2023 marked 75 years since the CIPR was founded to improve standards of practice in the UK communications industry. We celebrated the Institute’s past, while highlighting that our mission to improve standards of practice in the industry is more relevant than ever amidst the global trust crisis.
The task to professionalise public relations (PR) practice sometimes seems unachievable, and our industry is rightly lambasted for its excesses and the actions of some fringe actors. However, last year we also promoted the PR Campaigns that Changed the World over the past seven and a half decades and saw the powerful force for good that PR is at its best. The CIPR Excellence and PRide Awards also, once again, underlined the quality outcomes delivered every day by the UK PR industry on behalf of employers and clients.
During the year the CIPR was a voice for our members on issues that are pressing for society today: improving links with business; increasing transparency around political lobbying; managing the impact of artificial intelligence; and improving standards of communication around the climate crisis.
The CIPR is the only PR organisation in the world with a Royal Charter and we wrote to the King last year to welcome his Coronation and pledge our continued commitment to advance professional standards. 153 of our members also became Chartered last year - more than double the number from the prior year achieving the industry’s highest level of professional recognition.
Over the year, CIPR membership grew to nearly 11,000. This included 53 new Corporate Affiliate members - major government departments, leading national charities, universities, and PR agencies - taking the total beyond 200 for the first time.
Our members were measurably more engaged and we saw a 23% increase in CPD completions (2,861) as members embraced a challenge to log 75 rather than the usual 60 points in our anniversary year.
I was delighted to award 23 new Fellowships in 2023 and to create five new Honorary Fellows, recognising the contribution of those individuals to the CIPR and our industry.
As well as being the longest-standing PR membership body in Europe, CIPR is also the continent’s leading provider of qualifications and training. 416 individuals graduated with one of the Institute’s nine qualifications last year.
A further 2,010 people completed CIPR training courses in 2024, about the same number as the prior year. This included 100 CIPR members attending free training courses as a subscription benefit.
The Iprovison 75 Fund was created to remove the barriers to a career in PR for those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, supporting 60 people to access PR qualifications, training courses, and CIPR membership.
2023 was also a year of reform for the CIPR itself as we laid the groundwork for the next 75 years of success. The CIPR became the first professional body to be awarded the National Equality Standard (NES), following a rigorous assessment process, demonstrating our commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion, and systemic change within our organisation and the wider PR profession. We also achieved Certified Carbon Neutral status. The CIPR Board and Council agreed updates to the organisation’s governance for the first time in a decade. A subcommittee also began work on the new five-year strategy which will run from 2025-2029.
Income grew 5.8% in 2023. Despite this, the agreed budget envisioned a far higher degree of growth and a loss of £207,854 was significant. The CIPR’s new on-demand learning platform will enable us to deliver CIPR qualifications and training to a far greater international audience, but growth is slower than forecast. Work is underway to improve the business plan for this platform in 2024. There was also an unexpected downturn in end of year training sales. Sales of tickets to the PRide awards were also lower than forecast and so that scheme has been paused in 2024 to review whether it can be sustainable in future years. The Board and CEO have agreed changes to the process of forecasting and budgeting; nonetheless navigating increasingly complex and unpredictable markets is a challenge for the management team and Board.
From the first event of 2023 - a service and reception at St. Bride’s Church and the Humble Grape in Fleet Street - to the last - the Horizon annual conference - we recognised that the CIPR remains a progressive force for good in our industry. None of this would be possible without a dedicated group of employees and nearly 400 volunteers across the world, who deserve great thanks.
In the years ahead, we will continue to grow our resilient, inclusive and forward-thinking community of practice and to prepare our members and learners to optimise their careers. Through its services and advocacy, the CIPR is well placed to continue positively shaping the future of the PR industry internationally.
Steve Shepperson-Smith, Chart.PR, FCIPR
CIPR President 2023
In 2020, in consultation with members, the CIPR launched a new five-year strategy. 2023 was the fourth year in which our work was planned and delivered as part of that strategy.
This report is structured around the four key areas of work set out in that strategy.
