Fire chief shows how not to handle TV interview
I just saw the BBC's interview with Dorset & Wiltshire fire chief Ben Ansell about allegations of a toxic culture in the service. It's clear Ansell had prepared - but it's an instructive example of preparation misapplied!
The BBC's Dan Johnson asked Ansell about an email from a former employee blowing the whistle on ...
National recognition for Asia expansion client
We're so pleased to have kicked off the New year by getting our client Intralink into a Sustainable Business supplement within The Times.
Intralink helps western businesses to expand in East Asia. And, while the pandemic has meant they've had to stop travelling to the region, instead of their business taking a hit, they found they've secured more deals for their clients in Asia than ever. It's been a surprising boost to ...
Crisis communications for care home charity
We’ve been providing crisis communications support for The Fremantle Trust, a charity providing support for older people and adults with learning disabilities.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) had carried out an inspection of one of its care homes, which highlighted significant failings. With nine other care homes in operation plus a number of additional services supporting more than a thousand people, it was vital for the Trust to defend its reputation. Publication of the CQC report was looming and ...
How to (mis)manage a personal crisis
North Yorkshire Police Commissioner Philip Allott finally quit today in the wake of his inflammatory comments about the tragic case of Sarah Everard, abducted and murdered by Met Police officer Wayne Couzens. Three big problems stand out for me in the way Allott has (mis)managed his reputation throughout his career crisis of the last two weeks. The first - and most obvious - is his ludicrous ....
6-page media feature for sharing economy startup
We’re thrilled to have helped land a glowing, six-page media feature for sharing economy startup God's Own Guitars - the only business to hire out instruments owned and made famous by the world's legendary guitarists. God's Own Guitars offers a stunning collection of iconic instruments, amps and effects - including guitars previously owned by ...
“I thought I’d just ignore it”
“I thought I'd just ignore it,” he told me. There are many cases where I’m sure this is absolutely the best policy. Junk mail. A minor insect bite. An insult from someone you don’t care about. But an approach from an investigative BBC journalist isn’t one of them. I was a bit surprised the other day when I first got the call the other day to ...
Walking off camera – huge blunder for Persimmon boss
What a blunder for Persimmon CEO, Jeff Fairburn, to walk off camera this morning when politely asked by the BBC about his £75M bonus. Clearly his bonus wasn't what he intended to be there to talk about. And, having been awarded some while back, it isn't news. But - as the biggest ever paid in ....
Terrible TV interview from Defence Secretary
I've never thought of Richard Madeley as a hard-hitting interviewer before. But he wasn't going to let Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson off the hook without answering a straight question this week about his comments that Russia should "shut up and go away" following ...
Latest media interview lesson: know when the camera is on!
Sainsbury's CEO, Mike Coupe, learnt one of the most basic media interview lessons the hard way this week: make sure you know when the camera's on! In case you missed it, while waiting for his ITV interview about ...
Another ‘instructive’ media interview!
Last week gave us another astonishing media interview - with more lessons of what not to do. Irish channel RTE interviewed John O’Keeffe of the Garda Representative Association about an investigation which found the Irish police have been falsifying breath test data. O’Keeffe looked calm enough, but ...