Paul Adamson

Paul Adamson, a Brussels-based lobbyist, founded Adamson Associates in 1989. He sold the company to BSMG Worldwide in 1998 for a sum which made him a millionaire (the company's income at the time was $3 million a year). He gave £10,000 to the Labour Party in March 1999.

Adamson became Chief Executive Officer of Adamson BSMG Worldwide which later became known as Weber Shandwick Adamson. Clients for their European Union work have included McDonnell Douglas, Smithkline Beecham, Shell, Rockwell International and Glaxo Wellcome. They have offices in Brussels, Strasbourg and Geneva. Adamson is the former Chairman of the EU Committee of British Chambers of Commerce. BSMG Worldwide's income in 1999 was £9,821,000.

In 2003 Adamson left WSAdamson to concentrate on a new elite Euro Zone magazine titled E! Sharp (PR Week, 18 July 2003)

Adamson has had a long association with the Foreign Policy Centre and funds Britain in Europe. Red Pepper (April 2002)reports:


 * FPC launched a ‘Next generation democracy’ project paid for by a lobbying firm: Weber Shandwick Adamson ‘kindly sponsor’ the project, which includes democratic events like a conference for the ‘high-flyers from the successor generation’ of the continent.


 * Weber Shandwick Adamson are a Brussels-based lobbying firm, formerly known as Adamson BSMG run by millionaire ‘high value’ donor to the Labour Party, Paul Adamson. His firm help big business dominate the EU. Among the firm’s clients were the Chemical Industries Association, who used Adamson to fight restrictions on the use of phthalates – chemicals used in children’s toys which may disrupt the body’s hormones . Adamson’s firm also worked for the ‘Endocrine Modulators Study Group’, a front for the European Chemical Industry Council, a trade group fighting legislation on chemicals affecting people’s endocrine systems. In a brochure distributed at Labour’s conference, the firm also boasted: ‘We advised and advocated on behalf of a major US automaker regarding proposed new EU fuel quality emission standards’ and ‘we advised the European and US pharmaceutical industries in securing the adoption of key laws in the field of biotechnology’.


 * Adamson is a long-term supporter of the FPC. He regularly chairs FPC meetings at Labour conferences paid for by his firm, with speakers including Robin Cook and Keith Vaz. His firm funds the centre’s publications, including a pamphlet with words by Tony Blair, which was launched by Peter Mandelson at a reception that was also sponsored by Adamson BSMG.


 * Trustee, Citizenship Foundation