Bell Pottinger is a public relations company. They were hired by Mark Warner (unknown when) and sent their Head of Issues and Crisis Management Alex Woolfall to Praia da Luz.

The Bell Pottinger website: → Bell Pottinger

More information here: → Wikipedia

“Bell Pottinger Private (BPP Communications Ltd.) is a British multinational public relations and marketing company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest UK-based public relations consultancy measured by 2010 fee income. Bell Pottinger offers services such as lobbying, speech writing, search engine optimisation and “sorting” (fixing) Wikipedia articles to clients including companies, governments and high net worth individuals. In December 2011 it came under public scrutiny after managers were secretly recorded talking to fake representatives of the Uzbek government and abusing Wikipedia by removing negative information and replacing it with positive spin. Bell Pottinger was, until July 2012, a wholly owned subsidiary of Chime Communications plc. Lord Bell, who advised Margaret Thatcher on media matters when she was British Prime Minister, is a co-founder of Bell Pottinger.”

Some of their clients include(d):

• →General Pinochet, who was represented by Michael Caplan QC (the McCanns hired Michael Caplan).
• →Nuclear Decommissioning Authority who had representation in COMARE meetings (Gerry McCann was on the Committee of COMARE).