Bell Pottinger 'Boasts of Easy Access to Cameron' & 'All sorts of dark arts' (A nice undercover sting)

Lobby firm 'boasted of easy access to Cameron': Allegations follow premier's warning of 'next big scandal'
By DANIEL MARTIN
Last updated at 8:57 AM on 6th December 2011
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Lobbyist: Tim Collins, managing director of Bell Pottinger, claimed to have access to senior politicians like David Cameron and George Osborne
Executives at a major lobbying firm have been secretly recorded bragging about their ability to directly influence David Cameron and other senior Coalition figures.
Tim Collins, managing director of public affairs firm Bell Pottinger, claimed to have high-level access to the Prime Minister, Chancellor George Osborne, Mr Cameron’s policy chief Steve Hilton and Downing Street chief of staff Ed Llewellyn.
He said the company had used the access to Downing Street to get Mr Cameron to speak to the Chinese premier on behalf of a business client within 24 hours of asking him to do so.
The spotlight into the murky world of the lobbying industry comes five years after Mr Cameron first pledged a clamp down on its power in Whitehall.
Only last year he said lobbying was ‘the next big scandal waiting to happen’, which ‘has tainted our politics for too long, an issue that exposes the far-too-cosy relationship between politics, government, business and money’.
The Prime Minister said he wanted to shine ‘the light of transparency’ on lobbying so that politics ‘comes clean about who is buying power and influence’.
But the claims of Bell Pottinger will raise questions over how serious the PM is about tackling lobbying. Labour said the recordings raised ‘very serious allegations’ that demonstrated the need for lobbying reform.

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The claims, reported in The Independent, were dismissed by Downing Street sources last night as ‘a load of rubbish’.
Mr Collins, a former Tory MP, was recorded telling reporters from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism – who were posing as representatives of the repressive central Asian state of Uzbekistan – that he had worked with Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne in the Conservative Party’s research department. He also said that Mr Llewellyn had worked under him at Conservative Central Office.
‘I’ve been working with people like Steve Hilton, David Cameron, George Osborne for 20 years-plus. There is not a problem getting the messages through,’ he said.


Access: Mr Collins claimed he could offer clients access to senior members of the coalition Government like David Cameron, the Prime Minister, left, and George Osborne, the Chancellor, right


Top level officials: Steve Hilton, the Prime Minister's senior policy advisor, left, and Downing Street chief of staff Ed Llewellyn were also mentioned by the lobbyists




Screengrabs from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism's video, recorded by an undercover reporter in the offices of Bell Pottinger
Mr Collins also claimed that Bell Pottinger had got Mr Cameron to raise the matter of copyright infringement with Chinese premier Wen Jiabao on behalf of engineering firm Dyson.
‘We were rung up at 2.30 on a Friday afternoon, by one of our clients, Dyson,’ Mr Collins claimed. ‘He said “We’ve got a huge issue. A lot of our products are being ripped off in China.” On the Saturday David Cameron raised it with the Chinese Prime Minister.

Denials: Lord Tim Bell, chairman, described the allegations against his company as 'unethical deception'
‘He [Cameron] was doing it because we asked him to do it. In terms of very fast turnaround and getting things done right at the top of government, if you’ve got the right message, we can do it.’
Another Bell Pottinger executive was recorded saying he could ‘facilitate’ a meeting between the Uzbek ambassador and the Prime Minister. The firm quoted a £1million-plus price tag for the work.
Last night chairman Lord Bell, who was an adviser to Margaret Thatcher, said: ‘The conduct of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism does not remotely constitute responsible journalism.
‘It is an attempt by unethical deception to manufacture a story where none exists.’
A No 10 spokesman said: ‘Bell Pottinger nor any other lobbying firm has any say or influence over government policy.’
But shadow Cabinet Office minister Jon Trickett accused the Government of being ‘too close to corporate interests’.
‘These are very serious allegations involving a former member of the Conservative frontbench as well as some of David Cameron’s closest confidants inside Downing Street,’ he said.
‘We have been calling on the Government to implement a statutory register of lobbyists.
‘We need reform to ensure that there is no question of the rich and powerful buying access to the Prime Minister and his advisers.’

