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Political and Media Relations

SINCE 2013

...when you must win

Our front-page stories
“You’re the only lobbyist I trust” Member of House of Lords
“We’re bloody glad you’re on our side” Hedge fund owner
"Your client must be proud of you" The Economist
Abzed delivers
Abzed is unique. We take on complex, critical issues. And win. Dozens of newspaper stories record how we have stopped the destruction of industries, reputations and the environment. We also work behind the scenes to shift perceptions in Parliament and stop bad legislation - including two measures in the 2023 session.

Our success comes from being ingenious and relentless in the pursuit of just outcomes. In an era in which emotion dominates, we bring politicians and journalists the facts missing from the debate.
Making big impacts for our clients
Drax shares plunge £280m in an hour after Abzed gives story to the Financial Times
£6 billion of green subsidies under scrutiny after cabinet minister admits burning wood for power “makes no sense”
Read study
“Drax feels the heat”
The Times
Abzed gets 116 MPs to co-sign letters challenging “burning trees for electricity”
Letters urge Government to stop importing millions of trees across the Atlantic in diesel-powered freighters 
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“Drax feels the heat”
The Times
November 2023: Government gives up on attempts to ban hunting imports from Africa
Climb down came after Abzed gets newspapers to switch sides because of compelling science showing that hunting paid for crucial anti-poaching efforts.
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The Times, The Telegraph and the Daily Mail report on opinion poll organised by Abzed
In the poll eight African countries denounced the proposed ban as “neo-colonial” and said  celebrity supporters of it were “ignorant virtue signallers”
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June 2023: Government abandons legislation to ban training dogs with e-collars half-way through process
Retreat followed Abzed organising hundreds of dog owners to write to their MPs protesting against the legislation
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Abzed had exposed how two Cabinet ministers were using these allegedly “cruel” devices
Through The Times we revealed how ministers had been using e-collars which they intended to ban other pet owners from using
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Police launch investigation into RSPB for baiting electric fences with honey
Abzed gave Daily Telegraph document showing that charity instructed staff to soak cotton wool in honey and then place on live wire “at badger nose-height”
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RSPB sends in the dogs to hunt down wounded foxes
Charity told its marksmen they could use dogs to pursue foxes wounded. Abzed passed document to the Daily Telegraph
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Campaign group faces barrage of negative headlines after regulator finds it misled public
Advertising Standards Authority told Friends of the Earth to withdraw leaflet for false claims following investigation by Abzed
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The Times says Friends of the Earth broke charity rules on political campaigning
Abzed provided evidence that the charity had pretended that it was not conducting inappropriate campaigning
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After intervention by Abzed The Times apologises to scientists over tobacco-ties slander
We then got The Guardian to report how The Times had withdrawn all three articles criticising the scientists
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European Parliament defies Commission over vaping
Plan to ban e-cigarettes failed after Abzed worked with The Economist on a supportive front-page story 
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Our values
At Abzed we hold the powerful to account – cabinet ministers, big companies and campaigning charities. We cannot expect moral behaviour from them without demanding the same from ourselves. To be effective, we also have to be trusted. That is we why commit ourselves to these values:
Our Values
  • Truth: we never knowingly say something we believe to be untrue
  • Humility: we expect that our current understanding is in some way wrong
  • Curiosity: we will keep asking questions
  • Uncertainty: we regard most issues as too complex for certainty about the solution
  • Courage: we are never intimidated by powerful people who lack good arguments
  • Respect: our starting view is that our opponents have good intentions
  • Benefit: we will only work for outcomes which aid the common good.
So no gambling clients.

These values tie in with our purpose which is to improve the quality of policymaking.

Our role is to seek fairness in how our clients are treated by the media and governments.

This is needed because our society has slipped into the lazy comforts of ideological posturing. Decisions are made under the influence of slogans not science. That is why Abzed puts so much effort into understanding the academic evidence and encouraging further research.

Abzed also opposes the trivialisation of politics. There are serious consequences when policy goes wrong: for people and our environment.

Yet too much of the conversation is dominated by empty demands for “more” to be done, without spelling out the “how”. Real solutions need to be precise. They invariably involve unpalatable trade-offs.

The failure of our politics is not just seen in bad policies. The bigger problem is that when leaders lack the courage to do right, public confidence in our governing institutions slides. And that confidence is the glue of our society.
About Abzed
Much of our work is contentious. Our clients do not seek the controversy. It comes to them. We then help them fend off unwarranted criticism and make their case.

Defending our clients can be as adversarial as any courtroom. Vested interests receiving billions of subsidies do not let go lightly. Nor do Government departments. Abzed holds them to account before Parliament and the media. We refocus the debate on science.

No free hits against our clients
We are gifted at spotting our opponent’s mistakes and putting them on the defensive. In our counter-campaigning we do not just out-logic them. We also out-emote them - pointing out the harm their proposals would bring.

Abzed’s agility means that they have no free hits against our clients. Where the other side obfuscates, we clarify. Where they have no evidence, we expose this ignorance. No other UK lobbying firm comes close in the range and effectiveness of its tactics.

Our team gets thoughtless policies reversed because we are smart and work hard. We also bring decades of experience in high level politics - ranging from working for Margaret Thatcher to BBC News.

We turn the tide by getting newspapers to switch positions. And we are just as good at keeping things out of the media as getting them in. We even get top media outlets to apologise when they make mistakes.

Clients value our calm insight. But they prize our impact.