Often it feels that reading or watching the news is cause for despair. Negative forecasts, a turbulent political spectrum and increased fears over what the next few years holds has become the norm; news reporters standing outside parliament looking concerned is a regular occurrence. Yet results of the final PRCA Consultancy Barometer of 2016, released at the end of 2016, indicates the picture is looking positive for many PR firms.

This change comes despite Brexit, which many practitioners initially feared could cause turbulence in the industry. Surveys since conducted indicate the PR and communications industry voted remain on the basis that staying in the European Union would ensure job security and stabilise the platforms on which the sectors do business.

However, the PRCA Consultancy Barometer, published at the end of 2016, suggests a different story.

When asked about their business levels, barometer results indicated that 33% of consultancies have very busy levels of new business. The biggest percentage at just over half, 53%, responded with their consultancies being busy; the ‘unchanged’ option was selected by merely 2%. The remaining 12% said their consultancy was experience a quiet period.

These figures, which focus on PR consultancies in general, also had a sequential effect on the overall feelings practitioners had about the future of their own business.

The results highlight how 59% of PR and communications leaders state how good results in the fourth quarter enhanced optimistic about the consultancy to which they belong. Just under a third of respondents, 31%, said that optimism was unchanged, with 10% feeling less optimistic than in Q3.

“PR and communications exists for times such as these; organisations across the board are making a proper investment in their reputation,” says director general of the PRCA, Francis Ingham MPRCA.

Ingham continues, “Although a small proportion of leaders are uncertain about the economy in general, the vast majority are positive about their own consultancy, about our industry and about the country as a whole. The simple truth is new business levels are up, budgets are up, headcounts are up, and the industry is on the up. The negativity that followed the Brexit vote is well and truly dead.”

For newly generated business, the sources have also improved and are perhaps surprising. The business gained from existing clients stands, for those surveyed in the PRCA Consultancy Barometer, at 37%. However, 63% reported business opportunities stemming from new clients

 Robert Montague MPRCA, CEO at RKM Communications, says, “We have seen a general increase in brands looking for PR – both start-ups and established – and the investment split between paid, earned and shared media is changing.”

Whatever the reason, it is not all doom and gloom for consultancies involved with PR. With the potential of increased staff numbers and higher levels of investment, the PR industry seems to be one area in which the uncertainty surrounding Brexit has not permeated.