Full crisis PR support

People come to me at every stage of a situation.

Sometimes nothing is public yet. A journalist has started asking questions, an allegation may be coming, a legal development is approaching, or someone is threatening to release private information. Other times, the story is already moving and your name is suddenly everywhere for the wrong reasons.

I work on both the immediate crisis and the quieter work that happens before anybody else knows there is a problem. This includes:

• Assessing the risk before something becomes public

• Identifying where a story could come from and who is likely to become involved

• Preparing a crisis strategy, statements, holding lines and answers before they are needed

• Handling journalists, press enquiries, deadlines and stories being prepared for publication

• Providing evidence, context and factual corrections before a story runs

• Preparing clients for interviews, public statements and difficult questions

• Managing allegations, leaks and private material being made public

• Responding to online backlash, pile-ons and coordinated campaigns

• Dealing with content on Reddit, Tattle, gossip forums, social media and comment sections

• Working alongside lawyers so the legal and public responses support one another

• Challenging inaccurate reporting and making sure important legal updates are reported correctly

• Reporting harmful content and pursuing corrections, removal or de-indexing where there are proper grounds

• Monitoring where a story is spreading and working out where it is likely to go next

• Using SEO and reputation management to improve what people find when they search your name

• Strengthening accurate online sources so Google and AI tools have better information to draw from

• Managing the longer-term reputation after the immediate risk has passed

The search and AI side matters because a crisis does not end when people stop posting about it. Months or years later, a potential employer, client, partner or journalist may still search your name and find a version of events that is inaccurate, outdated or missing important context.

I work on the sources behind those results. That can mean corrections, legal updates, removals, de-indexing, stronger accurate content and the wider SEO work needed to change how you are seen online. Google and AI tools cannot be rewritten overnight, but the information they rely on can be improved over time.

A lot of crisis PR is also knowing what not to do. Not every accusation needs a statement, not every post should be reported and not every journalist should receive the longest possible version of events.

Sometimes the best work happens early enough that the public never knows there was a crisis at all. My job is to know the difference.

Once you get in touch, I will arrange a free first call. If you would like an NDA before telling me anything sensitive, I can send one over first.

Calls can usually happen on the same day. If the situation is extremely urgent, I will do everything I can to speak to you within an hour. That depends on whether I am already with another client or away from my phone, but I will always tell you quickly rather than leave you waiting.

Before we speak, I may do a very quick Google search to see what is already public, but I deliberately do not research you properly until I have heard your side. The internet is very good at presenting one confident version of events without context, and I do not want that to become my starting opinion of you.

On the call, you can tell me what has happened in your own words. You do not need to have everything organised or know what kind of help you need. I will ask questions, identify any immediate deadlines and explain what I think your options are.

Afterwards, I will send you a proposal setting out what I recommend, what I would do and what it will cost. I will often include some initial advice that you are welcome to use whether or not you decide to work with me. Sometimes it is immediately obvious that the best response is to stay quiet, and if that is honestly all I think you need, I will simply tell you.

If you decide to go ahead, the agreement and invoice can be sent straight away. Work can usually begin that day or within 24 hours.

Every situation is different. Some people need me intensively for a few days, while others need support for several months.

I have worked for and alongside enough PR firms and agencies to know that the standard approach is often to sign clients into a six or twelve-month retainer. I do not work like that by default. Asking exactly how long a crisis will last at the beginning is a bit like asking how long a piece of string is.

Most of my crisis work is arranged month to month. We agree what I will be doing, the fee is paid upfront and, towards the end of the month, we decide whether the support is still needed. You are not tied into paying for months of work after the situation has settled.

If it is clear from the beginning that the work will be longer term, I will include a retainer option in my proposal. Retainers have a slightly lower monthly rate to reflect the longer commitment, and both options will be set out clearly so you can decide which makes more sense.

I am also aware that you may be choosing someone during one of the most sensitive periods of your life. You need to trust the person you are working with and feel able to tell them the truth. You may decide that we do not click, and I respect that. I do not think anyone should have to commit to six months before they know whether the working relationship feels right.

