UK agency in administration as purchasers finish contracts after co-founder’s Epstein hyperlinks

The advisory firm co-founded by Peter Mandelson has collapsed into administration, in the fallout from the scandal surrounding his historical links to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Global Counsel said it had stopped trading and that the majority of its roughly 80 UK staff have been made redundant.

Administrators at Interpath have been appointed for the London-based lobbying business, which said it suffered a significant financial impact from multiple clients cutting ties with the firm.

This left directors with no choice but to bring in administrators, it said, despite the firm recently saying that Lord Mandelson no longer had any role or influence over it.

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It is reported that Barclays, Tesco and Klarna were among those to recently end contracts, while Vodafone put its one under review, after the so-called Epstein files were released by US authorities.

Will Wright, UK chief executive of Interpath and joint administrator, said: “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.”

Steve Absolom, managing director at Interpath and joint administrator, said: “Our immediate focus is on supporting the talented and loyal UK team of Global Counsel employees who, having collectively built a market-leading business, now sadly find themselves having to be made redundant.”

Administrators said they were considering their options for the business and reviewing its assets.

Earlier this month, Global Counsel said it had cut ties with Lord Mandelson and announced the departure of its boss Benjamin Wegg-Prosser.

It stressed that Lord Mandelson no longer had any shareholding, role or association with the company – and no influence over the firm.

Nevertheless, the business continued to come under pressure from its association to the former politician and US ambassador and the ongoing scrutiny.

Lord Mandelson co-founded the firm with Mr Wegg-Prosser in 2010 after Labour lost the general election. He stepped down from its board about two years ago.

Mr Wegg-Prosser was previously a political adviser and director of strategic communications under former prime minister Tony Blair, before going on to work as a director at a Russian media firm.

Global Counsel has worked with a roster of clients including Palantir, GSK, Vodafone, OpenAI, TikTok and the English Premier League.

The latest tranche of documents in the Epstein files appear to show Lord Mandelson passing potentially market-sensitive information to the financier in 2009, while he was business secretary in Gordon Brown’s government.

His London and Wiltshire homes have been searched by officers as part of the Metropolitan Police’s probe into alleged misconduct in public office.

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