Bereaved families to ask Covid contract PR firms not to bid for inquiry work

theguardian.com:

Families bereaved by Covid will write to eight PR companies that received hefty government contracts during the pandemic asking them to withdraw from a tender process to manage part of the inquiry.

The tender process is to run the Listening Project, announced earlier this year as a formal part of the Covid-19 inquiry, which is to be awarded to one of 12 firms on a pre-approved government list. Many of those firms also undertook work for the government during the pandemic, the Guardian revealed last month.

The Listening Project is part of the inquiry that will hear the testimonies of those affected by the pandemic and was designed for the bereaved to be able to talk about the loss of their loved ones, their grief and the effect on their mental health.

But the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group has written to eight of the firms on the shortlist asking them to withdraw from the process in order to inspire confidence in the inquiry.

Among the firms on the list, the London-based agency MullenLowe was awarded a series of contracts by the Cabinet Office in August 2020 to provide “Covid-19 awareness campaigns” – including the creation of the “hands, face, space” slogan and later the emotive “look into my eyes” campaign that asked people to reconsider their rule-breaking.

The PR agencies Engine and 23red were also contracted for work in the Covid-19 communications hub in the Cabinet Office. That hub developed hand hygiene communication, the “stay at home” slogan and the subsequent “stay alert” messaging, which drew widespread criticism.

Another firm on the list, Freuds, was awarded a contract to provide “strategic communications”, including “reputation management”, for the beleaguered test and trace system – without a tender