We've gathered a list of external suppliers providing complimentary or cost-reduced services to PR professionals working through the COVID-19 crisis.
For the latest news relating to COVID-19 outbreak, head over to our 'Support and Resources' page.
PRCA Partner Support:
Legal helpine
The COVID-19 outbreak is likely to provide operational and legal challenges for PR businesses, particularly freelancers. The PRCA is proud to offer its legal helpline - operated by Lewis Silkin - to all PR professionals free of charge.
Please call 0207 074 8000 for support.
COVID-19 Legal Guidance
In addition to their legal helpline, our legal partners at Lewis Silkin have made available a wealth of information and guidance, which they update on a daily basis. This covers business continuity, contractual considerations, and employer-employee relations (including furloughing). They have a dedicated COVID-19 hub which you can find here.
LS RESOLVE by Lewis Silkin
Like most businesses, PR and comms agencies are facing a number of new challenges, especially in their relationships with clients and suppliers. As the world adjusts, contentious issues will inevitably arise in what were otherwise amicable and often longstanding relationships. With a view to preserving relationships and resolving disputes quickly and efficiently between parties, Lewis Silkin has launched LS Resolve, an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Service. These are dispute resolution solutions specifically tailored to the world as it is now, during the current pandemic. LS Resolve aims to ensure that parties who are facing early-stage contentious issues receive appropriate help, with a focus on options such as settlement facilitation assistance, early neutral evaluations and mediation.
To find out more, visit LS Resolve.
Free daily COVID-19 news digest
PRCA Media Monitoring and Analysis Partner Kantar are providing a free daily COVID-19 digest for free. The morning email captures the headline news and upcoming announcements relating to COVID-19 to ensure you're up-to-date during this incertain time - sign up here.
Broadcast communications following the COVID-19 outbreak
As the only official broadcast partner of the PRCA, markettiers is committed to helping members navigate the fast changing broadcast landscape following the COVID-19 outbreak. Contact Chairman of the PRCA Broadcast Group and Deputy Managing Director of markettiers, Daniel Stainsby CMPRCA, with any questions or to arrange a broadcast workshop for you and your colleagues / clients.
M&A Advisory exclusive Mergers and Acquisitions Partner
M&A Advisory is PRCA's exclusive Mergers and Acquisitions Partner. If you are looking to maximise shareholder value, merge with like-minded consultancies or be acquired by larger marketing service groups, M&A Advisory will work closely with you through the process. If you would like further information or a confidential discussion please contact David Blois or Michelle Underwood on +44 (0)207 680 9849, davidb@mandadvisory.com or michelleu@mandaadvisory.com.
COVID-19: The Employees' view
Reuben Sinclair, working with us and CIPR, have produced a comprehensive report on collecting the employees' view during COVID-19. Read the full report here.
Essential Tips for Using Audio and Video at Home
Understanding how to get the best video and audio quality at home has never been more important. Access Studios, the PRCA Studio and Production Partner, has published a free video series of essential tips on creating the best quality home video and audio.
We are supporting communications professionals to prepare for the realities of home-working ahead, and provide comprehensive production solutions for clients to get the best from their home-produced content.
The free online video series is available here.
Free Services:
Free resource to check how connected your people feel and to unlock their best ideas – so you come roaring out of the crisis
The inspirational article from the Harvard Business Review entitled Roaring out of Recession says that ‘progressive’ companies emerge strongest from a crisis. By ‘progressive’ they mean companies that have created a strong connection with their people and who adapt their services to the needs of a changed market. This free survey is available to every PRCA member that wants to use it. It will enable you to identify how connected your people feel and capture some of their best ideas for emerging stronger from the crisis. It offers 14 questions but you can delete, edit or add to tailor to your agency or team. Just click this link to get started. If you want free advice on the best questions to add please email crispin.manners@onva.co.uk
FREE – WFH Employee Mental Health and Wellbeing Pulse Check
Question & Retain, the engagement consultancy, is investing £80k of their time and resources, offering a specially designed eight question WFH Employee Mental Health and Wellbeing Pulse Check.
The Pulse Check is an email-based tool that helps leadership teams to quickly understand what their employees are thinking and feeling as they adjust (or not) to the new normal of lockdown and restricted travel during Covid-19.
The free Pulse Check is available to the first 20 owners or leaders of independent agencies that register interest.
Please register your interest as soon as possible by contacting us at nicki@questionandretain.co.uk or calling +44 (0) 20 7859 4522.
Remote working with Clientshare
Remote working means that communicating effectively with your clients is now more important than ever. Clientshare is a tool that PR agencies can use to share and find multimedia information and manage reviews with clients in a secure, personalised, online, collaborative space. It takes seconds to launch, has immediate impact and means PR agencies can stay close to clients even when you can't see them in person.
Working with the PRCA, during the COVID-19 crisis, Clientshare are offering licences for free use for a limited number of PRCA members. For further details please contact fraser.cameron@myclientshare.com who leads the Communications Sector.
Free COVID-19 microsites for all NHS and emergency service organisation
PRgloo are offering free Covid-19 microsites for all NHS and emergency service organisations. The microsites will give you a dedicated platform to publish (and distribute by email) all Covid-19 news from your company. They promise to get you up and running in 30 mins with their 5 star technology. They are used by The Department of Health and Social Care plus many trusts and ALBs.