To create a better understanding of the standards and services that public relations professionals can offer.
To ensure that our members have timely access to the most up-to-date resources to take their professional practice forward.
To create a streamlined professional development pathway focused on Chartered Practitioner status.
To create the best and most valuable community that practitioners will want to be a part of and contribute to.
In 2023, we began work on our next five-year strategy that will take us from 2025-2029.
We work hard to advocate on behalf of the profession, sharing our messages in trade and national press on topics ranging from building links with the business community, to arguing for lobbying reform and promoting the way artificial intelligence (AI) is changing our industry.
Here are some of the examples from 2023 of the ways we’ve achieved that:
We appeared in publications including PRWeek, POLITICO, The Week, Politics.co.uk, The AI Journal, and were syndicated across titles including the Evening Standard, The Daily Mail, the i, Yahoo News UK, and others.
In 2023, we continued to promote better understanding of our industry at the highest levels of business.
We partnered with the Institute of Directors (IoD) to publish a joint report – The Role of Public Relations in Strategic Planning and Crisis Preparedness. Authored by former CIPR President, Sarah Waddington, CBE, Chart.PR, FCIPR, the report features a series of chapters that explore the role of PR in strategic planning, stakeholder mapping and engagement, internal communications, and more.
Our research into board and management teams of FTSE 100 companies found that, despite mounting reputational risk, almost half of their boards and executive leadership teams lack dedicated communications expertise.
It revealed that just three FTSE 100 companies have a dedicated communications director, while just 56 companies have a communications figure on their management committees.
Our Lobbying for Good Lobbying (L4GL) campaign continued to make the case for reform of the current lobbying legislation in the UK. Our goal is to build greater transparency and restore public trust in this vital element of the democratic process.
Find out more about the campaign
We met with parliamentarians including members of the shadow cabinet, campaign groups such as Unlock Democracy, Spotlight on Corruption, and Transparency International, think tanks including the Institute for Government, businesses and trade associations, regulators, and professionals across the lobbying sector to discuss our proposals.
In partnership with Policy Mogul, we conducted a study into the UK Parliament's appetite for lobbying reform. The research revealed that, even after a string of high-profile scandals and a government enquiry, 75% of MPs have remained silent on the issue of lobbying in Parliament since December 2019. The report was launched in Parliament and attended by a number of MPs and Peers.
We concluded the year by attending the Labour and Conservative party conferences, including sponsoring an event with Labour Business featuring CIPR’s 2023 President-elect, Rachael Clamp Chart.PR, FCIPR.
As a leading professional body for public relations, we remain committed to driving change and promoting transparency in the industry. Our research continues to shape the conversation around lobbying and its impact on our democracy.
We continue to lead the PR industry globally with influence far beyond the UK.
Our International Group relaunched the Maggie Nally Memorial Lecture In 2023, named after the Institute’s first female President, with a keynote speech from Melissa Fleming, the Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications at the United Nations (UN). Melissa was also awarded the 2023 President’s Medal, in recognition of her longstanding championing of the plight of refugees and the good that PR can do for society. A recording of the Maggie Nally Memorial Lecture is available online.
Our 75 anniversary was celebrated by the British High Commission in Mauritius, an event organised by CIPR International Group Chair, Samantha Seewoosurrun, FCIPR.
President, Steve Shepperson-Smith spoke at the Narrative PR Summit in Egypt, highlighting the crucial role of public relations in building a nation's reputation and soft power. Drawing on the CIPR's 75 years of experience, he highlighted the value of a professionalised PR industry and the opportunity that BRICS membership presents for Egypt's global standing. Steve called for establishing a national PR association in Egypt to drive professional standards and deliver strategic counsel.
Steve was also the keynote speaker at the 30th BledCom International Public Relations Symposium in Slovenia, setting out three challenges for industry practitioners and academics: to close the trust gap by becoming recognised as an industry for responsible communication; to make Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) work a core part of PR teams; and to see PR as a Board level activity, contributing to the development of strategy and improving the scope and quality of high-level decision-making.
