swiss-based luxury-goods company Richemont and the South Af ...
had also dropped Bell Pottinger as the PR agency of
Richemont Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A., commonly known as Richemont, is a Switzerland-based luxury goods holding company founded in 1988 by South African businessman Johann Rupert. Through its various subsidiaries, Richemont produces and sells j ...
. Rupert ended the contract after accusing Bell Pottinger of running a social media campaign against him, to divert attention away from persistent "state capture" allegations leveled at the Gupta family. In February 2017, Rupert alleged that Bell Pottinger had maliciously altered his Wikipedia page.


Exposure of plans, and resulting disgrace

On 19 March 2017, the South African ''
Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...
'' alleged that Bell Pottinger was behind a social media strategy, using a network of fake bloggers, commentators and Twitter users, in an attempt to influence public opinion, exacerbate racism, and sow racial division in South Africa, as well as targeting media and personalities that were opposed to the Gupta family, on their clients' behalf. The aim of the campaign was to portray the Gupta family as victims of a conspiracy involving "
White Monopoly Capital White Monopoly Capital is a South African phrase used in contemporary political discourse. The origin of the term, the exact meaning of the term, and even the existence of what the term is thought to mean is disputed. The term is thought to mean ...
" to deflect accusations and evidence of their clients' involvement in corruption and state capture, and to suggest that "white monopoly capital" is actively blocking transformation in South Africa. The allegations were denied by lead partner and Bell Pottinger director Victoria Geoghegan. On 12 April 2017, it was reported that Bell Pottinger had dropped the Gupta family as a client, having previously been paid around £100,000 per month, reportedly citing "threatening" social media attacks and "insulting" allegations that it had incited racial tensions. Pottinger's involvement with the Gupta family was further highlighted in June 2017 when South African newspapers ''The Citizen'' and ''Sunday Times'' published several emails, allegedly between Jacob Zuma's son (and close Gupta comrade)
Duduzane Zuma Duduzane Zuma (born 20 May 1982) is the son of the former president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, and the twin brother of Duduzile Zuma. Biography Zuma came to prominence between 2007 and 2009 when his father became the president of the Africa ...
and Bell Pottinger, pointing to a "dirty" public relations smear battle. They proposed that Hamza Farooqui (MD of WorldSpace in South Africa, and a partner to Gupta associate Salim Essa) would blame the former South African Deputy Finance Minister,
Mcebisi Jonas Mcebisi Hubert Jonas (born 1960) is a former Deputy Finance Minister of the Government of South Africa who served from 2014 to 2016. He has also been a Member of the Executive Council for Economic Development and Environmental Affairs in the Eas ...
, of dishonesty and corruption. This alleged "dirty" statement was formed by Bell Pottinger employee, Nick Lambert. The statement was earmarked for release soon after Jonas said that he was offered a bribe by a Gupta family member to betray his boss, Pravin Gordhan. Jonas refused this bribe and instead made a public announcement. The "dirty" statement was never released after legal concerns were raised by Bell Pottinger's Victoria Geoghegan. Nick Lambert, senior advisor at Bell Pottinger, was also said to have prepared "key moments" for a speech by African National Congress (ANC) Youth League leader
Collen Maine Collen Maine is a South African politician who was the president of the African National Congress (ANC) Youth League between 2015 and 2019. He was formerly a Member of the Executive Council and Member of the Provincial Legislature in North West ...
. The speech included a quote "Those who want to disrupt the State of the Nation speech must prepare themselves for a civil war." Bell Pottinger initially denied any allegations of wrongdoing. Lord Bell was said to have "left his own firm with key staff members, in apparent disgust over the plan"; Bell confirmed in July 2017 that the Oakbay actions had been a factor in his August 2016 departure. In June 2017 the South Africa's Democratic Alliance criticised the country's tourism board for working with Bell Pottinger "at the same time as the Guptas were paying them
ell Pottinger An ell (from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic *''alinō'', cognate with Latin ''ulna'') is a northwestern European Units of measurement, unit of measurement, originally understood as a cubit (the combined length of the forearm and exte ...
