Fishburn Hedges

Guy Corbet

The cricket-loving world has been turned upside down since news of the spot-fixing scandal broke late last Saturday.  The police and customs are making their inquiries.  Pakistan's government and high commission are closely involved in the proceedings.Pundits have been up in arms calling for the rest of the tour to be called off.  Punters are asking for their money back because they don't trust...

John Williams, senior adviser and co-founder of Fishburn Hedges

There is a classic Economist commercial (produced by our parent AMV BBDO) which features a business traveller turning left boarding a long haul flight and finding, to his horror, that he is seated right next to Henry Kissinger. The petrified-looking man realises his conversation may not be up to an eight hour flight next to the great man. The implication is clear: you should have read the Econom...

Holly Rouse

The Coalition’s commitment to greater transparency started positively enough with a flurry of public consultation appeals appearing on nearly every government website, such as the Treasury's 'Spending Challenge'.Yet attempts to "crowd-source" policy are being seriously questioned. Ministers have already been accused of rejecting every idea put forward on the Coalitions' new programme. The govern...

Andrew Lewin

In the heady days of late April and early May, the political world was easy to understand and even simpler to communicate.  You didn’t need a PR professional to tell you that David Cameron and Nick Clegg were sworn enemies, they led two political parties locked in a century long power struggle and were less than glowing about each other on a personal level.  Our new PM famously called his Dep...

Guy Corbet

Ten years ago Big Brother burst onto our screens with the promise of instant celebrity for anyone who could hold the audience's attention long enough for them to cast a vote.  "Nasty Nick" Bateman was its first tabloid hero, catapulted to fame on the back of his mischievous intrigues.  Jade Goody followed.  To maintain interest as the novelty wore thin, successive series had to court controvers...

Paul Sweetman

Who would be a Labour party manager right now? Just when they are trying to convince members and employees to re-unite and make a fresh start, they face a barrage of revelations from the memoirs of former leading lights. These could really threaten the party’s credibility, at a time when renewed common purpose and unity is required to strengthen credibility.  There are strong parallels for the ...

Ayesha Bharmal

I think it’s probably fair to say that Health Secretary Andrew Lansley hasn’t made a friend out of Jamie Oliver. He used the British Medical Association conference in Brighton last week to criticise the chef’s school dinners campaign, claiming that his method of attempting to change behaviours is flawed. But was he right?According to Lansley, the campaign, which has been running for around ...

Paul Sweetman

The Financial Times today reports on research from the Good Work Commission (a panel set up by the Work Foundation) suggesting that intensity at work is increasing for UK employees, partly because they feel they have less opportunity to shape their own jobs and activities. The research findings will feed into recommendations that the Commission makes this autumn on how work can be made more reward...

Ian Fannon

There was no surer sign of the times than the announcement today that the Government is planning to axe three quarters of its 820 websites.It’s not surprising news, especially to those of us who have worked with Government departments over recent years and witnessed their unswerving commitment to rationalising the Government’s online presence. Such a cull represents an easy win in the battle t...