PRCA Economic Barometer finds renewed optimism within the busy UK PR industry

Results from the latest Economic Barometer show that a majority of PR leaders are optimistic about the wider UK economy for the first time since the 2016 EU Referendum, and that agencies are busy when it comes to new business.

Tracking industry confidence on a quarterly basis, the PRCA Barometer gathers opinion from agency owners and managing directors. In the 2019/20 Q4 report, revealed today, positive responses outnumber the negative for the 39 respondents:

– Net optimism for leaders’ own consultancies +43 (up from +21 in 2019)
– Net optimism for the wider PR industry +38 (+12 in 2019)
– Expectations for hiring +54 (+22 in 2019)

Other positives from this quarter’s Barometer include PR client budgets sticking at the same level (56.41%) or increasing (5.13% significantly and 28.21% marginally) and no respondents reporting a significant decrease.

38.46% of agencies describe themselves as ‘busy’ when it comes to new business, and 25.64% as ‘very busy’ (Reassuringly, no agencies taking part responded with ‘Very quiet’).

‘Our industry has always been optimistic about its future growth. But that optimism has been overshadowed in recent years by uncertainty about broader economic conditions,’ said PRCA director general Francis Ingham on the findings. ‘Happily, those clouds of concern appear to have been blown away.

‘For the first time in nearly four years, the PR industry is optimistic about the wider UK economy. To me, this is a pivotal moment, as economic uncertainty recedes, and overall confidence returns.’

Read more about the PRCA’s Economic Barometer here.