Apella has just returned from a few very enjoyable, but very wet and cold days in Liverpool. Click here for a summary of the seven things we learned.

Much like almost all organisational functions, corporate affairs has been on a steep adoption curve regarding the use of data and insights in shaping and measuring its work. As the industry has moved to harness the value that data and insights can bring, there has been an explosion in the number of suppliers offering services to meet this growing need.

However, despite the time and money being invested, there remains a gap between the promise and the reality. This was born out in the recent round of interviews conducted by Apella Advisors, where Corporate Affairs Directors (CADs) consistently highlighted that both the services available and their own ability to interpret the data provided left them feeling like this is an area where change is needed.

In this new report on the subject, we explore the challenges that were raised by CADs and outline our proposed solutions for driving improvement.

Ipsos and Apella Advisors brought together leading political analysts to discuss exclusive polling, revealing the forces that will shape and drive any new Labour government's approach to business in Britain. At this event, we analysed new public polling exploring the drivers of Labour thinking and policymaking that will affect the key industries and sectors.

CEOs are becoming more reticent to engage with mainstream business and financial media and choosing to communicate through ‘safer’ channels of podcasts and social media. That’s the majority view of Corporate Affairs and Communications Directors from a report undertaken by strategic communications consultancy Apella Advisors.

The question that CEOs and others in business most frequently ask Apella’s public affairs team is about the Labour Party and its instincts. Business leaders have heard Labour’s messages about how the party would govern, but some still wonder: what really drives Labour?

One of the greatest challenges facing innovative businesses looking to scale is awareness: to drive sales, to unlock finance, to pull in partners and to attract the very best talent. How do you get people to know about the brilliant things you are doing without blowing the budget on some slick PR suits?

Apella’s fifth white paper, ‘Delivering Maximum Value from Public Affairs During a Time of Change: Insights from Public Affairs Leaders’, explores the growing complexity of public affairs work, the forces driving it and the best responses to it. This is based on in-depth interviews with more than 20 senior executives in some of the most important global and UK organisations, whose names are listed in the report.

How do you communicate through times of uncertainty and change?

Might this be A ‘Little Question’ you’re currently grappling with?!

Then get yourself along to the second edition of The Little Questions LIVE! Podcast on the 7th June 2023 at the RSA (8 John Adam St, London WC2N 6EZ) in London.

It’s an unusual relationship, the one between the CEO and Corporate Affairs Director. Aside from perhaps only the CFO, the CAD gets more time with the boss than any other member of the leadership team. Given the critical role of communicating with the myriad of stakeholders upon which the success of the firm depends, you have to admit, it makes sense.

Why is it taking companies so long to wake up to the value creation possibilities of ESG?

For too long sustainability has been viewed through a compliance and corporate philanthropy lens, with an objective of maintaining a firm’s licence-to-operate. The opportunity today is to flip that on its head, to turn sustainability into a licence-to-grow. Easy to say, harder to do

The world is on an “unsustainable path” in its energy consumption. That is the core thesis driving BP, the world’s fifth largest oil company, to radically shrink its carbon footprint to net zero by 2050 and increase its production of low and zero carbon energy. Spencer Dale, Group Chief Economist at BP and former member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, discussed the road to net zero with Apella partner, Andrew Brown.