Public Affairs Consultancy of the Year —
FTI Consulting
Since Brussels-based public affairs firm Blueprint was acquired by FTI Consulting (then FD) in 2008, it has grown every year. After fee income increased by another 30% in 2014 (new business came from Air Liquide, BHP Billiton, Cosmetics Europe, Dow, Google, Johnson & Johnson and more), the firm now has a team of 60 consultants generating revenues of more than $10m, still led by Blueprint founder Julia Harrison.
It has refined its capabilities in recent years, building on its experience in highly-regulated and issues-rich sectors such as energy, financial services, healthcare, technology and agriculture, and in practice areas such as crisis communications and competition policy—while drawing on the unique expertise of the larger consulting operation in areas such as corporate finance, global risk, and economics consulting.
The firm has handled high-profile, high-stakes issues for clients such as Mastercard, the Gates Foundation, and Shale Gas Europe. In the past year, FTI helped increase understanding of and support for the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, proposed natural gas pipeline through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea landing in Italy. It also created a multilingual pan-European campaign for Shale Gas Europe, injecting science and perspective into an emotionally-charged debate. And its integrated effort on behalf of The Walk Free Foundation, a global movement fighting to end modern slavery, resulted in widespread media coverage.
And while Brussels remains the epicentre of European public affairs and of FTI’s offer, it has made moves to strengthen elsewhere, with the appointment of Alex Deane (formerly of Weber Shandwick) as managing director in the London office and with Martin Kothé continuing to head up a solid Berlin offer.
Read more: holmesreport.com
By: N. Peter Kramer