As a founder member of the Global Alliance – the membership body for national PR membership associations – we were proud to show our support for the UN to add a new, 18th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) - Responsible Communication.
In May, we supported the Global Alliance in running its first ever Technology and PR Month which focused on how technology has shaped public relations to date, and how it will do so in the future.
Exclusively for Global Alliance member organisations, we also launched a partner programme for online learning to allow PR practitioners to access and pay for professional development on-demand.
In March, we launched our ESG Panel with a series of online events and webinars to support members in identifying and promoting their responsibilities on key societal issues.
The Panel published a three-part series of best practice guides providing a comprehensive toolkit for practitioners working in this area.
At the annual Fellow’s lunch in September at the House of Lords, guest speaker Solitaire Townsend, the Chief Solutionist and Co-Founder of Futerra, updated members about the opportunities for the PR industry to help promote climate optimism and find solutions to the earth’s most pressing problems.
We officially achieved Carbon Neutral status by working with Carbon Neutral Britain (CNB) – the UK's leading Carbon Offsetting initiative. CNB helped us offset 453.00 Tonnes of Carbon dioxide equivalents, which includes both our own direct emissions and the emissions from purchased goods and services.
An audit conducted by ESI Monitor found that 96% of our CO2e emissions come from purchased goods and services, while only 4% are direct CIPR emissions. We have chosen to use credits to offset the remaining 96% of emissions that result from the goods and services we purchase.
Our 2023 ESG report is published as part of this annual report.
Recognising the need for greater representation of PR professionals at the Board level, we partnered with the Non-Executive Directors' Association (NEDA) to launch the 'Getting on Board' programme. This tailored learning initiative equips Chartered PR practitioners with the skills and knowledge required to take up Board positions and become effective Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) or Trustees.
The programme offers successful applicants a one-year NEDA membership, providing access to their job board and additional support to find suitable roles. 24 CIPR members – none of whom have previously worked as non-executive directors or trustees – undertook the training in 2023 and the programme was renewed for 2024.
“Public relations is an industry that genuinely helps society, delivering effective, ethical, two-way communications. It’s clear from the entries to the CIPR Excellence Awards that our industry has a strong future, safe in the hands of innovative and insightful individuals able to deliver an extraordinary standard of work.”
Steve Shepperson-Smith Chart.PR, FCIPR, CIPR President
Our Excellence Awards returned to recognise the phenomenal work of public relations practitioners around the globe. Host Lucy Porter welcomed over 550 PR professionals to the Royal Lancaster in London to celebrate the stand-out agencies, teams, and individuals across the profession.
The PRide Awards celebrated its milestone 20th anniversary with in-person events showcasing the hard work, dedication, and talent of PR practitioners across the UK.
Agencies, businesses, public sector organisations, NHS teams, and independent practitioners from Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and six English regions were recognised for their exceptional PR practice.
For the third successive year, our Research Fund awarded grants of up to £2,000 to CIPR members wanting to conduct independent research into the wider PR industry.
The Research Fund awarded grants for five research reports.
“Horizon provided an excellent opportunity to take that all important step back from the day to day and consider some of society's biggest trends and challenges and how they will impact our work. The message was that the future is very much here. New ways of working, new audiences, and new technologies are not going to slow down, and public relations must adapt to them. What isn’t in question is how vital our role can be when we get it right.”
Alastair McCapra, CIPR CEO
Over 200 public relations, business professionals, and students convened at London’s Ham Yard Hotel for our annual conference – Horizon. The event was themed around the issues and challenges that PR professionals will face in the coming years and the innovative ways the industry can tackle and overcome them.
The event hosted an array of expert speakers including, Alex Partridge (Founder of UniLad and LadBible), Jay Richards (Influencer and Co-Founder of Imagen Insights), Subira Jones (The Corporate Hippie), Katie King (Founder of AI in Business), Sheeraz Gulsher (Co-Founder of People Like Us), Justin Jeffreys (Head of Media Relations at ITV), Diana Verde Nieto (Co-Founder of Positive Luxury and author), and Mark Shayler (Founder of Ape).