to sow division in South Africa" (the tourist board contract had been terminated, with the board denying this was for political reasons). The Democratic Alliance also complained about Bell Pottinger's actions to two UK PR bodies, the
Public Relations and Communications Association The Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) is a trade association for the public relations sector in the United Kingdom. The association lobbies on behalf of its member companies and also provides a forum for sharing information. ...
(PRCA) and the
Chartered Institute of Public Relations The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) is a professional body in the United Kingdom for public relations practitioners. Founded as the Institute for Public Relations in 1948, CIPR was awarded Chartered status by the Privy Council o ...
(CIPR). DA spokesperson Phumzile van Damme said Bell Pottinger tried to divide and conquer South Africans by abusing racial tensions in a bid to keep Jacob Zuma and his party, the
ANC The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...
, in power despite ongoing reports of "state capture" by the Gupta family. On 4 July, the PRCA acknowledged receipt of the Democratic Alliance's complaint, and on 13 July said it had also received written observations in response from Bell Pottinger. The ''Guardian'' said Democratic Alliance leader
Mmusi Maimane Mmusi Aloysias Maimane (born 6 June 1980) is a South African politician, businessman, and Leader of Build One South Africa, a political party. Maimane is also the former Leader of South Africa, South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance (So ...
had called for the PRCA to strip Bell Pottinger of its membership, with the matter to be considered by the PRCA's disciplinary committee on 18 August 2017; it also reported that clients were "considering leaving" Bell Pottinger "as clients do not want to be represented by PR firms that become the story or are associated with scandal". The PRCA said a final announcement would be made on or before the week commencing 4 September 2017. The Democratic Alliance later decided not to pursue the complaint laid with the CIPR. On 30 June 2017, Bell Pottinger announced that it was hiring law firm
Herbert Smith Freehills Herbert Smith Freehills is an international law firm with headquarters in London, United Kingdom and Sydney, Australia. It was formed on 1 October 2012 by a merger between the United Kingdom-based Herbert Smith, then a member of the "Silver Circl ...
to review its dealing with Oakbay Investments in light of the allegations made against Bell Pottinger that it intentionally aggravated racial tensions in South Africa in an effort to deflect attention away from its client. On 6 July 2017 Bell Pottinger CEO James Henderson issued an apology and announced that it had "dismissed the lead partner involved
n the Oakbay portfolio N, or n, is the fourteenth Letter (alphabet), letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphabet# ...
and suspended another partner and two employees so that
hey Hey or Hey! may refer to: Music * Hey (band), a Polish rock band Albums * ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014 * ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980 * ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the title s ...
can determine their precise role in what took place." This came following initial findings from the Herbert Smith Freehills investigation. The dismissed lead partner was Victoria Geoghegan. The company also lost its second-largest investor (Chime), as well as experiencing an exodus of major clients and senior staff, due to the growing scandal. In September 2017 Herbert Smith Freehills concluded that the firm had breached ethical standards, lacked appropriate policies for managing controversial accounts, and had brought the PR industry into disrepute. Reports that the complaint to the PRCA had been upheld appeared in the media on 24 August, before the official statement. Bell Pottinger appealed against the ruling, and James Henderson resigned around the weekend of 2–3 September 2017. On 4 September, the PRCA announced Bell Pottinger's expulsion. Francis Ingham, director-general of the PRCA, described the company's actions, which had incited racial hatred, as "absolutely unthinkable", saying Bell Pottinger had "brought the PR and communications industry into disrepute with its actions, and it has received the harshest possible sanctions." The PRCA said the firm had received a "damning indictment", having breached four of its conduct charter clauses. The firm had previously stated that the allegations were purely a smear campaign having no truth to them.


