Testimonials

Dods is the natural partner for Government, policy makers and policy influencers to consult, inform, understand and communicate effectively with the public affairs and policy making community and for organisations to directly liaise with and impact upon Government.

Europe

On EU Monitoring

“We are really satisfied with the Dods service we receive, and also get positive comments from our Board members.”
International Diabetes Foundation

On EU Polling

“I would like to thank the Dods EU Polling group for conducting and publishing this valuable research. It is helpful to know how MEPs and stakeholders feel about these important issues.”
Anneli Jäättenmaäki MEP

On  Parliament Magazine

“The Parliament Magazine provides the space to go into the issues in detail and is a good starting point for debate.”
Meglena Kuneva, Consumer Protection Commissioner

“The Parliament Magazine has its finger on the pulse of the European Parliament.  It provides useful insights into the views of European Parliamentarians on today’s most critical issues.”
Robert Mack, CEO Burson-Marsteller Brussels

On  Regional Review

“Regional Review is unique on the EU publishing scene.  I can only urge you to keep up the good work.  Let’s build Europe in partnership!”
Luc Van den Brande, Committee of the Regions President

“A real goldmine of information, and written in a highly accessible style.”
Michel Delebarre, First Vice-President of the Committee of the Regions

Government

On Civil Service Live Gateshead

“The Civil Service Live event was an extremely enjoyable event which afforded us the opportunity to network with a broad range of colleagues from across a spectrum of departments, whom we ordinarily would not have an opportunity to meet with together. It was great to be able to speak on the day and share my experiences of best practise with fellow civil servants who were very interested in hearing what I had to say. In a spirit of mutual learning and innovation we came together, and left feeling much more enriched and invigorated. Events like this are extremely stimulating and are an important source of the energy which continues to drive us throughout the year.’’
Riyaz Timol, Benefits and Credits, HMRC

On Civil Service Live 2008

“It was exciting to see people coming in from all around the country and getting a buzz and seeing that they could be proud to be a civil servant. They realised that being a civil servant is nothing to apologise for. The three days proved that the civil service is doing different and innovative things and is at the cutting edge of delivering services.”
Peter Ricketts, Permanent Secretary, Foreign & Commonwealth Office

On Civil Service Live

“It was a great event. It helped us explain our role as Civil Service Commissioners in a way which is rarely possible and gave colleagues from across the country a chance to debate the values of the civil service in action and to compare top tips for promotion.”
Janet Paraskeva, First Civil Service Commissioner

"The spirit of the Civil Service Awards is truly infectious. This tremendous celebration of success encourages and inspires all of us to strive for excellence in all that we do. Ernst & Young is proud to be a part of this incredibly valuable initiative."
Robin Tye, Head of Government Services,
Ernst & Young LLP

Civil Service World

Civil Service World sets out the key issues clearly and coherently, in a form that is accessible both to public servants and lay readers."
Sir Gus O'Donnell, cabinet secretary, head of home civil service

"Whitehall & Westminster World is to the civil service what the Financial Times is to the business community - essential reading."
Sir Brian Bender, permanent secretary

Business Enterprise & Regulatory Reform

"Whitehall & Westminster World allows us all to find out what's going on in and around government. It's an insightful digest of the things that impact us."
Gill Rider, director general of leadership and people strategy
Cabinet Office

"Whitehall & Westminster World is becoming compulsory reading in Whitehall. It contains informative articles about the key issues we all face."
Alex Allan, permanent secretary
Ministry of Justice

"Whitehall & Westminster World has very quickly established itself as a must read for all of us in the senior civil service. It has the editorial space to cover in much greater depth than anywhere else what is actually happening across Whitehall and it gives a truer picture of the scale of change and reform than you find in any other publication."
Howell James Former Permanent Secretary, Government Communications
Cabinet Office

Parliament

On Public Affairs News

“I commend PAN as a crisp, clear, comprehensive and challenging source of news and views on the slightly wacky world that represents lobbying”.
John Gardner, Director of Communications
Chemical Industries Association

On Public Affairs News

If you are in the public affairs business, you will want to read Public Affairs News - it’s about our business, our people, our clients and will help promote best practise of our trade - support it!
Russell Patten, Chief Executive
Grayling Brussels

On The House Magazine

The House Magazine is an indispensable source of information for anyone who is interested in what’s happening at Westminster.”
Gordon Brown, former PM

As a provider of parliamentary news, profiles, interviews and policy reviews it gives an unrivalled insight into the workings of Westminster.”
David Cameron PM

The depth and breadth of the material covered makes The House Magazine an indispensable source of
information and inside knowledge for anyone on the political scene.”
Nick Clegg MP

“Over the last 30 years, the magazine has come to play a valuable role in Westminster life. It helps give readers the inside track on what is happening in both Houses.”
Tony Blair, former PM

“Since its founding, The House Magazine has become key reading for all those involved in politics. Its interviews and in-depth articles both illuminate and inform our daily political life and I hope that it continues to grow in strength.”
Baroness Thatcher, former PM

On fringe conferences

Dods helped the CBI organise a very successful fringe event at the Conservative Party Conference in 2008.  The event was run extremely professional manner and the Dods team helped with every request we threw at them.  We look forward to working with them again in the future.
Claire Neilson Noble
CBI

On the Charity Champion Awards

"The Awards are a great way of celebrating the close links between parliamentarians and the charitable sector and highlighting the role both MPs and peers can play in championing a range of important causes."
Ed Balls MP, Secretary of State for Children, Schools & Families

