The PRCA's mission is to provide support and advice to members members working through the COVID-19 outbreak.
We recommend members regularly review the UK Government advice for employers, employees and businesses. Further advice and resources for PR professionals can be found below.
Latest news
May
- Small Business Minister Paul Scully MP to deliver PRCA webinar (7 May)
- Confidence Tracker: PR industry continues to build confidence (6 May)
April
- PRCA Launches COVID-19 Creativity Toolkit (30 April)
- PRCA publishes data on loans, furloughing, pay cuts and redundancies (29 April)
- PR pros benefit from free COVID-19 Taskforce advice (29 April)
- PRCA Confidence Tracker: International PR community positive in face of COVID-19 (28 April)
- PRCA welcomes government loan guarentee; urges it go further (27 April)
- PRCA offers free training webinars to furloughed staff (27 April)
- PRCA Confidence Tracker: Surge in positivity (21 April)
- PR firms urged to donate un-used IT to help vulnerable during COVID-19 (15 April)
- PRCA COVID-19 Taskforce launches support service for communicatons leaders (9 April)
- PRCA Weekly Confidence Tracker Reports 8% Fall; Majority Still Positive Though (7 April)
- PRCA encourages #COVIDGiveWhereYouLive Charitable Success-Sharing (2 April)
- PRCA denounces NLA corporate greed during COVID-19 crisis (2 April)
- PRCA offers free membership to professionals affected by COVID-19 (1 April)
March
- PRCA Confidence Tracker: Industry defiant in face of COVID-19 challenge (31 March)
- Communicators’ Professional Bodies Welcome New ICO COVID-19 Guidance (30 March)
- PRCA and CIPR write to Chancellor calling for further support for small businesses (27 March)
- PRCA welcomes freelancer support but cautions 'June is too late' (26 March)
- PRCA and CIPR pubish open letter to Chancellor (23 March)
- PRCA and CIPR issue joint industry statement on COVID-19 (23 March)
- PRCA announces shift to virtual training model (17 March)
- PRCA to Launch Covid-19 Taskforce to Support PR Industry (16 March)
Global COVID-19 Communications Taskforce
The PRCA’s Global COVID-19 Communications Taskforce was launched in March 2020 to provide practical support to public relations professionals during the COVID-19 outbreak. Chaired by Lansons Chief Executive and Cofounder Tony Langham, it aims to provide support to colleagues in organisations and consultancies across the world. Find out more.
Signal AI: How AI is revolutionising PR
Comms professionals shouldn’t have to spend time manually searching for coverage. Comms professionals shouldn’t have to rely on google alerts or extensive boolean searches, or have to wait for a provider to update their search to deliver the right results.
Read the report from Signal AI on how AI is revolutionising PR and how you could benefit.
A changed Industry: PR after Lockdown
A Changed Industry: PR after Lockdown, published by Carta Communications, has revealed that 40% of agency and team leaders are preparing to keep their staff away from the office indefinitely. A further 36% are planning a cautious approach to returning to the workplace, with agency respondents suggesting dates between June and September, the report shows.
Read the full findings here.
PRCA COVID-19 ‘Creativity Survival Kit’
The new ‘COVID-19 Creativity Survival Kit’ is designed to enable practitioners to think differently, to be more creative to face their immense challenges during the lockdown and beyond. Each week a new tool is being launched to provide new insights, inspirations and ideas. The Survival Kit is designed to cover four key dimensions to stimulate new response covering:
- Responding to pandemic - how to reveal your authentic quality and finding ways to show it
- Exploring new ways of doing using the disruption to reflect on new services and ways of delivery
- Preparing for post-lockdown of a ‘new normal’.
- How to hit the ground running to seize early initiatives.
The toolkit was co-produced with leading creativity expert Andy Green, the author of ‘Creativity in Public Relations’.
Download your week 1 COVID-19 Creativity Survival Kit tool here. #PRCACovidCreativity
Download your week 2 COVID-19 Creativity Survival Kit tool here. #PRCACovidCreativity
Download your week 3 COVID-19 Creativity Survival Kit tool here. #PRCACovidCreativity
Download your week 4 COVID-19 Creativity Survival Kit tool here. #PRCACovidCreativity
If you have any questions, please contact Andy Green at andy@andygreencreativity.com.
Free resources
From a legal helpline to crisis management toolkits, we've gathered a list of complimentary or cost-reduced services to PR professionals working through the COVID-19 crisis.
COVID-19 Webinars
1. COVID-19 update for APAC & MENA, presented by YouGov
2. Public affairs during COVID-19: PRCA & DeHavilland Webinar with Tiffany Burrows and George McGregor
3. Crisis communications expert Rod Cartwright FPRCA and governance, risk and compliance expert Matt Hodges-Long MPRCA share best practice advice on how PR professionals can apply crisis communications principles to the coronavirus outbreak.
3. Register to access a new PRCA webinar providing business and financial advice relating to the COVID-19 crisis here.
Assessing the impact of COVID-19 on the PR industry
We've published research revealing the impact of the outbreak on the PR industry. The survey gathered the views of 194 PR professionals between 11th and 15th of March. The findings reveal:
- 33%) believed the industry was underprepared for the outbreak.
- Remote working policies (62%) and event cancellations (58%) were the most common responses to the crisis taken by organisations.
- 30% of believed their organisations have made good progress on their communications plans as a result of Covd-19.
- 17% of organisations have not taken any precautions whatsoever as a result of the outbreak.
For more information on the research, contact Policy and Research Manager, Neha Khatwani.
Mental health toolkit
We are acutely aware of the increasing pressures facing public relations professionals as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. It is vital that PR professionals take the necessary measures to protect their mental wellbeing during this period. Line managers should proactively check in on the wellbeing of their colleagues. PR practitioners should make use of the PRCA's Mental Health Toolkit, which includes a counselling hotline during this period.
COVID-19 Support and Resources page sponsored by