Closure

Lord Bell, a founder of Bell Pottinger, told ''
BBC Newsnight ''Newsnight'' (or ''BBC Newsnight'') is BBC Two's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. The programme is broadcast on weekdays at 22:30. and is also availab ...
'' he believed it was unlikely the company could survive the damaging South Africa scandal. Following reports that Bell Pottinger had appointed accountancy firm BDO to find a buyer, on 7 September the BBC reported that staff had been told that the firm could go into
administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...
by 15 September 2017. Subsequent reports suggested administration on 12 September, and so it proved, with some staff immediately being made redundant. In addition to staff who had previously left the firm, some in disgust at its South African work, around 180 partners and employees were reported to be losing their jobs. BDO's efforts to retain any value in Bell Pottinger included seeking fees from rival companies if senior personnel left the company and took clients with them to a competitor or newly established business. From 40 partners at the end of August 2017, 10–15 remained by 25 September. Potential buyers of the disgraced company were reported to be deterred by high levels of debt on the firm's balance sheet; it had £15.7m-worth of liabilities at the end of August, including a £6.8m loan from a UK clearing bank. Legal firm Herbert Smith Freehills was reported to be owed nearly £1m when BDO presented a report to creditors on 10 November 2017. It was reported Bell Pottinger had made a £500,000 loss on estimated UK revenues of £27m in the year to December 2016; BDO prepared draft accounts for administration purposes showing a net loss of £572,000 on a group turnover of £37.5m in 2016. Bell Pottinger employed one staff member and two partners until the BDO report was prepared at the start of November 2017, but then had no employees.


Legal action

Shareholders were reported to be considering taking legal action against former Bell Pottinger directors for not disclosing the scale of the problem in South Africa, claiming that this non-disclosure affected their participation in a share buy-back in early 2017. In January 2018, former Bell Pottinger partners were reported to be angry at the £900,000 fees paid to law firms and administrator BDO for winding down the company. Several senior staff also lost substantial sums to settle tax bills; up to 15 partners were said to have lost more than £1m. Two former partners – Nick Lambert and Victoria Geoghegan, both involved with the Oakbay project – were reported to be considering legal action, through lawyers
Mishcon de Reya Mishcon de Reya LLP is a British law firm with offices in London and Singapore. Founded in 1937, it employs more than 1200 people with over 600 lawyers. It is regarded as forming part of the " Silver Circle" of leading UK law firms. In March 2 ...
. Heather Kerzner (Henderson's partner) instructed London law firm Grosvenor Law to explore ways of clawing back some of her investment in Bell Pottinger. In October 2018, the Times reported that around 40 former Bell Pottinger partners faced a £4m demand from the company's liquidator, BDO, with Henderson asked to repay £400,000. In April 2019, BDO said it could bring lawsuits against former Bell Pottinger partners for their involvement in work for Oakbay, which breached partnership agreements. BDO said it would talk to creditors, owed a combined £14m, about launching claims, adding that it could also sue Lord Bell over his comments to the BBC before the company's collapse. In October 2019, it was reported that 21 former Bell Pottinger partners had repaid £468,000; former CEO James Henderson was said to have disputed the amount requested by BDO. Bell Pottinger's creditors include
Lloyds Bank Lloyds Bank plc is a British retail banking, retail and commercial bank with branches across England and Wales. It has traditionally been considered one of the "Big Four (banking), Big Four" clearing house (finance), clearing banks. Lloyds B ...
– owed £5.1m. Repayments will also fund BDO fees, which in October 2019 totalled £1.2m. In July 2020, it was reported that former Bell Pottinger partners including Henderson also faced potential disqualification from acting as company directors by the
Insolvency Service The Insolvency Service is an executive agency of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy with headquarters in London. It has around 1,700 staff, operating from 22 locations across Great Britain. The Insolvency Service admin ...
under provisions of the
Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 The Company Directors Disqualification Act 19861986 c. 46 forms part of UK company law and sets out the procedures for company directors to be disqualified in certain cases of misconduct. History Lord Millett, in the opinion he gave in , summar ...
. Henderson vowed to fight any attempts to disqualify him. In November 2020, the ''Times'' reported that former partners at Bell Pottinger had yet to repay £1.8 million in "excess drawings" from the business prior to its collapse. Liquidators were also pursuing an unnamed partner for an additional sum, with litigation alleging breach of contract and "significant and related excess drawings". In March 2021, Lambert and Geoghegan failed in a legal action to avoid being banned from acting as company directors. Henderson was not part of this legal action, but had previously described the Insolvency Service's case against him as "weak and misconceived".


