Global Counsel enters administration after client exodus linked to Epstein fallout

Global Counsel Ltd, a London-based public affairs and strategic advisory firm founded in 2010, has entered administration after a wave of client terminations linked to renewed scrutiny of historic ties between its founders and the late financier Jeffrey Epstein.

William Wright and Stephen Absolom of Interpath were appointed joint administrators on 20 February 2026. The appointment followed a board decision to seek court protection after what administrators described as a rapid and severe contraction in revenue over recent weeks.

In a statement issued on their appointment, the joint administrators said the sudden withdrawal of a number of significant client mandates had a “monumental impact” on the company’s financial position. The firm has ceased trading with immediate effect, and the majority of its UK workforce has been made redundant.

The crisis intensified after documents released by US authorities cast light on past interactions between co-founder Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who died in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. The materials also referred to a 2010 meeting between Epstein and Benjamin Wegg Prosser, Global Counsel’s other co-founder, during which the firm’s business plans were discussed.

Although Mandelson had previously stepped down from any operational role and divested his shareholding, and Wegg Prosser had resigned as chief executive earlier this month, several corporate clients reportedly reassessed their relationships with the consultancy following the renewed publicity.

Administrators indicated that the scale and speed of client departures left the directors with no viable route to stabilise the business outside a formal insolvency process.