PR on UK Boardroom Agendas

The general trend towards public relations playing a greater role in the UK''s leading businesses is borne out in new research conducted for Huntsworth plc by Ipsos MORI.

The past decade has seen PR grow in boardroom influence as evidenced by increased consultancy expenditure and a rise in the number of senior professionals charged with PR strategy in major companies.

It is now rare for a week to go by without the current fortunes of a major company or institution being linked to a PR triumph or a PR disaster.

These long term trends are echoed in this new research. Conducted in January and February 2008 among the PR decision makers in 100 UK listed companies it finds 30% of those polled are expecting to increase their PR expenditure in the coming year.

Over half (52%) are predicting their PR investment will remain static with only 15% forecasting a reduction.

Reflecting the underlying shift in the importance of PR, approximately half of all those polled believe it to be a more effective tool than 3 years ago.

And the rise of online communication is also driving demand with around half of the companies revealing they hold separate budgets for digital communications efforts. Over 40% of these companies expect these budgets to rise.

What was once a tactical tool chiefly aimed at short term publicity is now a key strategic weapon for any sizeable business.

Click here to see the research documentation.