TRANSCRIPTS OF THE UNDERCOVER REPORTER'S CONVERSATIONS WITH BELL POTTINGER
Influence
Tim Collins: 'I'm Tim Collins. I was in the Conservative research department with David Cameron and George Osborne, I was later press secretary to John Major, director of communications for the Conservative Party. Then I went into Parliament, and I was in the Shadow Cabinet under two or three leaders, again with David Cameron and George Osborne, and I run the public-affairs side of the Bell Pottinger business... I've been working with people like Steve Hilton, David Cameron, George Osborne, for 20 years-plus.
'Edward Llewellyn, who's the Prime Minister's chief of staff, was my deputy in Central Office for a long time. Steve Hilton was my deputy in a different capacity. I know all these people. There is not a problem in getting the messages through to them.'
Sri Lanka
David Wilson: 'We had a team working in the President's office, we wrote the President's speech to the UN last year, which was very well received. We were writing a speech at the same time as [President Rajapaksa] was asking his foreign office to write a speech as well, and he chose to use our speech despite several attempts by the foreign office to change the tune. And it went a long way to taking the country where it needed to go. Fundamentally, though, they've set up something called the Peace and Reconciliation Commission, which has got one fundamental flaw in its remit in investigating what has gone on in the past, to try to bury the past, and unfortunately because that is the case, media like Channel 4 and The Times find the whole Peace and Reconciliation Commission is flawed. And it's not flawed but it doesn't go that extra step that it needs to go to fully embrace Western opinion or Western concern about the entire situation.
'... Some of the things we recommended weren't taken up by the government and so we would have loved to have had a far more successful campaign. As I said to you before, we're only as good as the collateral that we are given to work with and if a government might say it wants to change but won't change, then sorry, that will come back and hit them. And I probably don't need to say any more about the reputation of Sri Lanka.'
Managing reputations online
DW: 'Along the wall there on the outside is a big cutting for a company called Dahabshiil, which is the biggest money-transfer business in the Horn of Africa, born and developed in Somalia. They came to us and said, can you solve my Google problem. And their problem was, while they had a very ethical business, doing things the right way and transferring 90 per cent of money going in and out of Somalia and other war-torn countries, different markets in Africa, including money for aid agencies, for the UN etc – when you looked at Google, the vast majority of the searches on the first five pages were about a former employee who was holed up in Guantanamo Bay, who had left Dahabshiil long before he was arrested. No charges had been brought against him but nonetheless he was this former Dahabshiil employee and this was the story. It took us three months, but after three months we searched down the first 10 pages of Google – you couldn't find it within the first 10 pages.'
TC: 'And where we want to get to – and this will take time, this is where David's team are magical – is you get to the point where even if they type in 'Uzbek child labour' or 'Uzbek human rights violation', some of the first results that come up are sites talking about what you guys are doing to address and improve that, not just the critical voices saying how terrible this all is.'
REPORTER: 'The President is not particularly happy with his Wikipedia entry or the Uzbek government's Wikipedia entry. You did mention earlier that there might be ways to – would that be something that we could deal with?'
DW: 'Yeah.'
TC: 'We've got all sorts of dark arts. I told him he couldn't put them in the written presentation because it's embarrassing if it gets out because he's so good at it.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2070492/Bell-Pottinger-MD-Tim-Collins-boasted-easy-access-David-Cameron.html#ixzz1fkGn809t

http://www.chime.plc.uk/press-releases/alex-woolfall-heads-issues-crisis-practice-at-bell
ALEX WOOLFALL HEADS ISSUES & CRISIS PRACTICE AT BELL POTTINGER GROUP
Sunday, 29 April 2007

The Bell Pottinger Group has recruited Alex Woolfall as its new Head of Issues & Crisis Management.

With 20 years experience of in-house and consultancy roles, Alex brings a wealth of issues and crisis expertise to Bell Pottinger, where he will report to David Wilson, Chairman of Bell Pottinger Public Relations and Kevin Murray, Chairman of the Bell Pottinger Group.

Says David Wilson: “We already have a compelling offer for companies in crisis and for those individuals or organisations with the foresight to plan for challenges they will undoubtedly face. In Alex we have an expert in issues planning and crisis response who will draw upon the strengths and talent from across the Bell Pottinger Group.”

