Providing government relations and public affairs support for West Midlands organisations
Public affairs is one of the most misunderstood disciplines in communications. It’s not lobbying in the pejorative sense, the kind of murky access-buying that makes headlines. It’s the structured, transparent process of ensuring that the organisations, businesses, and communities you represent have their interests understood and accurately reflected in the decisions made by the people with the power to affect them.
Done well, public affairs changes outcomes. Planning decisions, policy frameworks, funding allocations, and regulatory approaches are all influenced by the quality of the representations made to the people who make them. Businesses and organisations that engage strategically with political stakeholders consistently secure better outcomes than those that don’t engage at all, or engage reactively when it’s already too late to influence the decision.
ZenithSpark brings genuine public affairs experience to this work, not a digital agency that has added government relations to its service list, but a practitioner who spent five years as a political lobbyist at local, national, and European Union level, working for a chamber of commerce whose members’ interests depended on the quality of that representation.
What can you expect from a public affairs professional?
During five years working for Shropshire Chamber of Commerce, Rich Jarrott led business delegations to meetings with EU Deputy Commissioners and Members of the European Parliament, worked with committee members in the European Parliament, engaged with peers in the House of Lords, met with MPs across party lines, and managed relationships with local councillors and council officers on behalf of the business community.
That included organising and hosting a visit by Professor Charles Bean, then executive director and chief economist of the Bank of England, and a member of the Monetary Policy Committee, to speak to a selected audience of Shropshire business leaders. Arranging that kind of engagement, managing the communications around it, and ensuring the business community’s concerns reached the person setting UK interest rates is a specific kind of public affairs work that most agencies in the West Midlands simply haven’t done.
The type of experiences we can deliver include:
- Public affairs and government relations
- Media relations
- Press and editorial content
- Stakeholder communications
- Thought leadership and executive communications
Local government and Planning
For many West Midlands businesses, the most pressing public affairs need is closer to home, navigating local authority decision-making, engaging with planning committees, responding to consultations, or managing relationships with elected members and council officers whose decisions have direct commercial implications.
Effective local government engagement requires understanding how councils actually work, the relationship between officers and members, the role of scrutiny committees, the way public consultations are structured, and the difference between formal submissions and the informal relationship-building that shapes how those submissions are received. We bring that understanding to client engagements across the West Midlands, Coventry, Worcestershire, and Staffordshire.
Experience that goes beyond the local
Most corporate communications agencies in the West Midlands have experience at a regional level. ZenithSpark has worked at local, national, and EU levels, leading business delegations to meetings with EU Deputy Commissioners and MEPs, collaborating with European Parliament committee members, engaging with Lords and MPs on policy matters, and managing relationships with local authorities. That range of experience produces a different quality of advice and a more sophisticated understanding of how communications strategy translates into political and media outcomes.
National government and regulatory affairs
For businesses dealing with national policy, regulation, or funding decisions, the ability to engage credibly with MPs, government departments, and regulatory bodies is increasingly important. Whether that’s responding to a consultation, seeking to influence a policy review, building a relationship with a constituency MP whose support could make a difference, or navigating the communications requirements of a regulated sector, we provide the strategic advice and written output that effective national-level engagement requires.
Trade associations and membership organisations
Chambers of commerce, trade associations, professional bodies, and business improvement districts occupy a specific position in the public affairs landscape; they represent collective interests and carry more weight with political stakeholders than individual businesses speaking for themselves. We understand the environment from the inside, having spent years working within it, and we support membership organisations across the West Midlands in developing and executing public affairs strategies that serve their members’ interests effectively.
Written representations and policy submissions
The quality of written representations to government, regulatory bodies, and public inquiries is often the difference between being taken seriously and being noted and filed. We write submissions that are structured as arguments rather than complaints, that demonstrate familiarity with the policy environment, and that give the recipient what they actually need to act on the representation.
If your business or organisation needs to engage more effectively with political and regulatory stakeholders at any level, get in touch with ZenithSpark. We understand how public affairs works in practice and how to make it work for you.