We are one team, powered by a collaborative creative culture that can call upon international public policy, brand building and capital markets expertise. We invest time and resources in understanding our client’s industries, markets, cultures and business goals. We pride ourselves on our ability to identify the latest trends and understand complex issues so insight…
The buck stops…
In deciding to fine Merlin Entertainments £5m for the accident with its Smiler ride at Alton Towers, one of the factors the judge, Michael Chambers QC, took into account was a press release in which “human error” was cited as an issue for the crash. Instead, he said “catastrophic failure to assess risk and have…
Chris Grayling and ‘the vision thing’
Written by Gavin Devine, Managing Partner Newgate Communications An abridged version of this article appears in this month’s Transport Times. 1,409 days. That’s how long Patrick McLoughlin was Transport Secretary. That’s how long he was a safe pair of hands, pressing quietly ahead with HS2, kicking the airport capacity can down the road, damping down…
HuffPost blog ‘Big Business and Political Engagement’ by Gavin Devine
The blog below is taken from the HuffPost Political Blog Series by Gavin Devine. Quite a few years ago I had a minor disagreement with an old schoolfriend. He was a Top City Lawyer working on a big banking merger. I was a Parliamentary Clerk toiling away in the arcane Private Bill Office. Our worlds collided…
St Ives Reveals the British Malaise
The article below, written by Newgate’s Chief Operating Officer, Stephen Byfield is taken from this month’s Housebuilder magazine. As the bucket and spade season approaches and you head to your holiday home, you may be interested to know that just one percent of English houses are second properties. Unfortunately for local residents, most of that…
Defined Benefit Schemes – The Saga Continues
The collapse of BHS has created further uncertainty in the pensions industry, as trustees of pension schemes come under even greater scrutiny from industry bodies and members calling for greater governance and better communication. We have seen how the recent Brexit vote has given defined benefit (DB) pension schemes another beating, after the stock…
Comms: It’s all about who you know
Earlier this week, we hosted our inaugural Young Communication Professionals (YCP) networking event for the next generation of comms leaders. We had three fantastic young journalists as speakers: Amelia Abraham from Refinery29, Coral Williamson from Music Week and Josh Boswell from The Sunday Times. Each speaker gave a thought provoking and frank insight into the…
A perfect choice for the new Labour leader
Firstly I’d like to thank the Labour NEC for inviting our firm, Gramsci and Luxembourg, to present our findings about the perfect choice for new leader of the Labour Party. It is clear that, with the parliamentary party, the membership and the unions at loggerheads, there needs to be a radical approach, what we might…
If This Was A Movie: What Hiddleswift Teaches Us About Comms Today
The article below was written by Gavin Devine, Chief Operating Officer, Porta and Managing Partner, Newgate Communications and is taken from his regular blog on The Huffington Post. A few months back I wrote a blog suggesting that, for the sake of her brand, American pop superstar Taylor Swift should take a break from the…
Mourinho in Van Gaal out – Red Devils red faced PR disaster
The article below is taken from PPSinPrint, a quarterly magazine published by our sister agency PPS Group. Red Devils left Red faced after Van Gaal sacking disaster The fact that football fans worldwide knew of former Manchester United manager Louis Van Gaal’s sacking before he did was bad enough (his wife, herself having seen the…
Johnson, Lego and Dragons – how to communicate in a “Post-Truth” world
In the wake of the successful Leave campaign, many commentators have moaned about us being in a “Post Truth” society, where you can post a big lie (such as £350m a week for the NHS) and then admit that it’s a lie as soon as the ink is dry on your victory. The fact is…
Brexit: Now What?
So, now what? Britain has voted for Brexit. David Cameron has resigned as Prime Minister. Markets are experiencing high levels of volatility and the UK is now entering a period of immense political and economic uncertainty. In these precarious times, Newgate Communications latest ‘View from the Bridge’ event attempted to provide some insight into what…
Brexit: what happens next if we vote to leave?
As the EU Referendum campaign enters its final phase, opinion polls are suggesting a close outcome. A Leave vote is very much a possibility, and whilst there has been a lot of heat and noise about what this might mean, there has been little useful advice given about what would then happen in practice. In…