Alex Woolfall adds: “Bell Pottinger is serious about the business of issues planning and crisis response. It is second to none in helping clients to plan for, defend against and then recover and revive their brands from damaging situations. I look forward to playing my part in the development of our proposition and our client base.”

Alex was previously Managing Director of Issues and Crisis Management at Hill & Knowlton, heading a team of seven, and oversaw its media training business. Alex provided issues and crisis counsel, as well as training and preparedness programmes for a wide range of clients across multiple industry sectors.

His experience covers product contamination and sabotage; death and serious injury in the workplace; redundancy, administration and Chapter 11 announcements; regulatory breaches and fines; sex discrimination and whistle-blowing cases; fraud and theft; pension fund deficits; use of child labour; medical negligence and a wide range of other controversial issues.

Alex joins Bell Pottinger from Weber Shandwick where he was Head of Issues and Crisis Management, as well client lead on Coca-Cola.

He began his career as a graduate trainee at National Grid before moving to ABTA (the Association of British Travel Agents) to become Deputy Head of Public Relations and then moved into consultancy at Bell Pottinger Good Relations, where he notably lead on Monsanto during the controversial introduction of genetically modified food.

Ends

For more information call:
David Wilson +44 (0) 207 861 2445
Alex Woolfall +44 (0) 207 861 2513

Notes to editors
For more information on the Bell Pottinger Group visit: www.bell-pottinger.co.uk

Bell Pottinger’s 24 hour Crisis Hotline + 44 (0) 207 861 3916

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/caught-on-camera-top-lobbyists-boasting-how-they-influence-the-pm-6272760.html
Caught on camera: top lobbyists boasting how they influence the PM
Special undercover investigation: Executives from Bell Pottinger reveal 'dark arts' they use to burnish reputations of countries accused of human rights violations
MELANIE NEWMAN, OLIVER WRIGHT TUESDAY 06 DECEMBER 2011

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One of Britain's largest lobbying companies has been secretly recorded boasting about its access to the heart of the Government and how it uses the "dark arts" to bury bad coverage and influence public opinion. An undercover investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, published in The Independent today, has taped senior executives at Bell Pottinger:

* Claiming they have used their access to Downing Street to get David Cameron to speak to the Chinese premier on behalf of one of their business clients within 24 hours of asking him to do so;

* Boasting about Bell Pottinger's access to the Foreign Secretary William Hague, to Mr Cameron's chief of staff Ed Llewellyn and to Mr Cameron's old friend and closest No 10 adviser Steve Hilton;

* Suggesting that the company could manipulate Google results to "drown" out negative coverage of human rights violations and child labour;

* Revealing that Bell Pottinger has a team which "sorts" negative Wikipedia coverage of clients;

* Saying it was possible to use MPs known to be critical of investigative programmes to attack their reporting for minor errors.

Reporters from the Bureau posed as agents for the government of Uzbekistan – a brutal dictatorship responsible for killings, human rights violations and child labour – and representatives of its cotton industry in a bid to discover what promises British lobbying and public relations firms were prepared to make when pitching to clients, what techniques they use, and how much of their work is open to public scrutiny.

In Uzbekistan, child labour is used in cotton fields to fulfil state quotas and the country also has a terrible human rights record: the think tank Freedom House put it on its 2011 list of the "Worst of the Worst" repressive regimes.

'I've been working with Hilton, Cameron, Osborne, for 20 years'

The Bureau contacted ten London firms. Two refused to take the business, several others did not reply, while five including Bell Pottinger appeared to be keen to work with the fictitious Uzbek representatives. Bell Pottinger quoted "£1m-plus" as a fee for carrying out the work.

Their claims – which were secretly recorded – will add to mounting concerns that an absence of regulation has made London the global centre for "reputation laundering", where lobbyists work behind the scenes on behalf of the world's most controversial regimes.

David Cameron pledged to tackle lobbying five years ago and then again last year, saying it was "the next big scandal waiting to happen" and "has tainted our politics for too long, an issue that exposes the far-too-cosy relationship between politics, government, business and money". He said he wanted to shine "the light of transparency" on lobbying so that politics "comes clean about who is buying power and influence".

