WATCH: Former Bell Pottinger chair says execs did not listen to his warning about Guptas

The former chairperson of Bell Pottinger, Lord Bell has denied that he was the main person from the company to negotiate with the Gupta family for business and that the term white monopoly capital was pushed by the firm in the country.

Speaking to BBC’s Newsnight, Bell admitted to coming to South Africa to meet with the controversial family.

“I went there to meet with the Guptas to find out if they needed PR or not. The business was interesting but I told them we could not handle it as it was a conflict of interest.

“We were asked to promote economy empowerment, white monopoly capital was mentioned not by us but by other people, let’s be clear on that,” he said.

Bell said he resigned in August last year after some executives went ahead and sent proposals to the Guptas even though he had said they could not work with the controversial family.

“After coming back from that meeting I did not do anything regarding that account. The company sent proposals, I did not do anything. They did not listen to me. That is why I left the company,” he said.

Meanwhile the company is losing its key clients after it was kicked out of the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) for fuelling racial tensions in the country.

Reuters reports that Bell Pottinger has lost its contract with HSBC and the Bank of Ireland has revealed that it was reviewing its relationship with the company.

The company has also lost its second-biggest shareholder on Tuesday.

Watch the video by BBC Newsnight below.