AI is both re-tooling our industry and creating new challenges for PR professionals seeking to promote and defend the reputations of their employers and clients. We continue to be the leading voice globally on the impact of AI on PR.
In February, a report by Andrew Bruce-Smith FCIPR, Chair of our AI in PR panel, and former CIPR President, Stephen Waddington, Found. Chart.PR, Hon.FCIPR, found that there are now 5,800 technology tools with potential applications in the industry, covering a wide range of areas. The AI Tools and the Impact on Public Relations Practice report called for urgent attention to the ethical issues thrown up by the rapid growth of AI.
Andrew and Stephen also co-authored an article in the AI Journal examining the ethical considerations and challenges of AI in public relations and its potential use cases.
We published Humans Needed More than Ever, a report authored by former CIPR President, Professor Emeritus Anne Gregory Hon.FCIPR, Jean Valin Hon.FCIPR, and Dr Swati Virmani. Their research found that up to 40% of tasks performed by PR professionals can now be assisted by AI tools. However, professional capabilities such as ethical decision-making, being a trusted adviser to senior managers where judgement is required, and offering leadership, are not yet amenable to AI applications.
Our AI in PR Panel members presented their work at numerous events last year including the Bradford Business Club, the UK Health and Safety Executive, and the CIPR International Annual General Meeting (AGM).
In May, we supported the Where Practice Meets Academia event that sought to break down the historic gaps between academia and practice in the PR industry. Organised jointly by Leeds Beckett University and Newcastle University and supported by the CIPR and the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA), the event brought together students, practitioners and academics to discuss the future of PR and bridge the gap between theory and practice.
In 2023, we once again saw an increase in our membership community, which grew by over 600 members. A large proportion of this growth was made up of organisations joining as Corporate Affiliate members.
We welcomed 53 new corporate members including government departments, leading national charities, universities, and PR agencies, taking us past 200 Corporate Affiliate members for the first time.
Honorary Fellowships are granted by the Board of Directors in recognition of exceptionally outstanding services to the Institute and/or the development of the public relations profession. Fellowships are bestowed upon Members in recognition of distinction in the public relations profession.
In 2023 we created five new Honorary Fellows:
Throughout 2023, we awarded Fellowships to 23 practitioners for their outstanding contribution to the profession and the Institute. As ambassadors for the CIPR, Fellows drive forward our values of a commitment to life-long learning, professionalism, and ethical practice.
We founded the Sir Stephen Tallents' Medal in 1984 and award it at the discretion of the President to recognise exceptional achievement in public relations practice by a CIPR member. Sir Stephen was the Institute’s first President in 1948-1949.
In 2023, this award went to Rhian Moore Chart.PR, FCIPR. Rhian has volunteered for the Cymru Group for 20 years and served as Chair for four years. She is also a member of the CIPR Council. She has worked in senior public and private sector PR roles, including for Great Western Railway, Tata Steel, Dyfed Powys Police, Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council, Rhondda Cynon Taf CBC, and Simbec research. In addition to volunteering for CIPR, she is also currently Chief Commissioner for Wales for the Scout Association.
In July, Iprovision, the benevolent charity of the CIPR, launched a new 75 Fund to foster a more diverse and inclusive PR community by supporting those from lower socio-economic backgrounds and underrepresented groups to start or advance a career in public relations.
Over the course of six months and two application windows, the Fund allocated its full total of £75,000. More than 150 people applied for funding and some 60 successful applicants will benefit from direct grants to fund their PR qualifications, training courses, and access to CIPR membership.
“Achieving the NES is one of my proudest moments as CIPR CEO. It is not a tick box exercise. It required months of concerted and sustained effort right across the organisation. It demonstrates that we are now beyond ad-hoc initiatives and pledges and, instead, have worked on embedding systemic changes for the long-term success and sustainability of the CIPR and ultimately the wider PR profession.”
Alastair McCapra, CIPR CEO
Part of our responsibility as the leading voice of the PR sector is to call on the wider professional community to address the lack of diversity across it. In representing the profession, and in line with our strategic commitment to building a resilient and inclusive PR community, we set out on a path to be an exemplar of good practice in equity, diversity and inclusion.
