Peter Mandelson's lobby firm on brink of collapse amid scandal over Jeffrey Epstein relationship

The decrease in the consultancy’s business is linked to its founder’s ties with Epstein, senior management have told the company.

Staff at Global Counsel told the Financial Times its chairman, Archie Norman, and chief executive, Rebecca Park, had said the “Peter Mandelson legacy” had been the root of the business’s woes.

Half of the firm's clients had ceased to work with them in the past fortnight, leading to the decision to begin an insolvency process.

Administrators are expected to take control imminently.

Global Counsel employs around 120 people across London, Brussels, Berlin, Washington DC, Singapore and Doha.

Established in 2010, the consultant built a client base advising multinational companies, financial institutions and industry groups on public policy and geopolitical risk.

A memo, sent by Ms Park, was circulated internally stating the firm would cease operations and that a significant number of redundancies were expected.

The memo said: “This has proved to be a terrible time for all of us. We have had to endure seeing everything we have built together brought down by the inexcusable actions of others.”

It is anticipated some Global Counsel teams and offices will be acquired out of administration by rival firms, who have already expressed their interest.

The firm’s other founder, Benjamin Wegg-Prosser, resigned as chief executive last week as clients cancelled their contracts with the consultancy after it was reported Lord Mandelson sought advice from Epstein on how to launch the business in 2010.

Documents released by the US Department of Justice also showed that Mr Wegg-Prosser met Epstein in New York while he was under house arrest for soliciting prostitution from a minor, to discuss business plans.

Lord Mandelson stepped back from active involvement in the firm prior to his appointment as the UK’s ambassador to the United States, although he retained a substantial shareholding.

One senior employee at Global Counsel said the firm was collapsing due to Lord Mandelson’s historic links with the convicted paedophile and it did not reflect upon the work of the employees.

They told the FT: “There are a lot of well-regarded staff who have only been here for a year or two.”

In 2024, political strategist Jim Messina acquired a 20 per cent stake in Global Counsel, valuing the business at approximately £30million.

Mr Messina, a former adviser to Barack Obama, declined to provide additional funding to support the firm, according to people close to the company.

Several major clients ended their relationships with Global Counsel after the association with Epstein was uncovered.

These included Barclays, Tesco, Phoenix Group and Klarna.

Vodafone placed its contract under review, while the Premier League also cut ties.

Pharmaceutical company GSK said it did not plan to engage the firm further.

This comes after Lord Mandelson came to the attention of US politicians after three million documents the US government held on Epstein were published on January 30.

Among documents were emails that showed Lord Mandelson repeatedly leaked confidential government information to Epstein while serving in Gordon Brown’s Cabinet as business secretary.

This revelation sparked Morgan McSweeney, No10's chief of staff to resign two weeks ago.

People close to Global Counsel said the speed and scale of client departures left the firm unable to continue trading.

Global Counsel has not issued a public statement beyond internal communications to employees.

Lord Mandelson has denied any wrongdoing.

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