UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement: Government bypasses the International Trade Committee to speed deal through Parliament
International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan has yesterday laid the UK-Australia free trade agreement (FTA) before Parliament, triggering a period of scrutiny under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act. This marks the formal process for Parliamentarians to ratify the deal. However, this action has caught the ire of the International Trade Committee (ITC – a Parliamentary […]
‘After the Mayor’s show’ – Bristol goes back in time with decisive referendum result
Our Strategic Engagement Director, James Hinchcliffe, explores the outcome of the May 2022 Bristol mayor referendum and the implications for the city: A decade after a dramatic referendum to introduce a Mayor for Bristol, the voters performed a dramatic U-Turn yesterday (5 May 2022). They expressed a clear, overwhelming preference to rewind the clock over 20 […]
JBP launches a new communications operation to support climate action and net-zero ambitions
JBP, a national strategic communications business with bases in Bristol and Westminster, has launched a new service dedicated to mobilising, generating and promoting positive action amongst organisations and communities to address climate change. JBP launches Climate Communications Climate Communications, which will be headed up by JBP’s managing director Chris Lawrance, will provide strategic and tactical […]
Seducing through curiosity: Telling the story of Tin Drum’s Medusa
by Nick O’Hara The project: promoting Medusa, the latest creation from mixed reality studio Tin Drum. The challenge: explaining esoteric artistic content delivered through the innovative, and virtually unknown medium of immersive reality. It was the media preview the next day, the show – already sold out – was to open in two days’ time, and we […]
3 steps to making a successful trade association
Trade associations are formed when businesses in an industry set aside competing interests for common goals, shared ambitions, and industry gains. Associations can vary in size and membership structures but always aim to champion the work undertaken by the sector and head off any challenges on the horizon. As the secretariat of one of the […]
Purpose and values are great, but is it human?
During a recent conversation with an industry peer, I was asked my opinion on ‘purpose-washing’. This is a current trend amongst companies and brands picking a cause to target the audience with a campaign proving why they care and, as a by-product, promoting themselves. As with green-washing and rainbow-washing, companies are increasingly trying to do good […]
What is an APPG and what is its purpose?
What is an APPG? All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) are informal cross-party groups that have no official status within Parliament. They are run by and for Members of the Commons and Lords, though many choose to involve individuals and organisations from outside Parliament in their administration and activities. (Parliament, 2021) APPGs vary enormously in size and […]
If you can’t truly trust your staff to work from home, do you deserve them?
Social media is awash with comments and opinions about the views of Andrew Monk the chief executive in the city of London who clearly isn’t an advocate of working from home. In a BBC Online interview, he is quoted as saying that people abuse it (working from home) and are less productive, at least in financial services. His […]
The Art of Effective Public Affairs Campaigns
At JBP, our expertise encompasses PR, marketing and digital. Public affairs is a key part of our business, led by Nick O’Hara in our Westminster office. Here, he sets out JBP’s approach to public affairs, providing a very high-level overview of the different elements to consider when conducting a UK public affairs campaign. JBP’s clients […]
The exciting return of the pub (meeting)
As a Westminster-based and Parliament-adjacent public affairs agency, here at JBP, we’re very familiar with the importance of “soft power” engagement. In other words, the value of pitching up at one of the various Westminster haunts (read: pubs) frequented by Ministers and MPs, Special Advisers and staffers, and other decision-makers from across Whitehall. Throughout the […]