Crisis Communication

Asitis Consulting handled the PR for the bank which suffered the biggest cash robbery in history and the business which was subjected to the most far-reaching investigation in the history of the Irish state. Our coolness under fire is legendary in the industry. We are what you need when things go wrong. We are available 365 days a year 24/7.

Case Study: Northern Bank Robbery

Background

Northern Bank is Northern Ireland’s largest retail bank. On 19 December 2004 two members of the bank’s staff were kidnapped, and their families abducted. The next day the two men returned to work and – under instruction from their kidnappers removed £26 million from the bank’s cash centre. At the time this was the biggest cash robbery in history. It was immediately clear that there were serious shortcomings in the bank’s security procedures. ASITIS Consulting had devised the bank’s crisis communication strategy. At 2.45 am the morning after the robbery Nick Garbutt was called by the then chief executive and asked to implement it. At that point a police forensic team had taken over the cash centre and so as well as dealing with the issues surrounding the robbery there were also serious logistical and internal challenges. Approaching Christmas keeping the branch network, ATMs and major customers, big stores and key supermarkets supplied with cash was of paramount importance and steps had to be taken to ensure all key stakeholders were aware of what had happened and the bank’s contingency measures to keep cash flowing through the system.

A further complication was that the previous week the Danish banking group Danske had reached agreement with Northern’s then parent National Australia Bank to purchase Northern and its sister bank National Irish. The transaction, however, was subject to Competition Commission approval and was not complete. This meant we had additional stakeholder groups to manage in Denmark and Australia. Australia is 11 hours ahead of GMT at that time of year. There was a particular problem in Australia because National Australia had opted to “self-insure” Northern, meaning that it was responsible for any losses as a result of the robbery.

Methodology

A major robbery had been identified as a key potential risk during a reputational risk audit carried out by Asitis in conjunction with the bank’s own audit department. Protocols for dealing with such an incident were in place. These included the establishment of a communications sub committee of the bank’s leadership team under the direction of the chief executive that moved immediately into session once an incident had taken place. These protocols were regularly tested to ensure key personnel really were accessible 24/7 which is why we were able to convene the initial meeting at 3am and gain several hours vital planning time before the robbery reached the public domain. There were daily meetings with senior bank staff dealing with the robbery and the internal communications team, regular liaison with the PSNI. In addition there were teleconferences with National Australia Bank corporate affairs in Melbourne at 10pm and 7 am daily.

The robbery was material enough to affect National Australia’s share price so the first task was to inform the Australian stock exchange. Stock Exchange rules meant that that had to take place before any statements could be released to the Press. At 7am ASITIS informed the Belfast Telegraph and the Press Association that the incident had taken place. Proactive communication of this type was used throughout the period in order to maximize good relations with the media. In the first day alone 155 press calls were received and dealt with from media all over the world. The victims of the robbery all received guidance and support from Nick Garbutt who set up protocols to help them deal with approaches from the Press. Company policy was that members of staff were not permitted to talk to the media. One individual ignored this and gave an interview. He was subsequently arrested by police and charged with the robbery, although later acquitted.

Over the following weeks TV news crews from national UK and Irish, German, Croatian, Australian, American and Japanese stations were all facilitated by Asitis. An especial difficulty for the bank in the early days of the crisis was that a police insistence on primacy in communications hampered the bank’s ability to get its messages across. With media pressure mounting, ASITIS organised a pooled facility for the chief executive to speak to the Press Association and the BBC on the understanding that all copy and footage would be available to all media. The bank announced it was replacing all its bank notes in an attempt to make it very difficult for the robbers to get the stolen notes back into circulation and this created another massive communications challenge: to ensure that all stakeholders knew the notes were changing, how they were changing and what they had to do with their old notes. There were also security implications: £90 Million worth of new notes had to be transported across Northern Ireland into the bank and total secrecy had to be maintained over the timing of their arrival. The key communications objective was to maintain customer confidence in the note issue – there were serious concerns that the changeover might not be well received, leading to a “run on the bank.”

Results

Regulators in each jurisdiction were kept fully and appropriately informed at all times. They all pronounced themselves satisfied with the bank’s response to the crisis. National Australia Bank was able to manage all its stakeholders in Australia smoothly and efficiently. Although there was significant criticism of the Northern’s security procedures, no heads rolled and the replacement of the bank issue was hailed by police and media as a great success.

The Chef de Bureau of the Press Association in Ireland wrote to the Chief Executive of Northern Bank to praise ASITIS Consulting’s handling of the crisis. He said in his letter that no other agency in Ireland was capable of handling such a difficult and complex issue.

Within a year Danske Bank was able to effectively re-brand and re-launch Northern Bank, leading to significant growth in profit and market share.