Global Counsel, an advisory firm co-founded by Peter Mandelson, will collapse into administration, blaming the “turf” caused by revelations about a former peer’s relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Companies including Barclays, Tesco and the Premier League have left Global Counsel, despite the company’s efforts to sever ties with Mandelson and company co-founder Benjamin Wegg-Prosser.
Crisis engulfed Global Counsel after it emerged that Mandelson had sought Epstein’s advice to set up the business in 2010, shortly after leaving office when Labor lost the general election.
On Thursday, the Financial Times reported that the “Peter Mandelson legacy” effectively turned the business around for staff at Global Counsel.
In a statement posted on professional social networking site LinkedIn, Global Counsel confirmed that it had asked the court to appoint Interpath as an administrator to “control and realize the company’s assets”.
It said: “The ongoing political and media attention surrounding Peter Mandelson has made it challenging to maintain in its current form. Today’s Global Council has nothing to do with Peter Mandelson, his role as co-founder and his conduct, especially in its early years, have indelibly colored the way Global Council appears to the outside world.
“To be clear, this is no longer business as usual as the managers-in-waiting have already indicated that this will only be on a limited basis in the event that any ongoing servicing of clients is not a viable option. So, inevitably, this will lead to a significant number of redundancies when the managers take control of the company tomorrow.”
The company has approximately 100 employees in London, Berlin, Brussels, Doha and Singapore. Its board staff “showed extraordinary resilience in the face of circumstances beyond their control”, thanked clients and said shareholders had “suffered material loss through no fault of their own”.
The fallout comes despite attempts by the global council to distance itself from its founders over the past two weeks.
Weg-Prosser stepped down as chief executive earlier this month as the global counsel grapples with the reputational damage of the latest tranche of Epstein files released by the Department of Justice earlier this month. The company announced that it has sold its stake in Mandelson’s business.
But Global Counsel couldn’t get the flow of clients out the door.
Other clients lost include fintech company Klarna, Phoenix Group and private equity group KKR. Telecom company Vodafone has put its business deal under review.
Pharmaceuticals business GSK, which previously sought the advice of global counsel, said it had “no plans” to engage with the company in the future.
In addition to showing that Mandelson sought Epstein’s advice on establishing global counsel, the files also reveal that Wegg-Prosser met the sex offender while under house arrest in New York and shared the company’s business plan.
Sources close to Wegg-Prosser previously said he met with Epstein for 25 minutes once 16 years ago at Mandelson’s suggestion.
“I had the misfortune of meeting Epstein on one occasion,” Wegg-Prosser previously said. “It was a small meeting of no consequence and thankfully never to be repeated.”
The Guardian has approached Global Counsel for comment.
