PRCA PR Leaders' Panel bullish about prospects

London, 25 February - A survey of the PRCA PR Leaders' Panel,  made up of Managing Directors from the UK's leading PR consultancies, today showed confidence in the UK economy with 65% of respondents saying that the UK would not go into recession during 2008.  Even more positive was the outlook for the PR industry, with 83% of respondents expecting their businesses to have a strong year.

PRCA director general Francis Ingham said "This survey puts the doom mongers in their place. Almost two thirds of our panel of PR industry luminaries believe that the UK is not going to go into recession during 2008. The fact that 80% of respondents said that 2008 will be a strong year for their PR businesses highlights the increasingly important role of PR. New business pipelines are very busy and the value client organisations are placing on PR is going from strength to strength."


Speaking about the UK economy, John Starr from Clareville Communications said "Although retail sales may show a slight downturn and house prices remain flat there is no sign of a serious growth in unemployment. Clients are not talking about a cut in budgets, quite the opposite".

Amanda Williams of Storm Communications has noticed a shift in client behaviour commenting "Despite all the doom and gloom in the media, new business is still buoyant and we have the busiest pipeline that we have ever had."

Ginny Paton, of Henry's House, suggests that even if marketing budgets are cut back, this could be an opportunity for the PR sector. "Big ad budgets get cut at the first sniff of recession which is often a great opportunity for PR as marketeers seek to maintain brand awareness in more innovative and cost effective ways.

Adrian Brady of Eulogy also commented: "The feedback we are getting from clients and prospects suggests that a whole new generation of marketers recognise the power of PR, meaning our industry is better placed than ever to weather any potential downturn."


- ENDS -

 

Notes to editors:

About the PRCA PR Leaders' Panel
The PRCA PR Leaders' Panel is made up of managing directors of members of the PRCA (Public Relations Consultants Association), the UK trade association that represents the PR industry in the UK.

The results of the survey which closed on 22 February 2008 are below:


Do you think the UK will go into recession during 2008?
No - 65% 
Yes - 35% 
Total respondents - 80  
   
What are the prospects for your business during 2008?
Negative - 4%
Strong - 83% 
Weak - 14% 
Total respondents - 80

Comments (0)
Think before you print! Save energy and paper! Do you really need to print this page?
Fee Income
X
Drag here
  • This field should only be completed by the individual with responsibility for your company's PRCA membership.
  • NB - Once you check the box to the left of this field and click update this figure is fixed for the entire year.
  • Fee income is defined as fees or income arising from time spent on carrying out public relations consultancy work plus any mark up and any handling charges or profits made on disbursement or expenses.
  • This figure
    1. will be used to calculate your membership subscription fee for 2009
    2. will be published on the PRCA website and in the yearbook.
  • This figure must include the fees from any subsidiary companies but not associated companies (see below).
  • If you are bound by Sarbanes-Oxley please select that accordingly, we will contact you individually about your fee income.
Holders of public office
X
Drag here
  • Please list any employees who hold any public office including members of House of Parliament, members of local authorities or of any statutory organisations or bodies who are full- or part part-time directors, partners, staff, special advisers or consultants retained by the consultancy
Subsidiary companies
X
Drag here
  • These companies are entitled to the same benefits as other PRCA members, they must abide by the PRCA Professional Charter and Codes of Conduct and their fee income must be included in the fee income field above.
Associated companies
X
Drag here
  • These companies are not included in your membership and as such do not benefit from PRCA member benefits. These companies are not covered by the PRCA professional charter.
Current clients
X
Drag here

The clients listed in this section are those which retain a consultancy on a continuing basis to deal with their public relations either in a specialised area or as a whole. One asterisk (*) against a client's name indicates that the consultancy has been retained by that client for three years; two asterisks (**) indicate that it has been retained for at least five years. Clients served on an ad-hoc basis are listed separately.

Adhoc clients
X
Drag here

Clients for whom you have undertaken work in the last twelve months on a project rather than a retained basis

Conflict of interest clients
X
Drag here

NB This will not appear as a separate list in the yearbook.