Spear’s Review

Tim Luckett, Burson’s global crisis lead, has put together plenty of PR plans for businesses navigating choppy reputational waters, including Bernard Matthews during an avian flu outbreak and Northern Rock amid the financial crash. ‘Speed of response is very important,’ he says. ‘Having a story, on your terms, helps shape a public response.’

Burson, created from the 2024 merger of Hill & Knowlton and BCW, operates across 40 countries. ‘It’s helpful in a crisis, because what it means is that I now have many crisis practitioners I can turn to,’ Luckett tells Spear’s. 

Luckett and his team strive to help their clients’ reputations become more resilient to threats while also steering them through social media quagmires. He is proud that the firm’s expertise ‘leaves both reputation and share price intact’ for some of the most influential figures across the globe. Previously, Luckett was a crime reporter at the Sunday Mirror and also ran the Mail on Sunday’s Scottish news desk.