Council must act on 'rubbish' reputation

POSITIVE ACTION NEEDED TO REVIVE CITY'S IMAGE AFTER BIN STRIKE

- BEN PERRIN News Reporter

A REPUTATION expert has warned it could take Birmingham 'years to repair' its public image after the prolonged bin strike ends.

Shocking images of uncollected rubbish and fly-tipping along with headlines about “rats as big as cats” have emerged nationally and internationally.

Roz Sheldon, a respected industry spokeswoman on all areas of online reputation management, believes the beleaguered city council must act as “reputational damage lingers - especially when there's a lack of visible leadership and action”.

She said the cash-strapped authority must first acknowledge the scale and impact of the issues at play before it could rebuild trust and begin to restore its reputation.