RLM Finsbury

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RLM Finsbury is a London-based PR company specializing in investor relations. It describes itself as managing "some of the most complex communications challenges, financial issues and corporate crises of the last three decades. These include high-profile litigation, mergers and acquisitions, executive changes, restructurings and proxy fights, as well as brand positioning campaigns, product launches, and long- term corporate reputation efforts."[1] It was created by the 2011 merger of Robinson Lerer & Montgomery and Finsbury[2] and is owned by WPP, "the world’s largest communications services network."[1]

RLM Finsbury's work on EU political & regulatory issues is done via Finsbury International Policy & Regulatory Advisors (FIPRA).[3]

Finsbury was founded in London in October 1994 and in 2001 was taken over to become part of the WPP group.[1]

RLM Finsbury Scrubs Wikipedia for Client, Apologizes

On November 12, 2012, The Times reported that Alisher Usmanov, a Russian billionaire who was about to launch one of the largest stock market listings in London for his MegaFon mobile phone company -- valued at more than $12 billion -- hired RLM Finsbury to anonymously and "covertly cleaned up his online image and removed details of his past" before the offering.[4] The Telegraph reported specifically that RLM Finsbury staff anonymously "deleted details of a Soviet-era criminal conviction and freedom of speech row" and then "replaced those sections with text outlining Mr Usmanov's philanthropy and art collection."[5] According to O'Dwyer's PR, the firm publicly apologized in The Times, giving the following statement: "This was not done in the proper manner nor was this approach authorized by Mr. Usmanov. We apologize for this and it will not happen again."[6]

New Labour Links

Finsbury paid more than £5,000 to the Labour Party for 'tickets for dinners' in 1999-2000. In 2006, Tony Blair's eldest son Euan did work experience at Finsbury. Private Eye reported:

Roland Rudd, the Finsbury founder and friend of Peter Mandelson, has been cosying up to "new" Labour for many years. In 2001 Finsbury¹s party guests also included the present Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell and Education Ministers (and peer) Andrew Adonis, as well as the then Labour party boss, also since ennobled, Lord Triesman.
Finsbury previously hired the former private secretary of the Dear Leader¹s close pal, the Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer. Such contacts and support for Labour events at conference time perhaps helped merit the 2002 contract to advise then Transport Secretary Stephen Byers over the Railtrack collapse.
So look out for the pay-off... most likely to come for such a selfless act as explaining to Blair the Younger the dark arts of being paid to lie...[7]

Finsbury was 75 percent owned by Roland Rudd, who made £41 million by selling the company to WPP in May 2001. Another two Directors, Rupert Younger and James Murgatroyd, shared another £14 million between them from the sale.[8]

Roland Rudd is the son of a Stockbroker. He was President of the Union at Oxford University and a former journalist with the Independent, Sunday Correspondent, and the Financial Times. He is a friend of Peter Mandelson, spending time during the 2001 election campaign to help him at his Hartlepool constituency. Rupert Younger is the nephew of Viscount George Younger (Chairman of the Bank of Scotland). James Murgatroyd is a former banker with Dean Witter.

Clients

PR Week also reported that, for several years, Shell had -- and continued to -- use the London-based Finsbury to handle financial PR for the company and was also advising on managing the crisis on the overstated reserves.[9]

The company is also retained by British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. (BNFL).[10]

Finsbury's clients have included Cable & Wireless, the HMV Media Group, Abbey National, Trinity Mirror and Lloyds TSB. They have 28 clients in the FTSE 100/Euro 300 list of top UK/Euro companies and they provide PR for more than 10% of the top 200 UK companies.

Euro 300 / FTSE 100

FTSE 250

Others

Selected Transactions

Personnel

Contact Details

Tenter house
45 Moorfields
London EC2Y 9AE
Tel: 020 7251 3801
Fax: 020 7374 4133
Email: enquiries AT rlmfinsbury.com
Web: http://rlmfinsbury.com/

Articles and Resources

Other SourceWatch Resources

External Links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 RLM Finsburg, About Us, company website, accessed November 2012.
  2. ↑ Alec Mattinson, Finsbury grows global reach with Robinson Lerer & Montgomery merger, PRWeek, July 19, 2011.
  3. ↑ RLM Finsbury, Global Reach, company website, accessed November 2012.
  4. ↑ Billy Kenber and Murad Ahmed, PR firm of Oligarch Alisher Usmanov cleaned up his entry in Wikipedia, The Times, November 12, 2012.
  5. ↑ Matthew Sparkes, Finsbury edited Alisher Usmanov's Wikipedia page, The Telegraph, November 12, 2012.
  6. ↑ RLM Apologizes for Wikipedia Scrub, O'Dywer's PR, November 12, 2012.
  7. ↑ Blair the Younger does work experience with City spin doctors Private Eye, February 6, 2006, Issue 1150
  8. ↑ Mark Townsend and Antony Barnett, PR firm hired to sell top-up fees, The Guardian, January 18, 2004
  9. ↑ Richard Cann, Shell hires Bruseth to its top media job, PRWeek UK, May 14, 2004.
  10. ↑ IT'S OFFICIAL: NO DARK MACHIAVELLIAN CONSPIRACY FOR NEW NUCLEAR POWER, Corporate Watch newsletter, Issue 21, accessed November 2012.
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