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PR firm at centre of Covid vaccine tsar row went on ‘frenzied’ hiring spree

After Admiral Public Relations was paid £670,000 to advise Kate Bingham, the PR firm – which has ties to Dominic Cummings’ father-in-law – took to social media to try to find staff

By James Cusick
PR firm at centre of Covid vaccine tsar row went on ‘frenzied’ hiring spree
Under-fire UK vaccine chef Kate Bingham and her late father Lord Bingham | Chris Young/PA Archive/PA Images
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The public relations firm paid to advise Kate Bingham, the head of the UK government’s vaccine taskforce, went on a "frenzied" hiring spree in an attempt to recruit staff after being given the work, which was awarded without any competitive process.

Bingham, a venture capitalist whose husband Tory MP Jesse Norman is a government minister, billed taxpayers £670,000 for a fleet of consultants from Admiral Associates, a boutique public relations outfit with an address in London

Admiral then went on a hiring rampage, recruiting PR consultants "at break-neck speed" over a single weekend in mid-September, a source with inside knowledge of the project told openDemocracy.

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