The Government’s spending cuts, on top of several tough years for the UK economy, might have PR people throwing in the towel and running for the hills! Surely what we do will be the first thing to be cut as even the public sector is forced to tighten its belt?
Well’ it would appear that’s not the case. Touch wood, Blaze is doing well and PR Week has a lot of very positive stories in it at the moment. For example, it would appear that councils are valuing what public relations can deliver them as nineteen public bodies have bought comms services from councils in the past year. PR Week reports that Essex County Council made more than £50,000 from selling comms services in 12 months. Apparently its clients include Wandworth and Suffolk County Councils. http://bit.ly/93sbu4
Also, while Channel Five’s in-house press office took voluntary redundancy because of cost cutting, it still retains a PR function in the form of The Outside Organisation – to which it has outsourced the whole lot. http://bit.ly/9iBUNz
Despite tough economic times, even charities are seeing the value of upping their PR spend. International equine charity The Brooke has bolstered its comms team as it wants to more than double the number of horses it treats every year. http://bit.ly/bbYVb0
So, it’s good news for the industry that PR isn’t the first thing to be given the chop. Indeed it seems that many organisations are recognising how important it is to maintain a profile as the pond shrinks and competitors start circling their customers.