For a sense of cost, one-hour advisory sessions are £500, including research beforehand and a written summary afterwards. Lighter ongoing reputation management starts from £1,800 a month. More involved crisis work is quoted once I understand what is happening and how much support you are likely to need.

The first call is free. There are no hidden costs, and nothing begins until we have agreed the work and the fee.

In an urgent situation, I can usually start within an hour.

If a journalist has given you a deadline, something has just been published or the situation is spreading, make that clear when you contact me. We will have a quick call, establish what needs to happen first and begin dealing with it immediately.

You do not need to prepare a formal brief or have every fact perfectly organised before calling.

That's most of what I do. I'd say around 90% of my work never reaches the press or the public at all, which is why it's the part nobody sees.

In practice it looks like this. Someone contacts me when a journalist has been in touch but nothing has run, and we work out what the story actually is, what's inaccurate in it, and whether it stands up. Or something is circulating in a small corner of the internet and hasn't yet been picked up. Or an internal issue is about to become external, and there's a narrow window to handle it properly first.

A significant number of these situations never become stories. Not because anything was hidden, but because once the facts are established and the inaccuracies corrected, there often isn't a story left. Plenty of pieces don't run because they turn out to be wrong.

This is also the cheapest and most effective point to get involved. The options available before something publishes are far wider than the options afterwards, and it costs a fraction of what it costs to repair search results for the next two years.

The obvious caveat: this isn't about burying things people have a right to know. If something genuinely should be public, my advice will be about how you handle it, not how you stop it.

Send the enquiry to me before replying, if you can.

Once we are working together, I handle the communication with the journalist directly. I establish what they are planning to publish, what information they already have and when their deadline is. I then prepare the response, provide any relevant evidence or context, challenge inaccuracies and work alongside your lawyer where necessary.

You will know exactly what is being said on your behalf, but you will not have to manage calls, emails and repeated questions from the press yourself. Taking that pressure away from you is a basic part of the service.

That is completely understandable. When your name, career or private life suddenly feels under threat, it can become difficult to sleep, think clearly or stop checking what people are saying.

You do not need to sound calm when you call me. You do not need to have the facts in perfect order, and I will not think you are being dramatic because you feel frightened, angry or confused.

We take it one thing at a time. I work out what is genuinely urgent, explain what we are going to do next and take as much of the practical pressure away from you as I can. You can check in with me, WhatsApp when something changes and ask questions whenever you are unsure about something.

I can handle the press and reputation side, but I also recognise when somebody needs support beyond PR. If the situation is seriously affecting your sleep, anxiety or mental health, I will gently encourage you to speak to a therapist, your GP or another qualified mental health professional alongside our work.

Those two kinds of support do different jobs, and it is perfectly reasonable to need both.

Sometimes. Once I understand where the genuine risk is, the first priority is usually to slow things down.

That might mean responding to a journalist before publication, reporting content to a platform in the way that platform is most likely to act on, preparing for a leak or working out where a story could move next.

It also means knowing when intervention will draw more attention to something that might otherwise disappear. Doing nothing can be a strategy, but it should be a decision rather than a panic response.

Not necessarily.

Sometimes the right response is a statement. Sometimes it is a short factual correction, a private conversation or a holding line prepared in case someone asks. Very often, the best response is to say nothing publicly.

I will help you decide whether speaking will improve the situation or simply give it more attention. If you do need to respond, we will make sure the language works legally, publicly and in the context of what is actually happening.

Sometimes. It depends on what has been published, where it appears and whether there are legal, editorial or platform grounds for challenging it.

Content may be removed, corrected, amended with an important legal update or de-indexed from search results. In other cases, attempting removal can attract more attention than leaving it alone.

I will assess the content honestly and explain which options are realistic before recommending that you spend money pursuing them.

First, we make sure it is actually over, rather than simply having a quiet day.

I review what has been published, whether journalists are likely to follow up, what is still being shared online and whether there are any unanswered questions, platform reports or legal developments that could restart the situation.

