Scotland’s world renowned newspaper, The Scotsman, turned to Holyrood PR PR in Edinburgh when it needed expert public relations opinion.

The venerable Edinburgh-based newspaper reported extensively on the decision by former Royal Bank of Scotland boss Sir Fred Goodwin to pay back a portion of his pension.

As part of the detailed analysis, The Scotsman sought the opinion of public relations experts on how perceptions of the disgraced banker might be affected by the payback.

Expert PR in Scotland

As well as Scott Douglas, co-founder of Scottish PR agency Holyrood PR, the newspaper also extensively quoted the UK’s best known PR man and publicist to the stars, Max Clifford.

In the wake of the near collapse of RBS, the size of Goodwin’s pension pay off caused widespread public revulsion and furious public and politial debate.

Both experts agreed the only way for Goodwin to have achieved any PR value from reducing his pension would have been to hand back the money early in the debacle.

Media expert Scott Douglas told The Scotsman his decision to hand back the money now was “tokenism” because he was under intense pressure from his wife to return the family to as near normal a life as possible in Edinburgh

Douglas also suggested the move had put Goodwin back in the public eye when his fall from grace had been superseded by the MPs expenses scandal.

However, he also said he believed the public would eventually accepts Goodwin alone was not to blame for the banking crisis and that the public’s ability to forgive would eventually allow Goodwin to return to work “under the radar”.

The full article which appeared in The Scotsman is available to read at the newspaper online