Former employees

In early October 2017, 19 former Bell Pottinger staff joined a new unit within London public affairs firm Pagefield, senior partners John Sunnucks and Tim Collins set up a new business called Vico Partners, and Alex Bloxham and Jamie Lyons joined MHP. Before the end of October, a further five ex-Bell Pottinger staff had joined Pagefield, with others going to agencies including FleishmanHillard Fishburn, FTI Consulting, Lansons and Tulchan Communications. In the meantime, the company's regional operations in the Far East and Middle East both split away from the parent firm. The 50-strong Far East business headquartered in Singapore, was rebranded as Klareco Communications (Klareco means "clarity" in
Esperanto Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communi ...
), following a management buyout led by Mark Worthington and Ang Shih Huei. Former chairman and co-founder Piers Pottinger resigned his position with immediate effect. On 20 November, ''City AM'' reported that BPME had been acquired by London-based Hanover Communications, adding 14 staff. In January 2017, former Bell Pottinger London partner Jonathan Lehrle founded Sans Frontieres Associates; former Bell Pottinger staff Jerome Hasler and Philip Peck joined him. In March 2019, Geoghegan joined risk management and corporate communications consultancy Thoburns, which also employed Lambert. In June 2020, Consulum, founded by two former Bell Pottinger employees, Tim Ryan and Matthew Gunther Bushell, was appointed by the Hong Kong government to counter negative coverage of the territory in the international media.


Legacy

The collapse of Bell Pottinger is the subject of ''
Influence Influence or influencer may refer to: *Social influence, in social psychology, influence in interpersonal relationships ** Minority influence, when the minority affect the behavior or beliefs of the majority *Influencer marketing, through individ ...
'', a 2020 Canadian/South African documentary film, described as "a hugely detailed, unnerving expose."


