Crisis planning

If you or your business are only responding to a reputational crisis when it has happened, it is already too late. Crisis planning helps ensure your organisation is prepared for the unexpected.

Crisis planning

A crisis manual will ensure that potential issues or crises are identified as early as possible; escalated to the appropriate individuals; and communicated clearly to stakeholders inside and outside the organisation.

We have produced crisis plans for individuals and organisations across a wide range of sectors, including private businesses; global membership bodies; and charities with complex challenges.

Some of these organisations operated across multiple territories and needed a single plan for the business; others needed a plan that could be easily understood both by employees and external stakeholders.

Some had no plan in place and wanted us to create one from scratch; others wanted us to review and update plans that were out of date or inadequate.

Key features:

  • Assessment of all potential reputation and crisis issues facing you or your business, graded by severity.
  • A structured approach to dealing with any reputational issues that could generate negative coverage in print, online or social media.
  • A co-ordinated approach to collecting and channelling information internally and externally.
  • A clearly identified crisis response team, with guidelines on who will respond to media and other key stakeholders.
  • Responses to likely scenarios that could play out in the media and on social media.
  • Guidelines for posting on social media channels in a crisis

We have produced crisis plans for individuals and organisations across a wide range of sectors, including private businesses; global membership bodies; and charities with complex challenges.

Some of these organisations operated across multiple territories and needed a single plan for the business; others needed a plan that could be easily understood both by employees and external stakeholders.

Some had no plan in place and wanted us to create one from scratch; others wanted us to review and update plans that were out of date or inadequate.

We have produced crisis plans for individuals and organisations across a wide range of sectors, including private businesses; global membership bodies; and charities with complex challenges.

Some of these organisations operated across multiple territories and needed a single plan for the business; others needed a plan that could be easily understood both by employees and external stakeholders.

Some had no plan in place and wanted us to create one from scratch; others wanted us to review and update plans that were out of date or inadequate.

We normally divide the project into four phases:

Reputation audit

This covers issues affecting your sector, as well as you or your organisation specifically

Information gathering

We hold meetings and workshops with your senior leadership team to discuss perceived risks and to understand roles and responsibilities

Drafting the manual

We set out a risk escalation process and provide a comprehensive crisis response plan

Review period

We share a first draft of the manual and work together to agree a final version of the document

Crisis insurance

A low-level monthly premium gives you guaranteed access to our crisis experts to advise on reputation issues as soon as they arise.

We will provide strategic counsel, helping you to anticipate and deal with issues before they escalate and become a full-blown reputational crisis.

With a crisis insurance policy in place, you can set up regular calls with our experts to keep them informed of significant issues coming down the track. Building that relationship means you have trusted advisors on hand when you need an external perspective and fresh insight.

If an issue attracts media attention, we will handle all aspects of media relations and provide full support: monitoring the impact; drafting media statements and managing interviews; and advising on a recovery strategy.

Your policy gives you access to our experts for an agreed number of hours per month. If you require support in any given month, beyond the core hours on your policy, we charge our time at a day rate, which is substantially discounted from our normal fees.

Examples of our work have included:

A long-standing relationship with a successful global retailer

Our client is based in the UK with a presence in multiple territories throughout Europe. We have worked with them for eight years, providing advice on a range of reputation issues and handling media relations when required. We have advised on issues such as: an unauthorised TV documentary featuring the business; litigation against a former employer who had stolen from the company; an employment tribunal brought by a disgruntled former employee, making false accusations against colleagues; and the Covid shutdowns and re-opening.

Advice to a high-net worth individual

Our client has enjoyed great success across several industries, but does not want a public profile or to seek media attention. We monitor the landscape, providing advice on issues that might land in the media and, if required, handle media relations on his behalf. We ensure his privacy is protected and his rights as a private individual are observed.
Get in touch with the team