Bell Pottinger thrown out of UK PR association

Public Relations and Communications Association says the firm's work with the Guptas has brought the PR and communications industry into disrepute.

Bell Pottinger’s London head office. Picture: Google Street View

Controversial British public relations firm Bell Pottinger’s membership with the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) has been terminated.

Fin24 reports that the PR body announced that Bell Pottinger would not be able to reapply for membership for the minimum of five years.

“Bell Pottinger has brought the PR and communications industry into disrepute with its actions, and it has received the harshest possible sanctions,” PRCA director general Francis Ingham said in a statement.

He said the outcome reflects the huge importance that the PRCA places on the protection of ethical standards in the business of PR and communication.

The decision comes after the PR body launched an investigation into Bell Pottinger’s work with the Gupta family.

The DA had reported Bell Pottinger to the PRCA claiming that the firm had fulled racial hatred in the country through the use of the term “white monopoly capital.”

Fin24 reports that the PRCA said its Professional Practices Committee was unanimous in the view that Bell Pottinger’s Oakbay campaign breached four clauses in the industry body’s codes of conduct.

“The manner in which the Oakbay Capital programme was conceived and delivered indicated a failure on the part of Bell Pottinger’s senior management to oversee and control a campaign which, in the committee’s view, required the highest level of scrutiny and supervision, given the sensitive political and social environment in which it was activated,” the PR body said.