The prime service we offer is liaising with Government. This can include National, European, and local Government as well as Government Agencies, such as Development Companies. Like any economic sector, Government works in a certain way, and knowledge and experience of how the various parts of the political machine work is essential.

This process of liaising with Government with a view to representing your interests is commonly called 'Lobbying'. Great care is needed in doing this as many vested interests and political agendas are typically influencing policy. Then there are legal and ethical rules which need to be followed.

You would not consider representing yourself in an important legal case, as the way your case is presented, knowledge of the judge, and other nuances in the system play as important a part as the actual law. Not employing a top Political Affairs company such as Political Dimension, risks not getting your point across the key decision makers, and at worst could put your company in the tabloids for the wrong reasons.

There are times when events can overwhelm even the best business, and in these times Government can have an influence on events, perhaps a great influence on events. There are occasions when Government policy can even cause the crisis, in any case having the assistance of Government may be the difference between very existence or disappearance of your company or organization.

We offer two levels of Crisis Management, existing clients are charged at a much reduced rate to those who do not bother with Political Affairs, until it threatens the existence of their business. This premium represents the extra work that has to be done, in terms of catch-up, compared to a firm which has an existing Political Reputation Management Strategy.

A political monitoring contract will monitor the activities of a specified number of Government departments, local Government areas or agencies. You will therefore be kept up to date with what Government is up to with particular regard to your business or organization and its activities.

Early warning of new legislation, or policy change effecting your industry or sector, can be vital in making early sometimes decisive changes to that legislation or policy, before it has gone too far down the legislative or administrative process. Late changes are often seen as a back down or U-turn and the earlier you make your representation the better.

Political research is the ammunition for your campaign. This can involve having a historical or international perspective on your issue, and previous policy on the issue involved.

Issue flagging, is a special type of political monitoring, where we will keep a detailed watch of a dynamic issue, in order to feed a campaign or a issue management situation.

There is more to political monitoring than the activities of Government. A Political Intelligence option to your contract will give you information as to the views, moods and current activities of Key Players such as Political Parties, and the Media.

This service is recommended as many policies and laws start as rumblings amongst political activists or political journalists.

Reputation Management is a strategic long term activity. Building the reputation of your organization over a prolonged period of time, by activities such as sponsorship, ensures that when the time comes to put your point of view, your organization is sufficiently well regarded to be taken notice of.

As with any other field the most effective methods are also the most expensive, and having a long running reputation management program can be expensive, but the results can be worth it, especially if your industry s heavily reliant on Government.

In order to implement a Political Affairs Strategy, you must first have that strategy, you must know what are your goals and expectations, what you want to avoid and what you would like to happen. All clients must have a strategic plan, and whether you have in-house expertise or not, we can help you initiate or develop that plan.

Our initial consultation will involve a strategic planning, and how our services fit within that plan.

From time to time on specific subjects clients will be invited to executive briefings on general political or Industry Specific subjects. These events will also allow encourage networking and coalition building opportunities for your organization.

Occasionally your company or organization may deal with a very specific issue which needs addressing. This is the strategic cousin of crisis management. To give an example several years ago Sunday shopping in the UK was pretty much illegal. At the time several Supermarkets and retailers set up Issue Management campaigns to promote Sunday Shopping in the UK.

This was a strategic issue which was not directly part of the Public Affairs of the Companies involved, but the strategic issue was very important to them both individually and as a Industry.

We can provide information and training regarding the legislative process in the UK so far as it affects your business. This may be as simple as giving estimates of timescale and probability of legislation, to training executives to provide evidence to Select Committees.

Select Committee evidence in particular can be a very bad experience for the ill prepared executive, and can damage the company reputation as well as embarrass the executive concerned, normally the Chief Executive, Chairman or Managing Director.