In 2021, we committed to achieving the National Equality Standard (NES). The NES is a comprehensive and independently audited standard that reviews an organisation’s diversity and inclusion practices in thirty-five areas of competence.
In 2023, we were confirmed as the first professional body to be awarded the NES having achieved 27 of the 35 competencies. We will continue to be assessed every 3 years to ensure that we maintain high standards of inclusion going forward.
We published our first Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (EDI) outlining our plans and commitment to drive change inside the Institute and within and beyond the PR industry. The strategy outlines our plans to develop and adapt our activities to champion EDI best practice across six key areas:
The strategy was developed by our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee following years of research, much of which highlighted a lack of progression in public relations on diversity.
Throughout 2023, our Diversity and Inclusion Network (DIN) published a series of guides covering everything from defining EDI and how it works in practice, to tips, checklists, and recommendations to make events as inclusive as possible.
In 2023 our DIN published guides on:
Our volunteer-led national, regional, sector groups, and special interest networks continued to address the needs of members throughout the year with events, research and partnerships.
Volunteer activities
2023 marked a significant milestone for the CIPR as we proudly chartered our 600th member. We celebrated a record-breaking 153 members achieving Chartered status in the year, bringing our total to 645.
In December, we announced a new Chartership package, allowing members to save nearly £200 on the assessment fee by adding it to their membership subscription at a discounted rate.
In 2023, our suite of professional qualifications continued to empower PR practitioners worldwide:
We launched a new on-demand training platform to give CIPR members and learners the opportunity to learn anywhere at any time. Designed to complement our suite of live training courses, the on-demand platform offers affordable, modern, and bitesize learning opportunities at the click of the button.
The platform launched with courses on Crisis Communication and ESG and is also home to a free package of training exclusively for members on Ethics in PR and EDI.
By the end of 2023, 39% of all new members joining the CIPR began recording CPD in their first year of membership. Members continued to demonstrate their commitment to their professional development in 2023 as a record 2,756 members completed the CPD cycle and over 28,000 CPD activities were recorded.
2023 was a bumper year for our Engage Podcast Editorial Board. They delivered seven episodes featuring a range of insightful and fascinating guest speakers, exploring topics on:
Throughout the year, the Engage podcast had over 7,900 downloads, now with more than 17,000 in total, attracting a global audience of listeners from Australia, the United States, India, Africa, the United Kingdom, and more.
The purpose of the CIPR is set out in its Royal Charter, which states that one of the reasons we are constituted is “to promote public understanding of the contribution of effective public relations in encouraging ethical communication and in enhancing the efficiency and performance of all sectors of the economy”.
In the present global context this means that we have a responsibility to promote effective communication around climate change mitigation, social impact, and governance.
One of the best ways we can do this is to report on our activity under these headings, and accordingly we present our second annual ESG report. In doing so, we are using the headings suggested by PwC in their recommendations for ESG reporting.
The CIPR has signed the SME Climate Commitment which means that we are pledged to halve our greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, achieve net zero by 2050, and disclose our progress towards these goals on an annual basis. In fact, we have been certified as achieving carbon neutrality in 2023 as a result of our participation in a carbon offsetting scheme.
We recognise climate change as a serious threat to our future and we recognise that the CIPR has two distinct roles to play in mitigating the risks it presents. Firstly, as an organisation that uses energy and resources, we will look for ways to work as cleanly as possible, reducing our impact by minimising our footprint. Secondly, as the professional body we have a role in helping our members achieve these same goals through their individual professional activities, in the organisations they work for and on behalf of their clients.
We have used ESI Monitor’s Futuretracker tool to calculate the carbon footprint of the CIPR in 2023 as 539.36 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e). This equates to 17.98 tCO2e per full-time employee. This is a 23% increase on our 2022 figures (440.13 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, equating to 14.67 tCO2e per full-time equivalent employee). This increase may be accounted for partly in better data collection in 2023 (meaning we may have underestimated our carbon footprint to some degree in 2022). For the most part however, our increased footprint is due to our expanding the scope of services we purchase from professional consultants such as CIPR trainers, our PR and public affairs agencies, our IT suppliers, and venue providers.
