Brexit: What does it mean for PR jobs?
PRWeek spoke to PR firms to find out the implications of Brexit on their businesses and clients
Following Britain’s decision to leave the EU, despite the majority of UK PR industry leaders having supported Remain, many PR professionals are now left feeling confused as to what this means for them. The good news is, PR is a thriving industry and is needed now more than ever to help businesses navigate through these uncertain times.
Several top firms have declared it their duty to help navigate the uncertainty of the position of the UK’s new environment. Here is a snapshot of what some of them told PRWeek:
PR will become one of the nation’s most important industries
Mark Glover, chairman of the APPC, said: "Now, more than ever, public affairs consultancies are going to be critical in steering the best course for their clients...In the next two or three years, every company is going to be impacted by changes to regulations and legislation and public affairs people will be needed to guide people through that."
Jo-ann Robertson, partner and deputy chief executive of Ketchum London, said: "The only thing we can be certain of is that there is going to be a lot of uncertainty. In the short term, like all businesses, the UK PR industry will need to manage its business even more closely and carefully as we navigate the economic turmoil.
"In the longer term we can be confident of the exceptional communications talent we have in the UK and that clients will continue to want to engage and use that talent for the benefit of their own businesses both here in the UK and globally."
Businesses need to communicate their way through uncertainty
James Gordon-MacIntosh, managing partner at Hope&Glory, said: “It's likely that things will reset in time. And while we wait, we will see businesses need to communicate their way through the uncertainty, so sticking to doing great creative work will see consultancies like ours thrive whatever is going on around us."
Not only is it corporate consultancies which are predicting prosperity in the long term but also small agencies. Holly Ward, co-founder of The Forge, said: “For a small, young PR agency like us we feel confident that we are nimble enough to navigate the uncertainty.”