Pinning down exactly what a public affairs department in a public relations firm does is tricky but more and more of the larger firms are devoting a great deal of executive time to developing that side of the business.

Latest to enter the political fray is WHPR which has appointed Mr Fergus Finlay to head its new three-person unit.

One thing the company will not be doing is "lobbying", which used to be a public affairs type of word but now seems to be slipping out of fashion, possibly because it seems too loaded.

According to WHPR, under Mr Finlay the unit will act as "political strategists, not lobbyists".