As was the case in 2022, the CIPR had no scope 1 (on-site) emissions or scope 2 (imported) emissions. All of our emissions were in scope 3 (indirect emissions in the upstream or downstream activities of the organisation). Within our scope 3 emissions, purchased goods and services was the sub-scope with the largest contribution to our carbon footprint, accounting for 515.41 tCO2e (2022=424.47), or 95.6% (2022 =96.4%) of the total. As the client organisation benefitting from these services, we regard purchased goods and services as an input measure. If all organisations were already managing and reporting their carbon footprint, they would already be accounted for in the supplier organisation’s environmental reporting. Since this is not generally the case yet, we are taking responsibility for the emissions from which we have benefitted.
In 2023 we achieved certified carbon neutral status by offsetting all of our scope 3 emissions for 2022 through the scheme offered by Carbon Neutral Britain. We will be offsetting our 2023 emissions through this scheme again in 2024.
There are a number of areas which we do not consider material to our environmental reporting. These include: electronic waste; packaging and material waste; toxic emissions; water stress; biodiversity and land use; and raw material sourcing.
In 2023, our ESG Panel of volunteers published a new series of guides including ‘The ‘E’ in ESG’. The guides are freely available and support professionals to understand the benefits of robust environmental practices in enhancing business resilience and sustainability. These guides are a key part of our role in helping our members better understand their responsibilities when it comes to their client and organisations’ sustainability practices.
The CIPR’s chartered purpose is primarily about social values including “to promote for the public benefit high levels of skill, knowledge, competence, and standards of practice and professional conduct on the part of public relations practitioners; and to promote the study, research and development of the practice of public relations and publish or otherwise make available the useful results of such study and research.” This purpose sets the scene for our work that relates to the social pillar of ESG.
The human capital of the CIPR is primarily its members. We are committed to supporting their personal and professional development throughout their careers. As this is central to our purpose as a professional body, it is covered in detail in our Annual Report, under the headings of ‘Building a Resilient and Diverse Community’ and ‘Championing Lifelong Learning and Chartership’.
In 2023 we became the first UK professional body to achieve the National Equality Standard offered by EY. We also continued to offer free training sessions on a variety of topics for all our members.
We recruit employees through an agency that sends us a diverse pool of anonymous candidates for shortlisting and interview. By this means we hope to mitigate the effects of any unconscious bias in our recruitment processes. In 2023 we also continued regular pulse surveys of staff to find out about their wellbeing, concerns and attitudes towards management which inform our processes. We have a formal induction and onboarding process for all new employees.
All CIPR employees receive support and guidance on health and safety in their home workplace. In several instances we have purchased special equipment in order to make adaptations to their home working environments to ensure that they are safe and healthy.
We seek to develop two key elements of our human capital – our volunteers and our employees. The work of the CIPR is delivered by volunteers working together with employees, and there are more than 10 active volunteers (389) for every employee (32), meaning that the role of volunteers is of critical importance to our success.
We worked closely with a behavioural values expert in 2022 and 2023 to review our organisational values. This piece of collaborative work with volunteers and staff saw us develop new corporate behaviours and values.
All CIPR employees have training and development plans as part of our appraisal process. Our onsite staff days include regular training sessions for the whole team, in 2023 these included unconscious bias, inclusive leadership and values and behaviours. The CIPR pays for the membership fees of relevant professional bodies for its employees, so long as they commit to completing CPD as part of their membership. In 2023 we launched a comprehensive training programme for all employees at manager level which included group training such as inclusive leadership, strategic thinking and effective management and motivating teams, as well as individual coaching sessions. This will be continued in 2024.
We recognise that we need to better understand and monitor our suppliers to ensure that they are meeting appropriate standards, and in 2023 we set up an internal process for reviewing and rating our suppliers for their labour standards and other ESG considerations. We intend to begin operating this process in 2024.
