Global Counsel, the advisory firm co-founded by former Labour peer Peter Mandelson, is set to enter administration after losing a string of major clients following revelations about Mandelson's ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The company, which employed around 100 people across London, Berlin, Brussels, Doha and Singapore, said in a statement that the 'continuing maelstrom of political and media attention surrounding Peter Mandelson' had made it impossible to continue in its current form. Administrators from Interpath are expected to take control, leading to significant redundancies.
Clients including Barclays, Tesco, the Premier League, Klarna, Phoenix Group and KKR have all ended their relationships with Global Counsel in recent weeks. Vodafone placed its contract under review, while GSK said it had no plans to engage with the firm in future.
The crisis was triggered by the release of Epstein-related documents showing that Mandelson had sought advice from the financier on founding Global Counsel in 2010. Co-founder Benjamin Wegg-Prosser also met Epstein while he was under house arrest in New York. Wegg-Prosser stepped down as CEO earlier this month, and Mandelson sold his shares, but the reputational damage proved irreparable.
Global Counsel's board thanked staff for their 'exceptional resilience' and noted that shareholders had suffered a material loss through no fault of their own. The company confirmed that any ongoing client servicing would be on a very limited basis.
