Issues & Crisis Communications Management
We love a challenge
So we’re not afraid to help our clients address controversial issues and win people over. And because life doesn’t always run as smoothly as it should, we can help you plan for a crisis and respond if one hits.
Your reputation can take years to build, but if a crisis hits, it can be destroyed in an instant. We can help minimise the risk for your company by identifying issues that concern your stakeholders and working to address them. And if a crisis does hit, we can reduce or mitigate the impact by moving fast to implement a reputational management strategy and leading your crisis response.
In a crisis situation, preparedness enables you to think more strategically, move more quickly, and to lead from the front. That’s where planning ahead pays dividends – preparing your team for how to respond, what to do and what to say when the worst happens.
We’ve prepared in-depth crisis communications strategies and plans for many clients, from breweries to tech firms, slotting into their operational crisis planning secenarios and providing invaluable peace of mind.
Crisis Communication Hotline
If you or your company is experiencing a crisis situation – or if you have an issue which you’re concerned may escalate – then don’t delay to get expert advice and support.
Contact our specialist trained Crisis Communication team on our 24 hour hotline, 01202 701828 (Option 1)
Case Study: The Claremont Hotel, Eastbourne
Background
The Grade II Listed Claremont Hotel in the centre of Eastbourne, part of the Daish’s Holidays group, suffered a catastrophic fire which quickly took hold.
Guests were speedily evacuated, but the fire was so aggressive that the fire service struggled to bring it under control, resulting in it burning for several days and leading to closures and evacuations for local roads, businesses and residents, in some instances for weeks afterward.
Tactics
LLPR was called in within minutes of the fire breaking to manage crisis communications for the fast-developing situation.
We immediately built key media lists, connected our comms with the emergency services press offices and key local stakeholders, and moved quickly to issue media statements and provide co-ordinated communications for the client’s website and social media platforms.
As the scene was declared a major incident, it attracted the attention of a number of national news broadcast stations. In the hours and days following as the building became unstable and continued to seriously disrupt the local community, we managed press calls and interviews, provided media comms counsel to the client’s spokespeople, and continued to proactively lead communications to inform and reassure customers, local residents and stakeholders.
Results
As a result of our work, the long term reputation of the company was not impacted by association with the fire and subsequent demolition of the building.
The extensive coverage across regional and national news and broadcast channels remained neutral or positive when referring to the brand, with a high focus upon the quick thinking of the staff in moving the elderly guests to safety.
We continued to support Daishs’ on lower level crisis management work to lead communications with affected guests who had lost possessions in the fire, and to support the customer services team when communicating with other guests whose future holidays had been impacted.
‘When a hotel in our ownership suffered a devastating fire, LLPR was my first port of call. The team immediately sprang into action on behalf of Daish’s to drive media communications throughout a fast-developing situation – quickly developing key links with broadcast and print media across national and regional sectors and working closely with the emergency services comms teams, to ensure that key audiences were kept informed and our business reputation was protected.
Over the following hours, days and indeed weeks, LLPR effectively handled the media strategy and were always on call to deliver sound and insightful advice.
Since then, LLPR has become our trusted media and crisis partner, not only delivering proactive PR to promote the other hotels in our group, but latterly to help us steer through the challenges thrown up by the COVID-19 crisis.’