All of the CIPR’s data management systems are compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Adherence to legally required standards of privacy is a condition of employment at the CIPR. Since 2019 the CIPR has been certified annually as meeting the Cyber Essentials standard from the National Cyber Security Centre.
All employees are required to access CIPR data on registered devices that are kept fully updated with the most recent software releases, and to connect to cloud-based services using a dedicated secure virtual private network link. Employees are trained periodically and reminded about the importance of data security and the risks of phishing attacks.
The process of hearing and discussing opposition to future plans, as well as criticism of past activities, is an ongoing one and built into the core structure of CIPR governance. The CIPR is led by an elected Board of Directors supported by an elected Council. Decision-making is usually done by consensus. Our five-year strategy (2020-2024) was agreed by both of these bodies following member consultation. In 2023 we convened a working group of members to begin work on our next five-year strategy.
The CIPR has periodic gatherings dedicated to engagement with a number of recognised stakeholder groups. These include Group Chairs, Accredited Teaching Centres, and trainers. Although they do not have formal decision-making power they feed into the decision-making process. We run regular pulse surveys for employees to ask how they feel about their working environment, and in 2023 will begin to offer scheduled individual check-ins to ensure that we hear and address any concerns individuals may have about their workplace. We likewise run volunteer and annual general member surveys to ensure that we understand the developing needs and concerns of our member stakeholders.
Our activities in this area are covered in our main Annual Report, where there is reference to our partnerships with I Have A Voice, BME PR Pros, the Taylor Bennett Foundation and Socially Mobile. All of these partnerships are intended to encourage and support people from disadvantaged or non-traditional backgrounds to make a successful career in public relations.
Aside from the leadership positions in the CIPR that are filled by election, most of the remainder are filled by open call, to ensure that all members can access the opportunities they afford. We offer training to incoming Board members if they need it to better fulfil their CIPR roles and we are introducing a number of training opportunities for Council members and Group Chairs.
In 2023 we began a major project to review and overhaul our governance. This was driven largely by the recognition that although we have a good turnover of volunteers in elected positions within the CIPR, we are good at generally attracting people with similar backgrounds. A series of governance reforms was developed during the year, and we plan to enact these following an Extraordinary General Meeting in 2024.
CIPR members and employees who meet a brief qualifying period are eligible to receive financial support in unusual circumstances from the CIPR’s benevolent fund, iprovision.
As part of our 75th anniversary celebrations, iprovision launched its new 75 Fund to support those beginning their PR career, those returning to the profession, and to help those from lower socio-economic and underrepresented groups to progress. The Fund allocated its full total of £75,000 to 60 successful applicants. They are benefitting from direct grants to fund their PR qualifications, training courses and access to CIPR membership. Direct help to CIPR members from the 75 Fund approached £13,000, with more than £60,000 being directed towards supporting non-members to enter the profession.
The CIPR offers a number of benefits to its employees, including the Vitality health scheme and access to private health care. The CIPR has an employee wellbeing policy, and volunteer staff members have set up a Staff Wellbeing Assistance Group that shares resources, provides guidance, and organises activities.
There are a number of potential reporting areas which we have considered and determined to not be material to our work. These include: access to communications (our members are all professional communicators); controversial sourcing; responsible investments (the CIPR does not have any investments); and product liability, safety and quality.
Legal responsibility for the activities of the CIPR rests with its Board of Directors. The Board in 2023 was composed of three Honorary Officers elected directly by CIPR members, six Directors elected by the Council, and two individuals co-opted on the initiative of the President, with the agreement of the elected Board members.
In 2023 the Board had four standing committees - the Finance Committee, the Coordination Committee, the Professional Practices Committee, and the new Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee.
The CIPR Council is elected by members to debate important points of strategy or principle, to provide guidance and perspective to the Board of Directors, and to raise issues of concern for the Board of Directors to pursue. Day-to-day management responsibility is delegated to the Chief Executive and though him to the employees.
As the core governance structure of the CIPR has been in place since 2014, in 2023 we began a review process to see what changes it may be constructive to make.
