How ‘Lord’ Brett McLean puts his pals on the map

You’re new in town, looking for a good hotel, restaurant, golf course, dog parlour, whatever. Once upon a time, back in the dark ages of the twentieth century, you might have hiked round to the Tourist Information Office or the local library for a list. Only a pensionable technophobe does that these days. Everyone else consults Google Maps or Trip Advisor on their smart phone, checks the reviews, and is instantly armed with the latest info.

A tied relationship: Lord Brett McLean with Sheikh Abid Gulzar
PICTURE: COLIN GIBSON

The latest maybe, but not necessarily the most discriminating or objective. For these media apps are not sifting what comes in to them for accuracy or objectivity.

Google Maps official policy is to deal with what it calls ‘conflicts of interest’ by prohibiting reviews of a business by the owners themselves or by current or former employees, and deprecates postings about a competitor ‘to manipulate their ratings’. But not only is it not clear how these prohibitions are or could be monitored effectively; they still leave the field open for only marginally less partial endorsements. What are the chances that the paeans of praise you read on your app have been filed by the owner’s brother – or, in this part of Sussex, by Google Local Guide and PR extraordinaire, Lord Brett McLean?

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A check on Lord McLean’s recent Google Maps input reveals that over the past couple of months he has reviewed the following establishments and awarded a five star accolade to each: the Mansion Lion Hotel in Eastbourne; Eastbourne Pier; Hastings Pier; Hastings & St Leonards Golf Club; Mungos restaurant at White Rock, White Rhino Lifestyle Store in Queens Road; and Pets At Home in Sedlescombe Road North.

Those who have been following our news coverage in recent weeks will recognise that the Mansion Lion Hotel, Eastbourne Pier and Hastings Pier are all prime business interests of Lord McLean’s pal Sheikh Abid Gulzar, though Google’s algorithms may not pick this up from his postings.  Of Eastbourne Pier Lord McLean  exults: ‘Fantastic Preserved Victorian pier with great facilities…Well worth a visit!’ Of Hastings Pier: ‘What a fantastic modern 21st Century pier…If mobility is a challenge they even provide a gold golf buggy to drive you to the end. Great ice cream and amazing fish and chips! Definitely worth a visit!’

Some readers may be less familiar with Hastings & St Leonards Golf Club at Beauport Park, but Lord McLean was clearly keen to boost its profile too. Less than a month ago he wrote of the club: ‘Could actually be the hardest and most challenging course in the UK! Many famous celebrities attend this course fairly regularly because they are up for the challenge! The beautiful element of this course is the fact that it is accompanied by a lovely little club house that offers hot and cold refreshments provided by friendly staff at good value. Well worth visiting and taking on the challenge!’

In the sports section of this issue (page 23) we delve a little deeper into these descriptions in the context of the club’s sudden closure. For present purposes it is enough to note that, at the time of posting this guff on Google Maps, Lord McLean was already acting as consultant to the club directors through his PR enterprise LBM Consultancy.

In any event it contrasts strangely with another Google posting also attributed to Lord McLean 11 months ago concerning the same club under its former name of Beauport Park. With a rock bottom rating of one star, the review reads: “My advice is simple – avoid! The venue is difficult to get to and is overshadowed by Bannatynes Hotel. Food and service isn’t up to the standard expected of a golf club. Unfortunately most staff are unhelpful whilst some staff are just plain unprofessional. Their main focus isn’t customer service but dancing! Venue could also do with a lick of paint.’

HIP asked Lord McLean to account for his apparent re-assessment, expecting him to emphasise the change in management in the interval (though the remarks about location may have been difficult to explain away – actually the development of  Queensway and the Bexhill Relief Road makes access from West St Leonards and Bexhill extremely easy). He denied responsibility for the earlier posting, however, informing us that ‘for a limited time my social media including emails, Google, social media platforms and even my mobile phone account were compromised, and as such a number of false reports and statements were made portraying to be from myself when they were not’.

He was invited to identify those postings made on public apps such as Google Maps which he claims to have been falsely made in his name, to give a full explanation of how they came about, and also to explain what steps he has taken to get the postings deleted. He has not responded further.

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He did, however, defend his policy of filing positive reviews. ‘I sometimes use hospitality review sites to leave a comment, all reviews are positive as I tend to find the majority of reviews are always negative and therefore I like to compliment rather than criticize.’

What about the ethics of PR consultancies posting consumer reviews, presented as though fresh and impartial to the business in question, but in his case closely linked to his business and PR interests? Lord McLean is unapologetic: ‘PR consultancies like any other business or individual member of the public should be able to submit a review if they have genuinely received a positive or negative experience whilst at said venue’, he says. ‘I personally believe that review sites should be regulated, they should be monitored and they should be used in a positive manner that will support a business rather than hindering it.’

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https://www.hastingsindependentpress.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/NEWS-brettgulzar.jpghttps://www.hastingsindependentpress.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/NEWS-brettgulzar-150x150.jpgHugh SullivanNewsLord Brett McLean,Sheikh Abid GulzarHow ‘Lord’ Brett McLean puts his pals on the map You’re new in town, looking for a good hotel, restaurant, golf course, dog parlour, whatever. Once upon a time, back in the dark ages of the twentieth century, you might have hiked round to the Tourist Information Office or...The Hastings & St Leonards non-profit community newspaper