The PRCA has announced that individual memberships will become available this week, in a new category of membership joining its existing offer of consultancy, in-house, international and freelancer memberships.

“When the PRCA was founded, individual membership was on offer for 30 odd years,” says chief executive Francis Ingham. “It had stopped for no particular reason – so the board decided it was time to bring it back.”

The PRCA represents UK PR and communications professionals, and will provide its new members with access to its services such as training, conferences, awards, and thought leadership events. It launched freelancer membership this summer, and the successful uptake convinced the board that individual membership would be well-received.

Having trebled in size over the last four years, the PRCA’s reach in the industry will be extended further by the new membership model. “We don’t have any hard and fast targets for individual members,” says Ingham, “but given the level of interest, we expect it to reach four figures within three months. There are 60,000 PR professionals in the UK; the PRCA should be open to all of them."

• "PRCA launches PR Freelancer portal" (Communicate magazine, August 2011)
• "PR training bodies seek to lure new trainees on price" (Communicate magazine, June 2011)