Statistics, trends and demographics for the PR industry.

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Public Relations Statistics

Welcome to our beta section on PR industry statistics. Using our extensive database of PR agencies, we aim to extract statistical information, creating new insights into the industry. We are currently working on does the PR industry need PR? and Pareto principle in PR agency popularity.

Who's using Twitter in PR?

We have found 740 PR agencies using Twitter. Our robot crawls PR agency websites to find twitter and Facebook information. Here's what we found about Twitter usage in Public Relations

How many PR agencies are there in the UK?

It's probably impossible to give an accurate number but the ActiMedia datbase is probably the most complete listing in the world of UK PR agencies. We have details of 4131 agencies. We guess we have 95% of agencies so probably about 4,200.

How many people work in Public Relations in the UK?

Again this is not a simple question to answer. According to the 2006 IPA census, there were 17,367 people employed in 258 IPA member agencies, with the average agency employing 67.3 individuals. Generally only larger agencies are members of the IPA and they only represent 258 agencies which is a small sample of the approximate 4,200 agencies in the UK. The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) estimated that there are now 48,000 people working in PR roles in the UK. Based on the ActiMedia database we know there are quite a few 1 man bands out there - we estaimte 1,000 in the UK. If we assume the rest employ an average of 5 people, we come up with a number of 31,742. This is only half the picture as quite a few companies have their own in-house PR departments. 48,000 seems a reasonable number for both agencies and in-house PR departments.

We are working to develop ActiMedia to allow agencies to provide census informaiton allowing us to give more accurate picture of the size of teh industry and important employment trends.

Where are UK PR agencies based?

Traditional wisdom is that PR agencies are usually based in London. Certainly our database confirms that there are alot of PR agencies in London but is there more to this than appears at first sight? First let's find out where agencies are located.

The map shows that clearly there is a cluster of PR agencies in London but also many agencies scattered across the UK. OK lets find out what's happening in London.

Interestingly most of the PR agencies are clustered around the west end and city, north of the river. This may be historic when it made sense to be near the media in Fleet Street andother media houses. However publishing is moving out of London to cheaper locations.

Let's delve deeper into the wider picture. Let's calculate the number of PR agencies relative to the population of an area and how many PR agencies relative the geographical area.

County Number of PR Agencies PR agencies per 100,000 Population PR Agencies per 100km2

Bedfordshire 41 6.80 3.31
Berkshire 132 16.25 10.45
Bristol 59 14.00 53.63
Buckinghamshire 118 16.26 6.29
Cambridgeshire 70 9.10 2.06
Cheshire 82 8.15 3.49
Cornwall 23 4.30 0.64
Cumbria 16 3.22 0.23
Derbyshire 31 3.09 1.18
Devon 64 5.60 0.95
Dorset 11 1.54 0.41
East Sussex 86 11.22 4.79
Essex 61 3.56 1.66
Gloucestershire 35 4.16 1.11
Greater London 738 9.82 46.79
Greater Manchester 124 4.81 9.71
Hampshire 64 3.71 1.69
Herefordshire 6 3.34 0.27
Hertfordshire 53 4.91 3.22
Kent 56 3.37 1.49
Lancashire 36 2.47 1.17
Leicestershire 32 3.40 1.48
Lincolnshire 17 1.67 0.24
Merseyside 47 3.44 7.28
Norfolk 51 5.99 0.94
North Yorkshire 34 3.16 0.39
Northamptonshire 28 4.08 1.18
Northumberland 13 4.18 0.25
Nottinghamshire 62 5.80 2.87
Oxfordshire 84 13.13 3.22
Rutland 6 15.30 1.57
Shropshire 22 4.83 0.63
Somerset 20 2.19 0.47
South Yorkshire 20 1.53 1.28
Staffordshire 33 3.08 1.21
Suffolk 42 5.86 1.10
Surrey 40 3.60 2.40
Tyne and Wear 45 4.11 8.33
Warwickshire 30 5.65 1.51
West Midlands 108 4.12 11.97
West Sussex 35 4.47 1.75
West Yorkshire 90 4.16 4.43
Wiltshire 25 5.48 0.71

County	Number of PR Agencies	PR agencies per 100,000 Population	PR Agencies per 100km2
Bedfordshire	41	6.80	3.31
Berkshire	132	16.25	10.45
Bristol	59	14.00	53.63
Buckinghamshire	118	16.26	6.29
Cambridgeshire	70	9.10	2.06
Cheshire	82	8.15	3.49
Cornwall	23	4.30	0.64
Cumbria	16	3.22	0.23
Derbyshire	31	3.09	1.18
Devon	64	5.60	0.95
Dorset	11	1.54	0.41
East Sussex	86	11.22	4.79
Essex	61	3.56	1.66
Gloucestershire	35	4.16	1.11
Greater London	738	9.82	46.79
Greater Manchester	124	4.81	9.71
Hampshire	64	3.71	1.69
Herefordshire	6	3.34	0.27
Hertfordshire	53	4.91	3.22
Kent	56	3.37	1.49
Lancashire	36	2.47	1.17
Leicestershire	32	3.40	1.48
Lincolnshire	17	1.67	0.24
Merseyside	47	3.44	7.28
Norfolk	51	5.99	0.94
North Yorkshire	34	3.16	0.39
Northamptonshire	28	4.08	1.18
Northumberland	13	4.18	0.25
Nottinghamshire	62	5.80	2.87
Oxfordshire	84	13.13	3.22
Rutland	6	15.30	1.57
Shropshire	22	4.83	0.63
Somerset	20	2.19	0.47
South Yorkshire	20	1.53	1.28
Staffordshire	33	3.08	1.21
Suffolk	42	5.86	1.10
Surrey	40	3.60	2.40
Tyne and Wear	45	4.11	8.33
Warwickshire	30	5.65	1.51
West Midlands	108	4.12	11.97
West Sussex	35	4.47	1.75
West Yorkshire	90	4.16	4.43
Wiltshire	25	5.48	0.71

This data certainly tells a different story.

London has the most PR agencies
Berkshire and Buckinghamshire are hot beds of PR with more PR agencies per 100,000 population than even London
Bristol has the highest geographical density of PR agencies (higher than London) with 50 PR agencies per 100km2

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