Read more about it here.
PR Freelancers With No Hiring Fees Whatsoever for Either Party
The PR Cavalry, our partners in the PRCA Freelancer Matchmaker Portal have agreed to make their services free of charge for three months for any freelancer who is shortlisted for work using The PR Cavalry platform before 30th April. This applies to new searches posted from today. The PR Cavalry is already free to clients to hire freelancers using their service which matches employers to flexible talent based on the relevance of their sector knowledge and experience. Freelancers normally pay a 10% commission for work finding them that is right in their sweet-spot but to help freelancers and to stimulate the market, for three months from the date of being hired, The PR Cavalry will waive their commission. To access this service, email PRCA@PRCavalry.com
Vuelio’s Navigating Uncertainty Toolkit & free daily bulletin
Vuelio recognises that PR and communications practitioners are facing unparalleled disruption caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. The crisis is creating a unique challenge: keep stakeholders up to date with the constantly shifting political and news agenda while also adapting to new working arrangements.
To help communications teams get their messaging right and ensure it is consistent both externally and internally, while keeping up with the demands of the evolving Government guidelines, we’ve created a toolkit to help. Download the Navigating Uncertainty Toolkit here.
To keep ahead of what the latest Government guidelines mean for you and your organisation, Vuelio is offering a free daily bulletin from our political team summarising the prime minister's daily coronavirus briefing as well as announcements from official Government sources and spokespeople, industry and community stakeholders. Sign up here.
Free access to international behavioural data surrounding COVID-19
YouGov's international COVID-19 tracker will be running for the foreseeable future, with 26 markets currently covered and more to be added soon. The tracker covers how attitudes and behaviours are changing across the world, and how this stands to impact everything from politics to brands.
Free COVID-19 Webinar
YouGov is in the privileged position of having many thousands of people all over the world share their views and behaviours with us every day. At this time we’re putting our full focus on gathering insight on people’s experiences of COVID-19 and how consumer behaviour is changing.
We held a webinar on 9 April to share some key insights from our initial research and were joined by Sarah P Jones, a research fellow at Imperial College London, providing the latest scientific view of the state of the world. Register here.
Other Resources:
COVID-19 Webinar Series
Waypoint is investing £100k of their time and resources, distilling down the extensive experience of our 7 partners into a series of webinars, designed to give you insights and resources to survive and thrive during the Covid-19 period. There are a limited number of places available for each webinar and it's only open to owners and leaders of independent agencies. Please register your interest as soon as possible or to sign up for our future events, please contact the team at angela@waypointpartners.co.uk
Crisis management tools
Talkwalker have provided three helpful articles outlining how to navigate your way through a crisis - COVID19 social insights report updated daily, Daily newsletter with COVID19 insights, and COVID-19 Industry Reports.
Communications in the time of COVID-19
As a leading marketing communications agency working closely with the Government and private sectors since 1980, BPG Group is committed to helping organisations navigate these challenging times with the right insights and tools. As a result, we have developed a helpful guide to steer brands’ communications over the coming weeks and months.
You can download the handbook here.
Flexibility with accountability - How to transition quickly and seamlessly to working from home
Virtual PR & Communications agency In2Consulting provides four things you can do to today to instill a strong culture of accountability as you transition to working from home.
W7Worldwide Crisis Communications Report: Protecting your Organisation's Communications Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has escalated faster than anyone anticipated, with the World Health Organization declaring the outbreak a global health emergency. W7Worldwide's Crisis Communications Division has released a new report to help corporate communications units, both in the public and private sectors, to overcome and manage the growing complications of this crisis.
The report can be downloaded here.
W7Worldwide Guide to Effective Employee Engagement in the Covid-19 Crisis
The impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic still persists and with now quick solution or remedy in sight, it is likely to continue impacting businesses and the world at large. For this reason, W7Worldwide developed a report as part of a series of reports covering employee engagement to help business leaders. The report covers the following:
- The importance of managing employees’ communications and expectations during the crisis.
- A 7-step guide to dealing with internal communications and employees well being during the COVID-19.
- What to do moving forward.
Finding a new job & hiring while working remotely
Here is a collection of resources that will help you to work, find a new job, undertake interviews and successfully start a new job – all whilst working remotely.
Here is a collection of resources that will help you to lead through these challenging times, manage your team, undertake interviews and successfully onboard candidates – all whilst working remotely.
alva's COVID-19 resources
alva's COVID-19 resources showcase the actions of organisations that are putting stakeholders first – community, customers, colleagues – when dealing with the pandemic.
Find out more here: https://www.alva-group.com/covid-19-resources/
Free Daily coronavirus Tracker
Savanta's daily coronavirus tracker aims to provide you with an accurate, up-to-date view of how the UK feels during this unprecedented time. The tracker, with 1,000+ respondents every day, will keep you informed on how consumers and businesses are currently feeling among a variety of different areas such as work, home, retail and approval ratings.
CommsPeople app helping freelancers become more visible
CommsPeople is a new app specifically designed to help comms freelancers become more visible to businesses who need PR support during the Coronavirus outbreak and beyond. The platform is completely free for freelancers to join, with only a small fee taken on projects worth over an agreed figure. Businesses are able to browse the platform completely free of charge.
Read here for more information.
