"I am pleased to inform you that the Appointing Authority gives your its approval to carry out this activity, as described in your request".
Fipra’s biggest client is RCCL (Royal Caribbean Cruises), the world’s second largest cruise firm which provided 400 000 – 450 000 euros of Fipra’s turnover in 2010.
Richardson was joined at Fipra by his former boss, the Maltese ex-Commissioner for DG Mare Joe Borg in August 2010. Also at Fipra is his former colleague Nathalie Hesketh who joined in January 2009 as an account manager after nearly four years working at DG Mare including as a member of John Richardson's task force responsible for developing a maritime policy for the EU, and in the unit responsible for maritime policy development and coordination.
More information is available in the ALTER-EU report: Block the revolving door - why we need to stop EU officials becoming lobbyists: http://www.alter-eu.org/revolving-doors
"Fipra has recruited at least three people from DG Mare; clearly this is not unrelated to the fact that one of its clients is Royal Carribean Cruises. All three should have been subject to a cooling off period or ban before being allowed to join a lobby consultancy".