Notable clients

*
Abu Dhabi Airports Company Abu Dhabi Airports was established in 4 March 2006 and offers aviation-related services at Abu Dhabi's airports. The airports it is responsible for include Abu Dhabi International Airport, Al Ain International Airport, Al Bateen Executive Airport ...
*
Acacia Mining Acacia Mining (formerly African Barrick Gold plc) is a gold mining business operating in Tanzania, with exploration properties in Kenya, Burkina Faso and Mali. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange and is ...
*
Adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...
*
Aggreko Aggreko is a global supplier of mobile and modular power, temperature control equipment and energy services, headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland. The business was founded in 1962 and previously listed on the London Stock Exchange from 1997 to 20 ...
*
Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace manufacturer, aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft througho ...
:
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relations *
AIX Aix or AIX may refer to: Computing * AIX, a line of IBM computer operating systems *An Alternate Index, for a Virtual Storage Access Method Key Sequenced Data Set * Athens Internet Exchange, a European Internet exchange point Places Belgi ...
*
Arbuthnot Banking Group Arbuthnot Latham & Co is a private bank, private and merchant bank based near Moorgate in the City of London. It has the status of one of the 12 accepting houses. History Arbuthnot Latham was founded on 13 May 1833 by Alfred Latham and John A. Arb ...
*
ASDA Asda Stores Ltd. () (often styled as ASDA) is a British supermarket chain. It is headquartered in Leeds, England. The company was founded in 1949 when the Asquith family merged their retail business with the Associated Dairies company of York ...
* Asma Assad (wife of Syrian president
Bashar al Assad Bashar Hafez al-Assad, ', Levantine pronunciation: ; (, born 11 September 1965) is a Syrian politician who is the 19th president of Syria, since 17 July 2000. In addition, he is the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the S ...
) *
BCA Marketplace BCA Marketplace, formerly British Car Auctions, is a used vehicle marketplace. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by TDR Capital in November 2019. History In 1946 Royal Navy officer David Wickins decided to sell h ...
* The government of
Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
. * The government of
Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
*
Berwin Leighton Paisner Berwin Leighton Paisner (''BLP'') was an international law firm with 14 offices across 10 countries globally, specializing in real estate, finance, litigation and corporate risk, private wealth and tax. In 2018, Bryan Cave merged with Berwin L ...
*
Birds Eye Birds Eye is an American international brand of frozen foods owned by Conagra Brands in the United States, by Nomad Foods in Europe, and Simplot in Australia. The former Birds Eye Company Ltd., originally named "Birdseye Seafood, Inc." had be ...
*
Bloomsbury Publishing Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. It is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index. Bloomsbury's head office is located in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a U ...
* Boris Berozovsky *
Carillion Carillion plc was a British multinational construction and facilities management services company headquartered in Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom, prior to its liquidation in January 2018. Carillion was created in July 1999, following a ...
*
Centrica Centrica plc is a British multinational energy and services company with its headquarters in Windsor, Berkshire. Its principal activity is the supply of electricity and gas to consumers in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is the largest su ...
*
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...
*
Cuadrilla Resources Cuadrilla Resources is an oil and gas exploration and production company founded in 2007. It is headquartered in Bamber Bridge, Lancashire, and has operations in the United Kingdom. The company intend to develop shale gas in the UK by using h ...
*
CYBG plc Virgin Money UK plc is a holding company that owns Clydesdale Bank plc, which in turn trades as Clydesdale Bank, Yorkshire Bank and Virgin Money in the United Kingdom. It was formed as CYBG plc by National Australia Bank (NAB) in February 201 ...
* D&D *
Dassault Dassault Group (; also GIM Dassault or Groupe Industriel Marcel Dassault SAS) is a French group of companies established in 1929 with the creation of Société des Avions Marcel Bloch (now Dassault Aviation) by Marcel Dassault, and led by son Ser ...
*
Deloitte Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of profession ...
*
DuPont DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...
* DWF *
Dyson Dyson may refer to: * Dyson (surname), people with the surname Dyson * Dyson (company), a Singaporean multinational home appliances company founded by James Dyson * Dyson (crater), a crater on the Moon * Dyson (operating system), a Unix general-pur ...
Ltd. *
EADS Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: '' ...
*
eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...
*
Emirates Airline Emirates ( ar, طَيَران الإمارات DMG: ''Ṭayarān Al-Imārāt'') is one of two flag carriers of the United Arab Emirates (the other being Etihad). Based in Garhoud, Dubai, the airline is a subsidiary of The Emirates Group, whic ...
: *
Ernst & Young Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewaterh ...
UK *
Fortnum & Mason Fortnum & Mason (colloquially often shortened to just Fortnum's) is an upmarket department store in Piccadilly, London, with additional stores at The Royal Exchange, St Pancras railway station, Heathrow Airport in London and K11 Musea In Hong ...
*
Friends Life Friends Life Group Limited was a Guernsey-incorporated investment vehicle which had the stated intent of forcing consolidation in the British life insurance industry. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the F ...
*
Fresnillo Fresnillo (/fres'nijo/), founded in 1554 by Francisco de Ibarra, is the second largest city in Zacatecas state, north central Mexico and the seat of Fresnillo municipality. As a rail and highway junction, Fresnillo is the center of a rich mining ...