Since 2022, the CIPR gathered personal data from its Board members for the first time, but has not published this because of its sensitivity. We will however use this data to inform decisions about the future composition of the Board on an ongoing basis. In 2023 the Board was composed of 8 women (2022=7) and 3 (2022=4) men, which approximates the gender split in CIPR membership. Further steps to promote Board diversity will be taken in 2024 as part of the programme of changes we implement in order to meet the requirements of the National Equality Standard.
The relevant disclosures are in our published annual accounts.
The CIPR is a company limited by Royal Charter. It is owned collectively by its members and has no shareholders.
Our accounting policies are as stated in our audited accounts. The CIPR does not operate any trading subsidiaries.
Our Board has adopted the Nolan Principles to guide its work and all individuals elected to the Board are required to follow them throughout their term of office. Members are required, when they join and when they renew their membership, to declare their adherence to the CIPR Code of Conduct. Complaints against members are handled by an independent Professional Practice and Ethics Consultant, and if a hearing is required to resolve them, a mixed panel of members and lay people is convened.
The CIPR is a member of the Institute of Business Ethics. In 2023 we worked closely with officials in the Home Office to develop sector-specific regulations under the new Foreign Interest Registration Scheme. We also collaborated with the Foreign Policy Centre to launch an independent research report entitled What’s The Risk? PR & Communication Agencies and Kleptocracy. The report examines how PR agencies can – sometimes unwittingly – become implicated in reputation-laundering on behalf of foreign kleptocrats in the UK.
We also continued our strategic campaign, Lobbying for Good Lobbying, to mobilise parliamentary support for a change in Westminster’s inadequate lobbying laws. This is covered in more detail in the Advocacy section of our main 2023 Annual Review.
The CIPR discloses all related party transactions in its annual accounts. Board and Council members make written declarations of interest at the start of each year- and verbal declarations at the start of each meeting. Staff are required to declare any gifts received from suppliers. Staff policies enforce a strict segregation of duties to minimise the risk of employee fraud. We also have an antibribery policy in place.
We pay UK VAT and corporation tax and do not engage in any tax avoidance schemes or have any assets in tax havens.
Our audited accounts for 2023 were issued in June 2024.
| Type | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Income | £3,914,770 | £3,702,824 |
| Pre-tax Expenditure | £4,122,624 | £3,774,757 |
| Of which staff costs | £1,718,000 | £1,557,442 |
| Pre-Tax (deficit)/surplus | (£207,854) | (£71,933) |
In 2023, we continued to drive for growth and achieved both a 5.8% increase in revenue and a 5.7% increase in net membership. Nevertheless, as the year progressed it became clear that our initial budget assumptions were too ambitious.
The on-demand learning platform is a new venture for the CIPR with significant revenue potential. Nonetheless, the growth expectations set for it in 2023 were beyond what was achieved. Work is underway in 2024 to review the business plan for that project.
Another programme that underperformed versus budget was the PRide awards. The Awards returned to a face-to-face format for the first time since 2019. Because of concerns about the cost of living, we tried a new buffet meal formula instead of the traditional formal dinner. However, bookings were much lower than budgeted and the feedback received was almost uniformly negative. Following this, the Board decided to suspend the PRide Awards for 2024, pending a full review into whether they can be delivered sustainably in the future.
The management team made adjustments during the year to limit the Institute’s expenditure, including freezing vacant staff posts. These measures would have been sufficient to allow the organisation to fall just short of breaking even, but during the last two months of the year we experienced a very sharp downturn in the normal level of training demand, which resulted in a large unbudgeted deficit.
The effect of all these shocks was to produce a deficit of £207,854 for the 2023 financial year. This had the effect of reducing our reserves from 3.8 months at the end of 2022 to 3.1 months at the end of 2023. This is at the lower end of the Institute’s target range to maintain 3-6 months’ reserves.
The Board, Finance Committee and management team have worked to further improve the budgeting and forecasting process. Forecasting based on prior years has become more difficult in the current climate and, as a result, financial assumptions need to be reviewed far more regularly. We have also tried to shift the workplan to have more high cost projects in the second half of the year, providing greater ability to change the workplan if required.
