Background

 

 

September 2000 saw an unprecedented level of public protest in the UK against high petrol and diesel prices. Compounding this was the commonly held belief that the level of duty/taxation levied on fuel in the UK was having an increasingly detrimental effect on the ability of road transport operators to remain competitive in the face of European competition.

 

Bergmans had worked with a major transport firm – Fergusons Transport Ltd – on a number of public relations issues in the past. Fergusons’ Chairman was determined to make his views on the subject heard on a wider public stage. He called Bergmans in to assist him in achieving that objective.

 

Method

 

The Bergmans team undertook a detailed analysis of the fuel situation, including the historical data that had led to the crisis and, most importantly, the likely implications to his business of the chairman going public and taking an unequivocal stance against the Government.

 

We determined that the most effective way for the chairman to deliver his point of view was for us to promote him as the ‘informed and impassioned voice of reason’ in the public arena. This would immediately differentiate him from the extremists who were thrust into the media spotlight and who were seen as encouraging and condoning the use of illegal protest methods.

 

We began by analysing the detrimental commercial impact to his company brought about by high fuel prices and high levels of duty in the UK. This included an analysis of his company’s continental competitors; in particular how they were able to manipulate the less severe price/tax regimes in continental Europe in order to gain an unfair commercial advantage in their UK operations.

 

The Bergmans team prepared detailed briefings for the chairman – and also put him through some intensive coaching in preparation for his anticipated dealings with the media and with Government representatives. We then promoted the chairman to the media; initially the regional media, knowing that success here would build up a head of steam sufficient to attract the attention of the national media. As in so much professional public relations activity, timing in this case was everything. Bergmans launched the chairman at precisely the time when both sides in the increasingly bitter dispute were taking ever more entrenched and combative stances.

 

We were able to capitalise on the chairman’s good reputation within the haulage industry; within days of us getting him into the media spotlight, the chairmen and chief executives of almost every other large transport firm in the north east rallied behind him, presenting a strong and detailed business case for creating a level playing field for the UK haulage industry. As the pressure intensified, we produced a series of policy statements and media releases to help reinforce the arguments being presented by this group.

 

Results

 

Working behind the scenes, the Bergmans team secured regular interviews for the chairman with regional broadcasters – TV and radio. We arranged live studio debates and phone-ins; we successfully convinced the BBC to run a 30-minute regional documentary split into two halves. The first was essentially an extended promotional vehicle for Fergusons Transport; the second half was a live debate that included representatives of green pressure groups, regional politicians of all persuasions – and the chairman.

 

As a result of this increasing media exposure, the chairman was invited (along with a small number of other transport professionals) to a secret meeting in Leeds with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown. This meeting was convened as a behind-closed-doors, gloves-off exchange of views – and ultimately this meeting helped to shape the shift in Government policy that became apparent at the time of the next budget announcements. Our client was also invited to contribute a regional perspective to position papers and statements developed by the Road Haulage Association (RHA).

 

Our analysis is that the efforts made by our client and others were ultimately far more effective than those made by the more formal professional transport associations. The chairman was later invited to London to take part in a national BBC debate on the budget; he was brought in as an acknowledged transport and haulage expert.

Postscript

 

In the final event, no-one ‘won’ the fuel dispute; but the efforts of our client – and others like him – ensured that Government minds were concentrated wonderfully on the fuel taxation issue.

 

In 2003, our client was elected as President of the North East Chamber of Commerce (the largest chamber in the UK). His first public pronouncement on election was to reaffirm the Chamber’s determination to pressure the Government to dramatically improve the roads network in the north east of England. It is almost certain he will remain firmly in the spotlight as a recognised ‘voice of reason’ on transport issues.