* GCM Resources *
Greybull Capital Greybull Capital LLP is a private investment company that specialises in medium- to long-term investments in UK-based companies. It was incorporated as a limited liability partnership in April 2010. In the aftermath of the financial crisis of 200 ...
*
Hansard Global Hansard Global plc is a financial services business operating out of the Isle of Man. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange. History The company was formed by Dr Leonard Polonsky, an American, as the Liberty Life Assurance Company, in 1970. ...
*
Rolf Harris Rolf Harris (born 30 March 1930) is an Australian entertainer whose career has encompassed work as a musician, singer-songwriter, composer, comedian, actor, painter and television personality. He often used unusual instruments in his performan ...
* Hays *
Health Promotion Board The Health Promotion Board (HPB) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Health of the Government of Singapore. It was established in 2001 to act as the main driver for national health promotion and disease prevention programmes. School ...
*
Trevor Hemmings Trevor James Hemmings (11 June 1935 – 11 October 2021) was a British billionaire businessman. Early life Hemmings was born in Woolwich, London, the son of a Royal Ordnance factory worker father. During the Second World War, part of the Royal ...
* Hickman and Rose * Hitachi Capital (UK) plc *
HSBC HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tri ...
*
Huawei Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ( ; ) is a Chinese multinational technology corporation headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. It designs, develops, produces and sells telecommunications equipment, consumer electronics and various smar ...
* IHG *
Imperial Brands Imperial Brands plc (formerly Imperial Tobacco Group plc), is a British multinational tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, England. It is the world's fourth-largest international cigarette company measured by market share after Philip Mo ...
*
Investec Investec is an Anglo-South African international banking and wealth management group. It provides a range of financial products and services to a client base in Europe, Southern Africa, and Asia-Pacific. Investec is dual-listed on the London S ...
*
Johnston Press Johnston Press plc was a multimedia company founded in Falkirk, Scotland, in 1767. Its flagship titles included UK-national newspaper the '' i'', ''The Scotsman'', the ''Yorkshire Post'', the ''Falkirk Herald'', and Belfast's ''The News Letter'' ...
* Lookers *
Alexander Lukashenko Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (as transliterated from Russian language, Russian; also transliterated from Belarusian language, Belarusian as Alyaksand(a)r Ryhoravich Lukashenka;, ; rus, Александр Григорьевич Лука ...
, President of Belarus * Madrid Olympic Bid * Kate and Gerry McCann *
Milk Link Milk Link was a large dairy company in the United Kingdom. It was the UK's largest dairy cooperative and the UK's largest producer of cheese. In 2012 the company merged with Arla Foods. History It was formed in April 2000 as one of three succe ...
: Since 2003. *
Missguided MGL Realisations (2022) Limited (trading as Missguided) is a UK-based multichannel retailer selling clothes aimed at women aged 16-35 years old. Missguided's headquarters were in Stretford, Greater Manchester until 2015 when they moved to Tra ...
*
Mitie Mitie Group PLC (pronounced "mighty") is a British strategic outsourcing and energy services company. It provides infrastructure consultancy, facilities management, property management, energy and healthcare services. It has a head office at The ...
*
Molson Coors The Molson Coors Beverage Company is an American-Canadian multinational drink and brewing company incorporated under Delaware General Corporation Law and headquartered in Golden, Colorado and Montreal, Quebec. Molson Coors was formed in 2005 ...
* Mountain Warehouse *
Mulberry ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of diverse species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 identif ...
* Multiplex Wembley *
NATS Holdings NATS Holdings, formerly National Air Traffic Services and commonly referred to as NATS, is the main air navigation service provider in the United Kingdom. It inherited the traditions of UK air traffic control, which (founded over Croydon Air ...
*
NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...
* O2 * Oakbay Investments * Pan African Resources *
PayPoint PayPoint plc is a British business offering a system for paying Invoice, bills in United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland and Romania. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange. History The PayPoint network was set up in 1996 with the aim of ...
*
Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...
, Pinochet Foundation *
Pinsent Masons Pinsent Masons LLP is an international law firm which specialises in the energy, infrastructure, financial services, real estate and advanced manufacturing and technology sectors. The firm ranks among the top hundred law firms in the world by tu ...
* Oscar Pistorius *
Playtech Playtech plc is a gambling software development company founded in 1999. The company provides software for online casinos, online poker rooms, online bingo games, online sports betting, scratch games, mobile gaming, live dealer games and fixed-o ...
*
Premier Oil Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...
*
Press Association PA Media (formerly the Press Association) is a multimedia news agency, and the national news agency of the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is part of PA Media Group Limited, a private company with 26 shareholders, most of whom are national and re ...
* Primary Health Properties * Prudential *
Qatar Airways Qatar Airways Company Q.C.S.C. ( ar, القطرية, ''al-Qaṭariya''), operating as Qatar Airways, is the state-owned flag carrier airline of Qatar. Headquartered in the Qatar Airways Tower in Doha, the airline operates a hub-and-spoke netw ...
*
Reliance Industries Reliance Industries Limited is an Indian multinational conglomerate company, headquartered in Mumbai. It has diverse businesses including energy, petrochemicals, natural gas, retail, telecommunications, mass media, and textiles. Reliance is ...
*
