CorpComms Magazine

Earlier this week, I was due to have lunch with my old friend John Antcliffe, co-founder and chief executive of City PR agency Smithfield Financial. It was an appointment to which I was looking forward. On past form, we would share some gossip on mutual friends and associates, chat about industry issues and just giggle. I would also likely update him on the progress of a hydrangea plant in my handkerchief-sized garden, that started life in a basket arrangement at John's 40^th birthday celebrations in Chelsea Physic Garden. On Saturday morning, I learned the tragic news. John had died the previous day. He was 48.

I cannot remember when I first met John. It started, as so often when a journalist meets a PR person, as a business relationship - he represented Bank of Ireland when I was the Banking Correspondent at the Daily Telegraph - but over time it developed into a friendship.

It was hard not to like John. He was tremendous fun, with a mischievous sense of humour, but he was also incredibly knowledgeable. His interest in politics - he joined the Conservative Party when he was 15 - meant that he often had a different view of the issues. It also gave him a strong sense of what made a story, a skill not always shared by contemporaries.

John was a man of integrity. He was unwilling to represent clients in whom he did not believe. With co-founder John Kiely, John eschewed many of the fads that have dominated the financial markets in recent decades. Principles mattered more than pounds.

When venture capitalists KKR acquired Alliance Boots with a highly leveraged £11.1 billion takeover deal, John represented Boots' pension fund. The trustees were concerned about the high levels of debt involved in KKR's deal, and its effect on the security of the fund.

Other advisers told the trustees they did not have a case. John demurred. With his team at Smithfield, he mobilised media and political support for a financing package to make sure that the pension fund for 66,000 members would be protected.

In an historic deal, which set a precedent for future private equity acquisitions, KKR paid an additional £1.1 billion to the pension fund. The ensuing credit crunch vindicated John's position. Smithfield's efforts won the Grand Prix in CorpComms Awards 2007 (I played no part in the decision making process).

When I acquired CorpComms, John was unequivocal in his support. He offered advice on running the business, and became part of my editorial advisory panel - a group of individuals to whom I could turn for insight and counsel. He regularly sent emails with feedback on that month's issue, and delighted in telling me when people had mentioned the magazine to him.

As a mutual friend said on Saturday, on learning the news,  'John was just so nice. He was fun. He was interesting. And he had time for people.'

On Monday, instead of lunching with John, I met a mutual friend and former colleague of his. We raised a glass to absent friends and reminisced about how John cared for his clients and his attention to detail. I think John would have appreciated the gesture.

John's family have requested a private funeral. A memorial service will be held at a later date.

(If you have any memories of John which you would like to share, please email helen@corpcommsmagazine.co.uk. CorpComms will include a tribute to John in its April issue.)

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