Lodestone wins Medium Consultancy of the Year at the PRCA Polimonitor Public Affairs Awards

Lodestone is not just committed to building a sustainable, inclusive society – it’s our business model: 80% of our clients, as a proportion of total revenue, support under-served communities or are purpose-driven, and it has generated an average 30% YOY revenue growth since 2020 and delighted clients (2023 retention rate: 91%).

It has been a year of firsts for Lodestone: In October 2022, we became the UK’s first specialist public affairs consultancy to be B Corp Certified – a landmark accreditation for organisations meeting the highest standards of social and environmental impact. In July 2023, a buy-out by our co-founders made us one of the UK’s only female-majority-owned, independent public affairs agencies. And we ended 2023 as one of the UK’s fastest growing too: with growth tracking 31% for the year- meaning we will have more than doubled in size in three years.

In 2023, we also launched our “Social Action Academy”, a scheme that gives Lodestone staff the opportunity to dedicate some of their working hours to causes that they are passionate about, particularly relating to empowering under-represented groups politically. We worked pro bono last year with Homes for Ukraine, mentored for “I Have a Voice,” helped UNICEF reorganise and rebrand an initiative focused on children’s online safety and with charity All Stars, tutoring young leaders in low-income boroughs on pursuing careers in politics; mentored for the Democracy Network, a collective working on issues of power, democracy and voice.

“This new connection with Lodestone feels like such a perfect fit for the work we do. All Stars' Young Leaders are training to 'perform their lives,' meaning that they can walk into any professional environment and present the best version of themselves. As experts in communication, Lodestone's team offered them a huge range of insightful, practical advice about how to get their messages across, which will no doubt help them as they move into future opportunities in higher education and the world of work”

– Brian Mullin, All Stars London Trustee and Co-Organiser

Ethical standards begin at home, so we are an accredited London Living Wage employer, pay interns fairly, commit to PRCA’s “Better Internships” Guidelines, and now offer extended maternity/paternity leave, a mental-health helpline and a new breastfeeding policy. We are majority-female-owned, have women at all senior company positions and LGBTQ+ board representation.

And we walk the talk on purpose: We are members of the UN Global Compact, have made the SME Climate Commitment (to halve greenhouse-gas emissions before 2030, with net zero emissions by 2050) tracking all our carbon emissions with the aim of being carbon positive by 2025. Our Managing Director Martha Dalton was among 10 Environment Champions in PRWeek UK's PowerBook 2023.

The focus, however, remains on our clients and preparing for the upcoming General Election where it is likely that we’ll see a change in Government. Over the past year, we have partnered with focaldata and Survation- the pollsters who correctly predicted 94.3% of constituency seats correctly during the 2019 General Election- to develop data driven insights from business leaders and the general public on their voting intensions. Last Spring, we polled 525 business leaders on their views on a potential Labour win, as well as developing an MRP - which can be viewed in Lodestone’s Election Hub. We use the data on voting intention, key issues, trust in policies and on Labour’s Five Missions to drive insights and engagement for our clients.