Rentokil Initial Rentokil Initial is a British business services group based in Crawley, England. It was founded in 1925 as a pest-control business but subsequently expanded and diversified, in part through organic growth under the leadership of Sir Clive Thom ...
*
Richemont Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A., commonly known as Richemont, is a Switzerland-based luxury goods holding company founded in 1988 by South African businessman Johann Rupert. Through its various subsidiaries, Richemont produces and sells j ...
*
RSA Insurance Group RSA Insurance Group Limited ( trading as RSA, formerly RSA Insurance Group plc and Royal and Sun Alliance) is a British multinational general insurance company headquartered in London, England. RSA has major operations in the United Kingdom, Ire ...
*
Ali Abdullah Saleh Ali Abdullah Saleh al-Ahmar (, ''ʿAlī ʿAbdullāh Ṣāliḥ al-Aḥmar;'' 21 March 1947There is a dispute as to Saleh's date of birth, some saying that it was on 21 March 1942. See: However, by Saleh's own confession, he was born in 1947 al ...
* Sandell Asset Management *
Secure Trust Bank Secure Trust Bank is a British retail and commercial banking group listed on the London Stock Exchange, where it is a constituent of the Main Market. History The bank was established in 1952 as Secure Homes Limited and became a subsidiary of th ...
* Sega Europe *
Severfield Severfield plc is a North Yorkshire based structural steel contractor. By turnover it is the largest in the UK, and amongst the biggest in Europe, with a capacity of 165,000 tons per year. Landmark works include London's 2012 Olympic Stadium, ...
*
Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...
*
SOCO International Pharos Energy Plc, previously SOCO International, is an oil and gas exploration and production company, headquartered in London. The company changed its name to Pharos Energy Plc in October 2019 after coming under fire for illegal activity in Vi ...
*
South African Tourism South African Tourism (frequently shortened to SA Tourism) is the official national marketing agency of the South African government, with the goal of promoting Tourism in South Africa both locally and globally. Background of organisation SA T ...
* The government of
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
. * St James's Place *
TalkTalk Group TalkTalk Telecom Group plc (commonly known as TalkTalk Group, trading as TalkTalk) is a company which provides pay television and Internet access services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 2003 as a subsidiary ...
*
Tarmac Tarmac may refer to: Engineered surfaces * Tarmacadam, a mainly historical tar-based material for macadamising road surfaces, patented in 1902 * Asphalt concrete, a macadamising material using asphalt instead of tar which has largely superseded ta ...
*
Tata group The Tata Group () is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. Established in 1868, it is India's largest conglomerate, with products and services in over 150 countries, and operations in 100 countries across six continent ...
*
Temasek Temasek (also spelt Temasik) is an early recorded name of a settlement on the site of modern Singapore. The name appears in early Malay and Javanese literature, and it is also recorded in Yuan and Ming Chinese documents as ''Danmaxi'' ( or ...
* The Templeton Prize * Tharisa * TNS *
Trafigura Trafigura Group Pte. Ltd. is a Singaporean-based Swiss multinational commodity trading company founded in 1993 that trades in base metals and energy. It is the world's largest private metals trader and second-largest oil trader having built or p ...
(in relation to 2006 Ivory Coast toxic waste dump) *
Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery (Uber Eats and Postmates), package ...
*
UNITE Group The Unite Group (trading as Unite Students) provides purpose built student accommodation (PBSA) across the United Kingdom. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange as a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History The Unite Group was ...
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United Biscuits United Biscuits (UB) is a British multinational food manufacturer, makers of McVitie's biscuits, Jacob's Cream Crackers, and Twiglets. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. In Nove ...
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Veolia Veolia Environnement S.A., branded as Veolia, is a French transnational company with activities in three main service and utility areas traditionally managed by public authorities – water management, waste management and energy services. It pr ...
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Virgin Media Business Virgin Media Business Limited is a telecommunications provider specialising in providing services to businesses in the United Kingdom. The company is a subsidiary of Virgin Media, and as of 1 June 2021, parent company of Virgin Media O2, former ...
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Visit Scotland VisitScotland, formerly the Scottish Tourist Board, is a national tourism organisation for Scotland. It is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government, with offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness, and other ...
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Volvo The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...
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Waitrose Waitrose & Partners (formally Waitrose Limited) is a brand of British supermarkets, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. It was acquired in 1937 by employee-owned retailer John Lewis Partnership, which still se ...
* AT&T Williams * Zanaga mine


Notes and references


External links


Review by Herbert Smith Freehills, published September 2017

Network diagram showing some of the better known Bell Pottinger fake accounts used in its South Africa campaign, including their connections, and online attacks+support routed through the accounts
{{Authority control Defunct companies based in London Public relations companies of the United Kingdom Conflict-of-interest editing on Wikipedia Political scandals in South Africa Racism in South Africa Disinformation operations Companies that have entered administration in the United Kingdom 2017 disestablishments in England British companies disestablished in 2017 Reputation management companies