Bell Pottinger faces administration following CEO resignation & PRCA expulsion
Following its ejection from the PRCA, Bell Pottinger is reportedly facing administration as early as next week.
Executives at the PR firm told staff on Thursday afternoon that “the company's financial position had become pearilous and that they could choose to terminate their employment immediately,” according to Sky News.
The development comes just days after the PRCA expelled Bell Pottinger from the industry trade body for its involvement in a campaign that stoked racial tensions in South Africa. The PR giant had been working on behalf of the wealthy Gupta family in South Africa to help them stir up anger about the “white monopoly capital” in the country in hopes of drawing attention away from the controversial family and their deep ties to President Jacob Zuma.
Bell Pottinger’s chief executive James Henderson resigned earlier this week in light of the scandal, stating that he felt “deeply let down by the colleagues who misled” him.
In a post for The Drum, PRCA director general Francis Ingham said that the trade body expelled Bell Pottinger “because they used the power they held for the wrong purposes.”
“They broke our ethical standards and broke them severely. That’s why we handed down the toughest punishment we’ve ever handed down to a member,” he said.