Mental health and staff motivation pose bigger threats to the health of UK PR consultancies and in-house teams than Covid-19 itself.

In the ‘PR and Communications Tracker,’ a new quarterly survey of agency and in-house PR leaders run by Carta Communications and the Pulse Business, 28% percent of respondents said that keeping colleagues motivated and supporting their mental wellbeing were the biggest current threats to business. While 26% said that adapting to Covid-19 was their top threat.

Matt Cartmell, founder and director of Carta Communications points towards “a shadow pandemic of mental health issues, caused by social isolation, uncertainty and changes to working and living patterns.” Yet with the flexibility to work remotely, Cartmell is hopeful, as “there are always new opportunities, whatever the economic landscape.” Imogen Osborne, owner of the Pulse Business adds, “The findings from this Pulse suggest that once more, the PR and communications industry is bracing itself for reinvention.”

The survey found that PR consultancies are also remaining optimistic, with 84% reportedly feeling positive about the future of business over the next twelve months. Agency bosses referenced new product lines, confirmed revenues and healthy new business pipelines as reason to be cheerful. Andrew Laxton, CEO of Mixology predicts “full programme activation to come back into play by Q2 as the roll out of the national vaccination programme starts having a positive impact on society and restrictions begin to ease.”

The most recent quarterly survey took place in December 2020 with a sample of 700 senior communications leaders.