• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • FAQ
  • Meet the Team
  • About The London Economic
  • Advertise
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
NEWSLETTER
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Film
  • Food
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Film
  • Food
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home News Media

PR company founder resigns after ‘blacks, gays or Catholics’ post

“There can be no excuses for the language he used or provocation exercised..."

Joe Mellor by Joe Mellor
March 4, 2021
in Media, News
Credit;PA

Credit;PA

The founder of a PR company has resigned as chairman over a social media post where he said the firm does not hire “blacks, gays or Catholics”.

Gordon Beattie, founder of Beattie Communications, published the “tone deaf” post on LinkedIn.

Mr Beattie wrote: “At Beattie Communications we don’t hire blacks, gays or Catholics.”

He added that the company only takes on “talented people” and does not care about their skin colour, sexual orientation or religion.

RelatedPosts

James Dyson torched on Twitter for claiming Brexit gives Brits ‘freedom’

Biden: ‘It is time for American troops to come home’ from Afghanistan

Writers at The Sun shun diversity and inclusion training

Courier service warns ‘non-EU countries will not fill the hole created by Brexit’ as UK exports tumble

Mr Beattie said he issued the post with the best of intent but accepted that the language was “inappropriate” and said he was “truly sorry” for the offence caused.

Best of intent

He founded the agency 40 years ago in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, before expanding it across the UK, with offices in cities including London, Leeds and Edinburgh.

Mr Beattie said: “My post was issued with the best of intent, but it did not take account of the complexities of creating a level playing field – of which I am well aware – and the language I used was inappropriate.

“I am truly sorry for the embarrassment I have caused the wonderful team across the business and our clients, and for the offence it has clearly caused.

“I have always hired people based on their potential, talent and ability, and done my best to equip them with the skills to succeed.

“It’s a wrench to step down as chair but I feel I have no alternative. The time is right to go.”

In the LinkedIn post Mr Beattie wrote that companies should only hire people for their “talent, experience, knowledge and wisdom”.

He added: “We hire people we like, trust and admire and recruit people who have the potential to be better than us.”

Beattie Communications said that Mr Beattie is resigning from his position as chairman as a consequence of a “tone deaf” social media post.

LinkedIn

Laurna Woods, Beattie Communications chief executive, said: “Gordon is devastated by the consequences arising from his LinkedIn post of last Friday, as is the entire Beattie team.

“There can be no excuses for the language he used or provocation exercised and he acknowledges that his actions, however well intentioned, were not only reckless, but out of touch.

“I’m personally saddened that he has chosen to resign as I have worked closely with him for 25 years and I can testify that he does not have a prejudiced bone in his body.

“But he was determined to draw a line in the sand so that the agency can look to the future.”

Related: More white people arrested for terrorism than any other ethnic group for third straight year

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Support fearless, free, investigative journalism Support fearless, free, investigative journalism Support fearless, free, investigative journalism

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending fromTLE

  • All
  • trending

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

Stress, fear and homelessness: The threat looming over families confronted with eviction

File photo dated 07/11/03 of a prison cell.

The Other Prison Pandemic

Latest from TLE

Lucky Numbers and Horoscopes for today, 15 April 2021

Image by AdobeStock

Weather forecast, alerts and UVB index for London, Thursday 15 April 2021

thunder ball results

Thunder Ball Results, Wednesday 14 April 2021

National Lottery Lotto Results – Wednesday 14 April 2021

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

Address

The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE
Company number 09221879
International House,
24 Holborn Viaduct,
London EC1A 2BN,
United Kingdom

Contact

Editorial enquiries, please contact: jack@thelondoneconomic.com

Commercial enquiries, please contact: advertise@thelondoneconomic.com

SUPPORT

We do not charge or put articles behind a paywall. If you can, please show your appreciation for our free content by donating whatever you think is fair to help keep TLE growing and support real, independent, investigative journalism.

DONATE & SUPPORT

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Film
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech & Auto
  • About The London Economic
  • Meet the Team
  • Privacy policy

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.