Central Lobby Consultants Ltd (CLC) is an independent parliamentary and public affairs consultancy. We have over 20 years' experience working within Westminster, Whitehall, Europe and the devolved bodies.

Services

Device and implementation of lobbying campaigns

CLC has considerable expertise in managing strategic lobbying programmes in both the UK and EU. We also have long-standing experience of assessing the impact of EU legislation at a national level. Identifying and securing technical and legislative solutions to our clients' problems provide lasting results for their businesses, and we specialise particularly in providing hands-on assistance with this kind of "technical lobbying". This is focusing particularly on negotiating with Ministers and senior civil servants.

Political Networking

CLC's role is to help clients develop their key messages and then ensure that they speak to the right people. We organise political contact programmes with appropriate officials and parliamentarians, which can be invaluable in ensuring that they are familiar with clients and are confident about involving them in future discussions. Although we participate in these events, we go to great pains to ensure that we are discreet enablers rather than direct advocates, believing strongly that clients are best placed to speak for themselves.

Intelligence Gathering

The monitoring service CLC provides for clients is an intelligence tool - it is not just a cuttings service - which sets in context the information provided. By combining attention to detail with a thorough understanding of our clients' businesses, we are able to offer a thorough and targeted monitoring service without bombarding clients with irrelevant material.

Bidding for Global Events

CLC specialises in the communications and lobbying challenges of bidding for global events. The competition for events such as the Olympic Games and the EXPO is increasing, and effective communications and public affairs strategies are essential if cities are to bid successfully.

Events Management

CLC organises a variety of events for clients, ranging from small, informal seminars addressed by Ministers, to large-scale international conferences. These can raise the profile of a client, increase awareness of an issue amongst key opinion-formers, or progress clients' interests by offering a forum for the exchange of views with policy-makers. CLC also has particular experience of organising fringe events at Party Conferences.

Political Auditing

CLC was one of the first consultancies to offer systematic audits of clients' public affairs activities. Our role can range from assessing briefing materials and updating contact databases to advising on sophisticated political strategies.

Parliamentary Drafting

CLC can provide parliamentary drafting services for clients, and have particular expertise in drafting amendments to Bills and draft European legislation.

Research

CLC undertakes focused research on emerging issues that may affect its clients. CLC's rigorous analysis and research ensures that clients have the most comprehensive information available, not superficial reportage. Our ability to approach officials from an independent standpoint provides invaluable insight.

Training

CLC offers targeted training sessions on both UK and EU Parliamentary procedures. The training we provide is tailored to the particular experiences and needs of the trainee, whether that be a crash-course on the workings of the Westminster Parliament or a detailed explanation of the EU's 'co-decision' procedure.

CLC also provides advice on how to handle presentations to Select Committees, including participating in "dry-runs" for potential witnesses.

Secretariat Services

CLC provides secretariat services to many of its clients, often at the same time as devising and implementing their lobbying campaigns. Two such clients are large European associations with members based in 12 different countries.

We also run two All-Party Parliamentary Groups.