During two undercover meetings in June and July 2011 at its Chancery Lane offices, senior Bell Pottinger executives showed few signs of being deterred by Uzbekistan's dire reputation. They made it clear that the Uzbek government would need to put genuine reforms in place if it were to improve its image and outlined how it could work with the Government, Parliament and the media to do so.

They talked openly about the work the firm had done with other regimes with questionable human rights records including Sri Lanka and Belarus and how they could navigate the corridors of power for clients.

Tim Collins, managing director of Bell Pottinger Public Affairs, told the reporters he used to be Mr Llewellyn's boss in Conservative Central Office, and had worked with Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne in the Conservative Research Department.

"I've been working with people like Steve Hilton, David Cameron, George Osborne for 20 years-plus. There is not a problem getting the messages through," he said.

His colleague David Wilson boasted the firm was the "most powerful public affairs business in the country". Asked whether he could help organise a meeting between Mr Cameron and the Uzbek President – despite protocol dictating that such meetings are organised by ambassadors – he said: "We can facilitate that".

Mr Collins later clarified that such a meeting might be an "end point" to aim for, once the country was seen to be genuinely improving its human rights record.

'David Cameron raised it with the Chinese Prime Minister'

During the undercover meeting, Bell Pottinger – whose chairman is Margaret Thatcher's former media adviser Lord (Tim) Bell – claimed to have used its influence on behalf of the engineering firm Dyson to ask Mr Cameron to complain about copyright infringement to the Chinese premier Wen Jiabao during a state visit in June 2011.

"We were rung up at 2.30 on a Friday afternoon, by one of our clients, Dyson," Mr Collins explained. "He said 'We've got a huge issue. A lot of our products are being ripped off in China.' On the Saturday David Cameron raised it with the Chinese Prime Minister."

He added that, "He [Cameron] was doing it because we asked him to do it," and because the issue was in the wider national interest. In terms of very fast turnaround and getting things done right at the top of government, if you've got the right message, we can do it," he said.

Mr Collins also recommended a meeting with Daniel Finkelstein, chief leader writer at The Times – who he said was very close to Mr Cameron. "He will sit down and have lunch with just about anybody," he said. "That doesn't mean he's going to agree with them, but occasionally something out of that lunch will get dropped into a future column."

Joint events could be held with influential think tanks close to government, such as Policy Exchange, the firm suggested. Another strategy would include passing information to key academics "so that they are then blogging the right messages out there – so it's coming from an independent," said Mr Wilson.

Mr Finkelstein said last night: "I am flattered if anyone thinks I am interesting enough to have lunch with. But anyone promoting either undemocratic or anti-social policies would find me a pretty closed door and hasn't to my knowledge come knocking".

'We've got all sorts of dark arts'

Discussing techniques for managing reputations online, Mr Wilson mentioned a team that could "sort" Wikipedia.

"We've got all sorts of dark arts," added Mr Collins. "I told him [David Wilson] he couldn't put them in the written presentation because it's embarrassing if it gets out."

A presentation shown during the meeting said it could "create and maintain third-party blogs" – blogs that appeared to be independent. These would contain positive content and popular key words that would rank highly in Google searches.

The pair also explained how the firm enables government videos and articles to move to the top of internet searches, while less favourable stories can move down the rankings.

"The ambition obviously is to drown that negative content and make sure that you have positive content out there online," Mr Wilson said.

The firm cited past examples of its work, included manipulating Google rankings for an East African money transfer company called Dahabshiil. Bell Pottinger executives said they had ensured that references to a former Dahabshill employee subsequently detained in Guantanamo Bay because of alleged links to al-Qai'da disappeared from the first 10 pages of a Google search for the company.

Another defensive method cited in the meeting was the use of politicians to attack a broadcaster.

"There are a lot of people in Parliament who can't stand Channel 4 and can't stand Dispatches," Mr Collins said.

"So if there are any inaccuracies, even if they're fairly minor, you can work with some people who have a track record of not liking Channel 4, wanting to score points against Channel 4 [who will say:] 'Here is another instance of Channel 4 over-reaching themselves and putting out stuff they haven't properly checked'."

