The PRCA has launched its quarterly Consultancy Barometer research and the results spell good things for the PR industry. Agencies are reporting strong growth in new business opportunities with 82% reporting busy or very busy levels of business this quarter.

The findings reflect the UK’s economic growth with results up from last year’s second quarter survey. The research shows that 80% of agency owners believe the economy will continue to improve over the next 12 months; this compared to the 44% who believed the same one year ago.

The growing economic optimism is being felt by senior PR professionals who feel optimistic towards the future of their own agencies and the industry as a whole.

Another positive finding of the Barometer was a general willingness to hire new graduates over the next quarter. 32% of respondents expect graduate recruitment levels to be higher than they were in 2013 and 65% surveyed predicted that staff numbers will increase compared to just 16% last year.

Sarah Wrixon, Salix & Co founder and managing director, says, “From our perspective, it feels as though we’re in a very different place from this time last year. We’ve noticed a very dramatic pick up over the last quarter and are now looking at more than exponential growth this year. As a result we’re currently recruiting two new people and expect to put another brief in a few weeks.”

The survey was carried out by PRCA member consultancies.