As news broke in the early hours of the morning that Barclays’ former chief executive, John Varley, and three of his former colleagues, had been charged with fraud, eager calls for strong business leadership once again echoed clear. Varley’s alleged misconduct, despite being tied to the financial crisis of 2008, illustrates a wave of recent business miscalculations that highlight the dangers of the modern business environment. With that in mind, recent findings suggest that public affairs is fast becoming a business-critical function.

The fourth annual Interel Global Public Affairs Survey found that despite the yearly growth of public affairs budgets, global concerns for the changing political climate continue to threaten business operations, as figures rise from 44% of participants commenting on how legislative and political challenges affect business operations in 2016 to 48% this year. However, the survey also found that 76% of participants welcomed a revenue growth over the same period.

For public affairs professionals, however, a valued positioning within the business landscape is developing. Approximately 72% of public affairs professionals helped the business avoid a significant threat in the last year, with 57% helping the business capitalise on a significant opportunity. The survey also found that 33% of public affairs experts contributed to business revenue over the last 12 months, a figure matched by as many as 47% adding a measurable difference to the operating environment.

Assessing the business value of public affairs professionals, however, remains largely hinged on the persistence of crises, something that the last year has been decorated with. Yet for Fredrik Lofthagen, CEO of Interel, public affairs still has a long way to go.

Lofthagen says, “We believe that even more needs to be done by consultants and in-house public affairs professionals alike to make the case for the strategic value of public affairs as a business-critical function. The evidence shows that it’s as important to business as marketing and communications but not generally receiving similar budgets. The political landscape is more complex that it has ever been and a proactive, strategic approach to public affairs, can shape the environment for business, protect its licence to operate and deliver impact for the bottom line.”