'Britain has this sort of moral ethic it thinks it can impose on the world'

Uzbekistan has recently expelled Human Rights Watch. The US think-tank Freedom House has said: "Uzbekistan's government continued to suppress all political opposition and restrict independent business activity in 2010. The few remaining civic activists and critical journalists in the country faced prosecution, fines, and lengthy prison terms."

In addition, Uzbekistan's cotton is the subject of an international boycott by several clothing manufacturers because the country still allegedly uses forced labour, including child labour, in its harvest.

Bureau journalists posed as members of the "Azimov Group" – a group of British and Eastern European investors concerned with exporting cotton textiles. They claimed they had been tasked by the Uzbek government with improving the country's image in the UK, and that the government would be committed to reform.

"A number of [our client] governments have had serious reputational issues," said Mr Collins.

But he also stressed a need for genuine commitment to reform. "Everything we are recommending is predicated on the agreement by the government to change," he said. "[That] justifies why a PR company is representing a country which previously people shouldn't have been talking to. Now it actually wants to change it is fully acceptable."

Another executive stressed, whilst talking about one of the firm's clients: "I wouldn't actually represent a client whom I didn't believe."

He added: "Just trying to sell the situation as it is or to say that things are changing when in reality they aren't is not going to work. Once we're clear that we've got the collateral, the proof that things are changing, then obviously we have the connections to get the message through to the right people."

'This is a £100,000-a-month campaign'

Bell Pottinger told the reporters that they had previously helped convince the EU that Belarus was committed to reform. But shortly after the EU lifted a travel ban on the Belarus President, the country went back to its old ways and the ban was eventually reinstated.

Bell Pottinger and the Belarus government stopped working together in 2009. Last week Belarus courts sentenced two men to death despite pleas for mercy and international outcry.

Changes did not need to be fast, Mr Collins said. "As long as you can see that each year is a little better than before, that's fine."

Bell Pottinger's services do not come cheap. "A million pounds plus," is what Mr Wilson quoted to do the job. "This is certainly a £100,000-a-month campaign, to make it very effective."

This would buy a media-relations campaign, online reputation management and the public-affairs team "working with you on a governmental level".

The country should stress its position as an emerging market, he suggested. "To the Western world it's a developing market so you can always have the message that: 'We are changing with the times – we are emerging, learning as a nation and growing'," he said.

He added: "Britain has this sort of moral ethic it thinks it can impose upon the world still because of our colonial background and the Commonwealth. We forget that 100 years ago we had kids working in cotton mills here."

Asked whether the firm would be prepared to work for the Azimov Group without knowing the identity of the campaign's ultimate funders, Mr Wilson said: "If the media asks us who your [our] client is, there has to be an audit trail." But a few seconds later also said: "In our work for Belarus, nobody knows who paid us."

Lord Bell was provided with details last Friday morning of the above. He responded yesterday via his lawyers, Carter Ruck, attacking the Bureau. Lord Bell said: "The conduct of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism does not remotely constitute responsible journalism. It is an attempt by unethical, deception to manufacture a story where none exists."

A spokeswoman for the Prime Minister said: "It is simply not true that Bell Pottinger or indeed any other lobbying company has any influence on government policy."

Downing Street sources said that the Dyson company's concerns had been raised with the Chinese premier, that it was a legitimate matter to raise and that they were unaware of Bell Pottinger's involvement.

Mr Dyson did not comment last night.

Brian Jenkins is currently (2003- ) the Australian national coordinator for the International Simultaneous Policy Organisation (ISPO).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Bjenks
He is married to former senator Jean Jenkins but has himself no party political affiliation. Formal studies have included philosophy at Sydney, early English and media studies at Macquarie and political science at the University of Western Australia in Perth. He has been a typographer, editor, advertising and PR professional and now dabbles in writing, humanitarian activism, photography and old cars.

tanszi wrote:didnt someone from Bell Pottinger arrive in Pdl very quickly to assist the McCanns. If they are lobbyists what were they doing getting involved with a missing child.jimo. Well methinks someones shot themselves and Cameron in the foot. ouch. jimo

Loopdaloop wrote:It was there meddling in forums which was the worst! You could see the shift patterns of people within threads who were paid to tell the company line!
I think 'Rosiepops' was/is employed by them.

