Peter Mandelson consultancy Global Counsel enters administration

• Clients reportedly cut ties in recent weeks, hitting revenues hard.
• Around 100 staff affected as UK operations wind down.
• Administrators say the business had “no option” but to enter administration.

Global Counsel, the public affairs consultancy co-founded by Peter Mandelson, has entered administration after losing a string of clients, in a blow to one of the UK’s more established advisory firms.

The London-based company confirmed it has stopped trading, with staff in the UK being made redundant. The move follows mounting pressure after scrutiny over Mandelson’s past links to convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a development that appears to have unsettled clients and triggered a rapid pull-back.

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Global Counsel, founded in 2010, employs about 100 people, most of them in the UK, with smaller teams spread across Berlin, Brussels, Doha and Singapore.

Administrators from Interpath said the company had “no option” but to enter administration after several clients cut ties, despite efforts to distance the firm from Mandelson and co-founder Benjamin Wegg-Prosser. The situation escalated after reports that Mandelson had sought Epstein’s advice while setting up the business shortly after leaving government when Labour lost the general election.

Client losses leave little room to manoeuvre

Will Wright, chief executive of Interpath and joint administrator, reportedly said in a news report: “While Global Counsel had grown over the past 15 years to become one of the UK’s leading public affairs consultancies, the rapid and sudden loss of clients over recent weeks has had a monumental impact on the business.”

He added that administrators will now review assets and liabilities and look at the best way to realise value from what remains of the company.

Interpath said the immediate priority is supporting staff affected in the UK as the process unfolds.

Wegg-Prosser stepped down as chief executive earlier in the month, shortly before the firm ceased trading.