The first quarter of 2014 has been successful for PR consultancies, which have seen a sharp growth in new business, according to the Public Relations Consultants Association’s (PRCA) consultancy barometer.

The survey, taken by PRCA members, shows that 80% of consultancies have reported new business, marking a 4% growth from the final quarter of 2013.

The PRCA Director General, Francis Ingham, welcomes the rise in new business and says, “There’s much to feel confident about here. The optimism of PR agencies continues to impress, as do the growing levels of new business.”

This optimism comes as just over half (56%) of consultancies reported that the new business is primarily from new clients, giving agency heads a more positive outlook on the PR and Communications industries in the year ahead.

With the increase in business, 49% of consultancies are looking at increasing their staff numbers of the next quarter as 71% of agency owners see this growth as a positive sign in the overall growth of the UK’s economy.

There is also a reported decrease in over-servicing within the PRCA consultancies, dropping from 37% last quarter to 17% this quarter.