Primary school paid PR firm £152,000, accounts show

Article by Jessica Shepherd in The Guardian (19 April 2012)


"A primary school regularly praised by the government paid a political lobbying and public relations firm more than £152,000 last year to ensure positive mentions of the school in parliament and the press, among other work, it has emerged.

The latest accounts for the trust that runs Durand Academy in Stockwell, south London, show it paid £152,812 to Political Lobbying and Media Relations Ltd (PLMR) – a London-based firm that boasts of its connections to politicians of all parties.

The trust owed a further £12,455 to the lobbying company at the time the accounts, which are for the year ending 31 August 2011, were published. The academy's website states that between 1 April 2009 and 31 December 2010, the trust paid just over £199,000 to the firm."




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