PPS, Private Eye, Evening Standard, Dispatches Ch4
PPS are the PR company behind Developers Mountgrange (Caltongate) also Viridor Waste at Portobello. They featured in The Evening Standard in July 2007 in an article titled "Bugging, Bullying, Forgery: Property PR Tricks" EveningStandard30thjuly2007
See DispatchesProgramme aired on Monday 30th July 2007
Scroll down page to find link to programme (PPS part starts at 16 minutes 50 seconds to 25 minutes 24 seconds) although all of programme worth watching!)
On the 6th August another story concerning Mountgrange`s PR company PPS was published in EveningStandardaug07
In The Private Eye issue 31st August 2007 are Caltongate developers Mountgrange and their PR lobbying firm PPS to read article select your print preview and enlarge to 100% http://www.eh8.org.uk/sites/eh8.org.uk/files/scan_7830212816_1.jpg
Mark Cummings the Scottish Director of PPS and Mountgrange`s spokesperson for the last two years or so has left the company, 2 weeks after the Private Eye story was published in August. Now it appears he is still working for Mountgrange just under a new company name.
Cummings and goings
Mark Cummings, the spin doctor who left controversial lobbying firm PPS this autumn, has landed a contract with PPS’s most high profile client in Scotland.Cummings worked on the Caltongate development account for PPS, but despite his departure was spotted at a meeting of the Caltongate Liaison Group last week. His new firm, Invicta Public Affairs, has now been taken on by Caltongate’s developer Manish Chande for what Cummings describes as “PR and public affairs, all the usual stuff”. Chande’s firm Mountgrange is expected to retain PPS’s services despite giving Invicta some work on the project. SOSarticle
October 23rd 07
It now appears that Director of PPS Scotland Mark Cummings has left the company and Former Labour Council Leader Donald Anderson has replaced him as director. If you Former leader nets top PR job http://www.ppsgroup.info/Network.aspx?page=4
FORMER city council leader Donald Anderson has landed a top job with Mountgrange's public relations firm.
He is to be the new Scottish director of PPS, one of the UK's biggest lobbying and PR companies, which is also promoting plans for a hugely-controversial giant waste depot in Portobello. However, Mr Anderson will have no involvement in the Caltongate scheme. He said: "I have supported job creation and economic growth throughout my career and I am keen to continue that work across Scotland. "Scotland needs new jobs and homes and we all need to play a part in that."
Stephen Byfield, managing director of PPS, also said former PPS director Mark Cumming will continue overseeing Caltongate.
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1689642007
Mark Cummings of lobbying company PPS, "before taking charge of the Edinburgh office of PPS, Cummings spent years at the political coalface as a policy analyst in the Scottish Executive and a corporate strategist for Communities Scotland. He also works on behalf of Mountgrange which is developing the controversial Caltongate scheme.
The plans for this were singled out by the new leader of Edinburgh Council Jenny Dawe as being "hideous and grotesque". copy and paste the following to see full article
"Call PPS if ...you need to undertake community consultation or if you feel your scheme may run into political or community opposition." hotlinehere
See some of those who are up currently against this infamous pr outfit
JerichoBoatyardOxford Council rejected plans Dec 07, but developers have lodged an appeal
The beautiful city of Bath is under threat at the hands of Property Developers Crest Nicolson whose PR firm appears to be none other than infamous PPS
Read the Icomosobjection to the Bath plans. It all sounds depressingly familiar doesn`t it? Unesco are the body responsible for World Heritage Sites. bathpreservationtrust and bathheritagewatchdog are doing their best to protect their citys` heritage.
PPS are a corporate member of the Heritage Body Cockburn Association