Alex woolfall was also a long term friend of Gerry!

I'm suprirsed that Alex Woolfall only started there 5 days before the 'disappearance?' maybe that is coincidence?
but maybe theres something more sinister? IS THERE ALEX? I'm sure one of your team will read this.

Also: I didn't know they had links to the ocean apartments as well? thats another strange coincidence!!

Panda wrote:

Loopdaloop wrote:It was there meddling in forums which was the worst! You could see the shift patterns of people within threads who were paid to tell the company line!
I think 'Rosiepops' was/is employed by them.

Alex woolfall was also a long term friend of Gerry!

I'm suprirsed that Alex Woolfall only started there 5 days before the 'disappearance?' maybe that is coincidence?
but maybe theres something more sinister? IS THERE ALEX? I'm sure one of your team will read this.

Also: I didn't know they had links to the ocean apartments as well? thats another strange coincidence!!

Wasn"t it Alex Woolfall who was sent to PDL to "manage" Madelaine"s disappearance because Warner"s didn"t want any bad publicity?
If so, how come he was there before Madeleine was "abducted"??

gillyspot wrote:Interesting that Bell Pottinger have specialists who spend time (using computer programmes) to check on media websites, forums & social networking sites for mentions of their clients so they can limit damage to their reputation.

http://www.bell-pottinger.co.uk/uploads/publications_documents/22.pdf

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Annabel wrote:http://themurdochempireanditsnestofvipers.blogspot.com/2011/12/bell-pottinger-dark-arts-caught.html

Bell Pottinger : The Dark Arts - Caught Rewriting Its Clients Wikipedia Entries

Annabel wrote:http://themurdochempireanditsnestofvipers.blogspot.com/2011/12/bell-pottinger-dark-arts-caught.html

