One of the UK’s largest public relations firms, Bell Pottinger, has been expelled by an industry trade body due to its involvement in a controversial South African campaign.
This marks the first time in history that a company of Bell Pottinger’s size has been sanctioned by the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA).
“Bell Pottinger has brought the PR and communications industry into disrepute with its actions and has received the harshest possible sanctions,” said Francis Ingham, director general of the PRCA.
“The PRCA has never before passed down such a damning indictment of an agency’s behaviour.”
Francis Ingham added that it was “highly questionable” whether the firm would survive the scandal.
The sanction concerns the PR firm’s work on a campaign for Oakbay Capital, a South African company owned by the wealthy Gupta family, which had “incited racial hatred” and was “absolutely unthinkable”, Mr Ingham said.
The campaign highlighted the power of white-owned businesses and used the #WhiteMonopolyCapital hashtag to stir up emotions regarding an apparent “economic apartheid” in South Africa.
Bell Pottinger’s co-founder Tim Bell told BBC’s Newsnight that the event “almost certainly” meant the end for the firm but failed to accept responsibility for his role.
He said: “I don’t take any responsibility. This is 18 months ago. People write abusive stuff 18 months later, journalists write stuff 18 months later, and I’m supposed to react to that? I resigned from the company in August last year. I published my resignation and I said that one of the reasons I was leaving was because of the Gupta account.”
Bell Pottinger was started back in 1998, and offers speech-writing, lobbying and engine-search optimisation services to its clients.
The company was part founded by Lord Bell, who advised former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on the media.
Until 2012, the public relations firm was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chime Communications plc, of which Lord Bell was a director and was previously listed on the London Stock Exchange.