As a PR technique, wholehearted apology can do wonders for you. It takes the wind out of your critics’ sails, displays your integrity and courage and puts you on the side of the angels. So you’d think more people would apologise more often. The trouble is, they just can’t bear to do it. And when, under pressure, they finally do, their apologies are so filled with weasel words and sneaky justification that they end up doing more harm than good. We’re all too familiar with the classic “I’m very sorry if anyone was offended by my remarks….” meaning, of course, […]

On 11th June 2015, Chelgate Chairman and Chief Executive Terence Fane-Saunders addressed a workshop on Crisis Management at the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) Annual Conference. The theme of the NALS conference was ‘Insights and Inspiration’, but on its second day the conference turned to focus on the handling of crises. Known as the ‘influential, independent voice of the nursery sector’, the NDNA hosted key industry speakers, with topics ranging from new government childcare policies to effective nursery disaster-management. Terence Fane-Saunders placed particular emphasis on preparation for crisis, telling his audience that 70% of good crisis management should take place […]

Last week, Chelgate played host to the young and innovative Monkfish Theatre Company. The Company will be taking its latest work to the Edinburgh Fringe later this summer. Chelgate takes pride in its involvement in the arts, and stays connected to the art world by lending occasional support to the sector pro bono. For two days, auditions for Monkfish’s upcoming performances were held in Chelgate’s offices. So for eight hours a day, on Wednesday and Thursday, our upper boardroom rang with the impassioned, disconcerting sounds of modernist drama. Many of Chelgate’s clients have connections to the arts, and range from Mayfair […]

Recently, we have spent a great deal of time studying Ethiopia. Arguably, a country that was once a symbol of the failure of African governance has now become a beacon of the continent’s hopes for the future. Its economy has sustained high growth rates for over a decade. Its people are more prosperous than ever. And AddisAbaba is quickly overtaking Nairobi as East Africa’s business hub. Earlier this month, Ethiopia issued a $1 billion Eurobond, making it the poorest country ever to have done so. This is remarkable in itself – but what is even more remarkable is the way […]

‘Acute issues and crisis management’ is a phrase Chelgate has adopted to describe the advanced and complex public relations discipline that we have particular expertise in. Since its inception, Chelgate has specialised in crisis management, servicing some of the world’s best-known multinational companies, along with educational institutions, care providers, professional bodies, overseas governments and distinguished individuals and celebrities. This November, Chelgate Chairman and Chief Executive Terence Fane-Saunders addressed the National Approved Letting Scheme’s Annual Conference on the subject of crisis and acute issues management in the private rented sector. The theme of the NALS conference was ‘being on the line’, and […]

The theme of this year’s National Approved Letting Scheme annual conference is ‘being on the line’ and seeks to prepare agents for the changes that the industry is facing. Labelled as the ‘premier lettings event for property professionals’, the NALS conference will host key industry speakers with topics ranging from managing online reputations to dealing with the new Immigration Act. Fane-Saunders will be speaking about crisis management, giving insight into how agents both nationally and at a local level can dispel the negativity caused by sensationalist media headlines. A recognised expert in the management of crises and acute issues, Fane-Saunders […]

In the film Goldeneye, James Bond confronts a rogue MI6 agent and a rogue post-Soviet general who couldn’t quite let that Cold War rivalry pass quietly into history. Ever trying to follow the zeitgeist, the Bond producers equipped the villains with a diabolically modern plan: they would rob the Bank of England electronically, then fire an electro-magnetic pulse at London to destroy any trace of the theft. Yesterday, a less dramatic and quite accidental version of the same events took place. The BoE’s payments system, called CHAPS, just … broke. It’s not yet clear what happened. By 4pm Monday, the […]

The Argentine debt saga trundles on. The Economist reports this latest default as the eighth default in Argentina’s turbulent economic history. We’ll leave the financial stuff to them. What concerns us is the diabolical communications campaign launched by the Argentine government as it attempts to win the world’s trust and sympathy. As a preface to this, please note that the Argentine government is not trying to achieve the impossible. Respected economists, including Martin Wolf and 108 British parliamentarians, have already sallied forth to defend Argentina’s government from the “vulture” funds that would pick at it. They have done so of […]

By Terence Fane-Saunders Chris was in New York for the weekend. On his first evening, in the lobby of his Murray Hill hotel, he fell into conversation with one of the most beautiful girls he’d ever seen. They went for a drink, then took a lazy, aimless walk, until they found a little Italian restaurant. It had candles on the table and romance in its garlic-laden air. For the rest of the weekend they were inseparable. Susie was amazing. It wasn’t just that she looked like an angel fallen to earth, it was the way she talked – funny, wise, […]

Maybe the No campaign will limp lamely over the finishing line as winners; maybe they won’t. The opinion pollsters seem as bemused as the rest of us. But if they do win, whatever the margin, let nobody describe this as a triumph. As a campaign, and as an exercise in true public relations the No campaign has been an abject, cringing failure at almost every stage. Overwhelmingly, the arguments should have been on their side. It was virtually an open goal, politically. But somehow, the dry, unimaginative, dullards shaping the campaign, apparently without an iota of PR intelligence between them, […]