Global Counsel: Mandelson's lobbying firm collapsed owing £4.5m

The lobbying firm co-founded by Peter Mandelson collapsed owing £4.5m to creditors including over half a million pounds to HM Revenue and Customs, the Press Association reports.

Global Counsel went into administration in February amid the fallout from the scandal surrounding Mandelson's historical links to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. Figures filed on Companies House showed the firm owed £4.54m when it went bust – with only £2.7m in assets for preferential creditors.

HM Revenue and Customs is among the list of creditors, with the taxman owed £645,789. Administrators at Interpath were appointed in February for the London-based lobbying business, which said it suffered a significant financial impact from a swathe of customers cutting ties with the firm amid pressure over its association to the former politician and US ambassador.

This left directors with no choice but to bring in administrators, it said at the time, despite having insisted that Mandelson no longer had any shareholding, role or influence over it.

The firm's collapse on 20 February happened three days before Mandelson was arrested by police following allegations the former Labour minister passed sensitive information on to Epstein during his time as business secretary. Mandelson was released on bail and has not been charged.

At one stage, Mandelson had a 21% stake in Global Counsel, but is not listed as a creditor in the "statement of affairs" listing on Companies House. Mandelson co-founded the firm with Benjamin Wegg-Prosser in 2010 after Labour lost the general election. Mandelson stepped down from its board about two years ago.

Global Counsel has worked with a roster of clients including Palantir, GSK, Vodafone, OpenAI, TikTok and the English Premier League.