Some major clients did stick by the embattled agency, including banking giant Santander. Samir Dwesar, the bank’s senior public affairs and public policy manager told POLITICO the staff “don’t deserve this,” but predicted the “consummate professionals, who have deep expertise in their areas” would “all be snapped up pretty quickly.”
Another public affairs professional at a company which employed Global Counsel said there had been “no discussions” about ending their contract. “Our assessment was that Global Counsel’s leadership had taken the correct decisions under incredibly difficult circumstances,” they said. “We were confident they’d get through it.”
Many staff believed the same when they gathered for the all-hands meeting at the firm’s London HQ last Thursday — only to be told that not only was Global Counsel to close, but that administrators had been appointed to oversee the company’s affairs. A note to staff from Chief Executive Rebecca Park said “the decision to wind up the UK business affects all of GC. We will be discussing separately with each country office how the process will work for them.”
“I think for a lot of people, it was a shock,” the same director at the firm quoted above said. “We’d amazingly retained a significant number of clients. In terms of business, that’s not easy, particularly when you’re politically exposed. So I think there should be a big thanks to them and the loyalty they showed as well.”
The associate director quoted above said staff had sought solace in the survival of business lobby group the Confederation of British Industry, which weathered its own storm of sexual misconduct claims. A mass exodus of members, and the icing of Whitehall meetings by government ministers wary of association with the group, was overcome under new leadership.
“Maybe I was naïve, but lots of business leaders and politicians are brought down by scandals that leave their companies or parties bruised, and they still survive,” the associate director quoted above said. “I’d started to believe that might be the case with us too.”