Podcast Episode 22 is out: Peter Gilheany from Forster Communications

Podcast

By Lukas on 27 Sep 2023

Designing campaigns for Patagonia, Selfridges, BMW, and Penguin Books, Forster Communications is an award-winning communications agency. Our guest today is Peter Gilheany, Board Director at Forster. An employee-owned B Corp, Forster are a great example of how to live your values. They’ve turned down lucrative briefs from companies that refuse to declare a climate emergency, and have even set sustainability goals for their existing clients in order to continue working together. He discusses:

His working class Irish background and his parents ‘relaxed’ attitude to their 5 children
How he and his siblings have all forged their own paths
The difference between being a ‘strategic’ or ‘tactical careerist
How there is a huge need to challenge what is seen as ‘received wisdom’
The narrow view of what a ‘good career’ is
The story of Forster Communications and the founder Jilly Forster, former Head of Communications for the Body Shop
Employee Ownership and how it works at Forster
The pieces of work that best embody Forster Communications
How to walk the talk on tackling the climate emergency for any business
The stringent targets they set for themselves, their community, and their clients
What happened when they told their clients to publicly declare a climate emergency and set net zero targets
A leap into the unknown around a social housing project that led to incredible results
His surprising response to being labelled a ‘lifestyle business’
Who knows how to communicate about climate change better? Extinction Rebellion or the average PR agency?
His take on Greenwashing
How to turn down briefs that don’t align with your values
The campaign he’s ashamed of and wouldn’t take today
The pervasive hangover within business that you can either be financially successful, or morally good
The evolution in the charity sector over their corporate social responsibility
The future of the charity sector, financially unstable, but ideologically free to campaign and speak truth to power