We then deal with the loose ends. That might mean securing corrections, adding important legal updates to coverage, following up with platforms, preparing for future questions or monitoring the situation while public attention moves on.

After that, we look at what has been left behind. If inaccurate or damaging material is appearing when people search your name, I can work on corrections, removals, de-indexing, SEO and the sources Google and AI tools use when describing you.

Some clients only need a short period of monitoring. Others want longer-term reputation management. We will decide together what is genuinely useful rather than continuing the work for the sake of it.

That is very common. I regularly work alongside solicitors, barristers, agents, publicists and in-house teams, staying closely involved while keeping firmly to the PR side of the situation.

Legal advice and PR advice have different jobs. A response can be legally safe but reputationally disastrous, or publicly reassuring but legally risky. I help make sure the two strategies support one another rather than creating a new problem.

I can join calls with your legal team, prepare statements around legal developments, handle journalists and monitor how a case is being reported. I will also attend court hearings when needed, sit in the courtroom and take detailed notes so we know exactly what was said, what the press may focus on and what needs to be communicated afterwards.

I do not replace a lawyer. If I think you need legal advice before you need PR, I will tell you and, where possible, help you find the right person.

You deal directly with me from the first call to the last message. Your situation will not be handed to a junior or discussed across a large team.

Everything is treated in confidence. If you would prefer, an NDA can be signed before you explain what has happened.

I also keep my client list private. You will not be used as a case study or promoted as a client.

Yes.

Sometimes the honest answer is that something will pass, that responding would make it worse, or that you need a lawyer before you need a PR adviser.

If I do not think you need me, I will tell you clearly rather than sell you a plan.

Of course. Almost everyone who needs crisis PR is controversial at that particular moment. If nobody objected to them, they probably would not be calling me.

Working with someone is not the same as endorsing them. A solicitor does not have to agree with a client to believe they are entitled to proper representation. My job is different, but the principle is similar. I am not there to share a client’s opinions. I am there to make sure their response is accurate, responsible and does not cause further harm.

Refusing to work with a controversial person does not silence them. It may simply leave them taking advice from friends, fans or people who will agree with everything they say. I would rather there were an independent person in the room willing to say: do not post that, do not repeat that claim, apologise for this, and step away before you make the situation worse.

I know I have prevented damaging statements and rhetoric from reaching the public because I was willing to have those conversations.

Being accused of something is not the same as being guilty. Innocent until proven guilty is a basic principle, but the court of public opinion rarely waits. I have seen false claims repeated as facts, complicated legal cases reduced to headlines and important outcomes receive a fraction of the attention given to the original allegation.

I listen to the full story before forming an opinion. You do not need to persuade me that you are perfect or leave out the part you think makes you look bad. What matters is that we are honest with one another, because that is how I can give you advice that genuinely protects you.

Some clients have done nothing wrong. Some have made mistakes. Many are somewhere in between. My job is not to judge which category makes somebody worthy of help. It is to understand what actually happened and help them deal with it properly.

Once we have agreed what I will be doing, I will send you an agreement and an invoice. Payment is made upfront before the work starts.

For month-to-month support, you are invoiced at the beginning of each month. Before another month begins, we discuss whether you still need me and what the next stage of work should cover. If you choose a longer retainer, the payment schedule and everything included will be set out clearly from the beginning.

Crises can change quickly. If something new happens that falls outside what we agreed, I will explain what additional work is needed and agree the cost with you before doing it. I will not quietly add hours and send you a surprise invoice later.

If the situation is urgent, the agreement and invoice can be sent immediately so the paperwork does not cause an unnecessary delay.

Yes. I am based in London but work with public figures, founders, creators, brands and organisations worldwide, including across the US, Europe and APAC.

Most crisis work can be handled confidentially by phone and email, but I am also happy to fly out to meet clients and work with them in person when the situation requires it.

Where necessary, I can work alongside lawyers and advisers in the relevant country so the response reflects the local media and legal landscape.