Bell Pottinger : The Dark Arts - Caught Rewriting Its Clients Wikipedia Entries

Did Luisa Zissman rig online vote to win reality TV best female personality prize? Apprentice star 'paid web company to send thousands of fake entries'
Apprentice star won a National Reality TV Award in September last year
Beat rivals Millie Mackintosh, Leah Totton and Helen Flanagan
But sources from IT company seo77 say they used software to rig the vote
Firm allegedly spent three days bombarding voting site with fake entries
Miss Zissman has flatly denied attempting to influence the vote
By KIERAN CORCORAN
PUBLISHED: 11:06, 25 February 2014 | UPDATED: 16:44, 25 February 2014
41 shares 250View
comments
Apprentice star and Celebrity Big Brother runner-up Luisa Zissman rigged an online vote to win a popularity contest, it has been claimed.
Miss Zissman, 26, scooped the National Reality TV Award for Best Female Personality last year, beating rivals including Apprentice rival Leah Totton, former Made in Chelsea star Millie Mackintosh and I'm A Celebrity contestant Helen Flanagan.
But it has been claimed that she employed an IT company to bombard an online voting form with automatic submissions and ramp up her total.
Scroll down for video
Victorious: Luisa Zissman, left, pictured in September holding her National Reality TV Award for Best Female Personality +19
Victorious: Luisa Zissman, left, pictured in September holding her National Reality TV Award for Best Female Personality
Under fire: A worried-looking Miss Zissman was spotted out in central London today after the claims emerged +19
Under fire: A worried-looking Miss Zissman was spotted out in central London today after the claims emerged
In total, 4.5million votes were submitted across all the categories of the online competition, which was followed by a star-studded awards ceremony in London.
She swapped messages with web firm seo77, who also ran a website for her, asking them to 'start the vote thing' ahead of the award, according to the Sun.
An account belonging to the company later replied saying: 'Gave you a little hand. Ran it for three days. Do you want the vote details?'
Miss Zissman later replies 'I won!!!! Will pay you in the morning.'
Overtures: The reality star allegedly told seo77 to 'start the vote thing' +19
Messages: Miss Zissman had the above exchange with software company seo77, according to the Sun +19
'Exchange': Miss Zissman exchanged the above messages with software firm seo77, according to the Sun. The left conversation took place before the awards and the right one afterwards, it is claimed (Not actual screen shots - images recreated using text from real messages exchanged)
Overjoyed: The star posed happily with her award after the ceremony, telling fans 'thank you all so much!!!!' +19
Overjoyed: The star posed happily with her award after the ceremony, telling fans 'thank you all so much!!!!'
Spats: Miss Zissman has challenged Helen Flanagan, pictured, in magazine articles +19
Apprentice rival: Miss Zissman beat Leah Totton to the award +19
Rivals: Miss Zissman beat both Helen Flanagan, left, and Apprentice co-star Leah Totton, right, to win the prize
Topped: Former Made in Chelsea star Millie Mackintosh also lost out on the Best Female Personality prize +19
Topped: Former Made in Chelsea star Millie Mackintosh also lost out on the Best Female Personality prize
The alleged scam by seo77 involved setting up a 'bot' program, which would be capable of generating hundreds of bogus names and email addresses a minute.
The technology would potentially have been able to tip the vote in Miss Zissman's favour, though the organisers of the awards have claimed their security software would stop any attempts.
The reality TV star, who caused controversy with her steamy interactions with rapper Dappy while on appearing in Celebrity Big Brother, has well-established rivalries with the other award nominees.
The mother of one fought her way to the final round of The Apprentice against Leah Totton. But she lost out when Alan Sugar decided that her baking business was less worthy of investment that Miss Totton's proposal for cosmetic surgery clinics.
She has also clashed with former Coronation Street star and I'm a Celebrity contestant Helen Flanagan, particularly over their much-flaunted figures.
BEATEN BY THE BOTS - HOW COMPUTER PROGRAMS RIG VOTES
Winner: Kin Jong-un topped a 2012 TIME magazine poll
Internet experts have influenced high-profile polls in the past by employing 'bot' software.
The programs allow millions of automatically-generated entries to crowd out genuine votes and force a victory.
The online version of TIME magazine's Person of the Year award is a frequent target.
In 2009, a cult internet figure named Moot, who founded controversial message board 4Chan, topped the poll. He beat Gordon Brown and Barack Obama.
Likewise, North Korean dictator Kin Jong-un won the 2012 poll by a margin of more than 2million votes thanks to an army of fans employing bots.
While using such software is almost always against the rules of individual competitions, it is not illegal.
In a recent interview with ZOO magazine, Miss Zissman floated the idea of facing her rival in a 'boob-off' after both have appeared in a series of scantily-clad photoshoots.
She said: 'Apparently Helen Flanagan had the nerve to say that I’m not classy... Every time I see a picture of her, her t**s are out.'
'Don’t get me wrong – I’ve got no problem with that – but mine are better than hers anyway. They’re the best five grand I ever spent! Maybe we should have a boob-off.'
However, Miss Zissman flatly denied that any attempts to influence the vote were made. She angrily denied the claims on Twitter, and alleged that seo77 were vengeful after she stopped employing them to run the baking business for her IT company.
She later accused seo77 of making the allegations to get publicity, Tweeting: 'Does the fact this company are getting loads of publicity promoting themselves not tell anyone anything?constantly plugged at my expense!'
In a statement sent to MailOnline, seo77 appeared to confirm the bot scam, and say they are sure that it worked.
A spokesman said: 'seo77 can confirm that on client instruction, we designed and implemented a bot system which was programmed to automate votes in favour of one particular nominee shortlisted for the NRTV Awards 2013.
'Although we are confident that the nominee would have won the award regardless, it is our firm belief that the program was effective and certainly assisted our client in their endeavours.'
The company also said it would normally keep such practices secret, and has launched an investigation into how the details emerged.

seo77 is an search engine marketing agency whose priority is to make your organization rise above the competition. We are a group of talented and dedicated individuals with a passion for search engine optimization.

SEO77 is an online marketing company whose priority is to make your organization rise above the competition

SEO77 is a leading UK based Digital Marketing Agency. We work for clients across all industry sectors providing digital media consultancy and implementation.

We’ve been developing and optimising websites for over ten years and between them our team has decades of experience working in new media. So we really know where the internet has come from and where it’s going.

We excel at SEO and pride ourselves on gaining top search engine positions for our clients. As well as delivering professional agency services, we train, consult and speak for a number of leading professional bodies and companies

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