Hume Brophy

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Background

Hume Brophy is a public relations and lobbying firm with offices in London, Dublin and Brussels that was established in 2005.1

Lobbying for Big Tobacco’s “Puppet”

In February 2011 the Guardian reported that Hume Brophy was lobbying on behalf of the National Federation of Retail Newsagents (NFRN, now Federation of Independent Retailers), on the proposed Point of Sale Display Ban. The PR company, which also lobbied for British American Tobacco (BAT), had emailed UK MPs claiming a tobacco display ban would have a “devastating effect on the small business sector in your constituency”.2

“The federation is a puppet of the tobacco industry,” Colin Finch, the NFRN’s president in 2001 and 2007, told the paper, accusing the industry of using “retailers to legitimise their campaign”.2

BAT confirmed that Hume Brophy had attended meetings between BAT and the federation in which the campaign was discussed. However, BAT denied it used “underhand tactics” or that the federation was a front for the company.3

See also:

Key Personnel

  • John Hume, Founding Partner
  • Eoin Brophy, Founding Partner
  • Conor Foley, Partner EU
  • Maria Cryan, Partner
  • Steve McCool, Partner and Head of UK business.
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References

  1. ↑Hume Brophy, Who we are, Company website, Accessed March 2021
  2. ↑abJamie Doward and Alex Ascherson Tobacco firms accused of funding campaign to keep cigarettes on display, The Guardian, 26 February 2011, Accessed March 2021
  3. ↑Jamie Doward, British American Tobacco admits funding campaign against display ban, The Guardian, 28 May 2011, Accessed November 2020

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