On the Charity Champion Awards

"It wasn't until I entered the House of Lords in 1992 that I realised how little the general public knew of the work undertaken by MPs and Peers do for voluntary causes and associated campaigns. The Charity Champion Awards are a splendid attempt to redress the balance and ePolitix, in association with Charity Logistics, are to be congratulated in inaugurating these highly original and highly regarded award ceremonies. They encourage everyone in Parliament to try even harder".
Lord Rix, winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award

Information

ON Vacher's Quarterly

There are only a few things which unite everyone in Westminster. One of them is having a copy of Vacher’s Quarterly on the desk. T he little blue book is the standard reference source for who’s who – and how to contact them. It covers Westminster and Whitehall; Brussels, Strasbourg and the European capitals; Holyrood and Cardiff. As such it is simply indispensable for all those within the sound of Big Ben, and for many far beyond.”
David Cameron PM

“The little blue book can be spotted lying on the desk or waiting on the bookshelf of pretty much anyone who’s anyone in the Westminster village. It may not give you wisdom but it will give you the next best thing – knowledge. If you want to know who’s in charge of waste in Whitehall, bureaucracy in Brussels or housing in Holyrood it will give you the answer.”
Nick Robinson Political Editor
BBC 

“As any politician will tell you: if you want to get ahead, or stay ahead, in politics you have to master the art of appearing to know more than you actually do ...and that is where a well-thumbed copy of Vacher’s Quarterly comes in. So, thank you Vacher’s Quarterly for helping us all be better informed.”
Daisy McAndrew
Economics  Correspondent
ITN News 

Remember the old joke about Margaret Thatcher taking her cabinet out to dinner?  “I’ll have the stake, very blue”, she tells the waiter.  “And what about the vegetables, Madame?” “Oh they’ll have the same”. 
Leaving aside the likelihood of Tony Blair enticing Gordon Brown back round a restaurant table after the Chancellor’s unfortunate experiences at Granita, Vacher’s has served us the meat and veg of contemporary politics for much longer than I’ve been around.  From the mightiest beef Wellington to the smallest petit poi (name four parliamentary under-secretaries of state anyone?) all is there between the covers.  Compactly presented, names, numbers, titles and addresses can be tracked down in seconds rather than hours of trawling the internet. 

A general election is in the offing, so this edition will become even more vital as the “before” template against which to judge what comes after.  Has such-and-such an honourable member really been sacked?  Or had they in fact already departed un-noticed?  Vacher’s will tell you. As we face up to the indigestible orgy of statistics that is an election, the cry will go up across the nation: “Pass the Vacher’s!” 
Cherish your copy for a colleague is sure to try and nick it.
Adam Boulton POLITICAL EDITOR
Sky News 

Vacher’s has changed. So has my newspaper, the Guardian. Even I, a trained reporter, notice these things. That change is a necessary constant is one of the great paradoxes of life which still surprises me as I start taking a keener interest in concessions for senior citizens. As the hero explains in that great novel, The Leopard, things must change in order that they remain the same. But do they always change for the better? Of course not, and the Victor Meldrew that lurks in all of us looks eagerly for evidence that things are going to the dogs. Vacher’s (and the Guardian) have not gone canine, they are adapting to a world which expects more information, wants it faster and in more convenient forms.

Government is increasingly complex. It has been devolved down the line from Whitehall and Westminster to the Celtic regions and to London where Celts are only one of many ethnic minorities. It has been evolved upstream to Brussels. New technologies simultaneously expand the scope for communication. 
Where once I might have settled for an MP’s weekend phone number I may now want his or her fax, e-mail and website address, not to mention the same for MEPs and members of our devolved assemblies. It may be available on line, but I am of an age that instinctively still reaches for something called a book. Start the hunt with Vacher’s.
Michael White Associate editor
The Guardian 

There comes a point when trying to figure out what is going on in politics when there is nothing like a fact. Even sketchwriters – actually, especially sketchwriters – need at least one fact a day. It is sad, but true, that often that fact cannot be gleaned from normal sources (i.e. the people you pass in the corridor). Sometimes, the only thing to do is actually look it up. And this, of course, is where Vacher’s comes in. 
Before I came to Westminster, I had a fixed idea of what a reference book was. It was heavy. It was hard-back. It was a tome. It was impractical, not to say embarrassing, to be seen with one. Now I know better. There is way too much going on in politics – especially now that Parliament is getting interesting again – to pretend that you know everything. 

Obviously, I could try to know everything. I could memorise the details of every MP and peer and every select committee. But life is too short. For example, here’s a pop quiz: who heads the Merits of Statutory Instruments Committee in the Lords? I don’t know about you, but that is one fact that I am pleased that I have to look up.
Anna Trenemann Parliamentary Sketchwriter
THE TIMES 

ON Dod's Parliamentary Companion

For over 40 years, Dod’s Parliamentary Companion has been just that – an essential, immediately available work-tool for me and my office. Long as 40 years seems to me, it is only a small fraction of the time, since the Reform Act of 1832, that Dod’s has fulfilled that role for generations of MPs, Peers and others. In that time, it has not just chronicled the changes in membership of Parliament, it has also reflected the changes in Parliament itself, the Commons and the Lords.  In doing this, it has provided an invaluable service to all those, within Parliament and outside, who need a reliable point of reference. 
Democracy is about access and accountability. Both need reliable information. Dod’s provides just that.
Rt Hon Alan Williams MP Father of the House