College Hill snaps up struggling Green Issues consultancy

Green Issues was founded eleven years ago, but is thought to have struggled in recent months as the recession has deepened. It will now be merged in to College Hill's lobbying arm, College Public Policy, run by MD Warwick Smith.

Three senior staffers at Green Issues - MD Simon Miller and directors Kelly Edwards and Nick Bohane - will now sit on the board of College Public Policy.

It is expected that the agency will keep its own name and will continue to operate out of its Reading headquarters. But the agency's London office will be closed and some staff will now work from College Hill's offices in Tower Hill.

Green Issues made seven staff redundant in December 2008, leaving it with around 25 consultants. Earlier this year, rival planning public affairs shop PPS Group made six staff redundant (PRWeek, 6 March).

Insiders at Green Issues told PRWeek they feared more redundancies following the acquisition. Miller said: ‘Staff have already been alerted to the need to cut address some costs in the business.'

Former Green Issues CEO Tom Curtin, who now heads his own consultancy Curtin & Co, said: ‘It's very sad that a cracking little company finds itself this position.'

College Hill chairman Alex Sandberg acknowledged that Green Issues had struggled recently, but insisted: ‘It has been a very successful business and it will be once again.'