CIPR Newsroom

The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) has today released a new episode of its Engage podcast, examining the role of communicators on organisational boards in an era of permacrisis.

Hosted by Katherine Sykes Chart.PR, FCIPR, Co-Chair of the CIPR Crisis Communications Network – Crisis Communications for Boards – features Dr Jon White Chart.PR, Hon FCIPR, a researcher and consultant in public relations and corporate communication management, and Kerry Knight Chart.PR, a senior strategic communicator specialising in crisis preparedness, reputation management and AI governance.

The episode draws on the handbook of the same name, published by the CIPR Crisis Communication Network in partnership with the Institute of Directors.

The panel discuss how interconnected risks have turned crises from isolated events into fast-moving, highly visible shocks that can escalate within hours. They set out the handbook's five-stage crisis cycle of predict, protect, prepare, respond and recover, and make the case for investing in preparedness before a crisis hits through scenario planning and horizon scanning. The discussion also covers how public inquiries and the duty of candour can give a crisis a long tail after organisations believe it is over.

For PR professionals, the episode makes the case for framing advice in terms of consequences, business outcomes and organisational resilience, and for learning the language of the boardroom. It argues that crisis response cannot save bad decision-making, and that communicators add most value when boards bring them in to the spaces decisions are made.

Public relations and communication professionals in the UK and around the world are being urged to add their voices to a landmark global survey designed to deepen understanding of mental health and wellbeing across the profession and help shape healthier workplaces for the future.

The Global Mental Health and Wellbeing Survey, open throughout October and November 2026, aims to secure at least 5,000 responses across all global regions, with the results to be released in January 2027.

The ambition is to create the first global benchmark that helps the profession better understand the mental health and wellbeing of its people, the pressures they experience at work, what supports them to thrive, and where change is most needed.

The global initiative builds on the established UK mental health and wellbeing research programme of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) and Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA UK). These have now partnered with the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management to launch the survey globally for the first time.

The CIPR and PRCA’s most recent Mental Wellbeing Audit in the UK found that despite many workplaces affirming support for good mental health among their workforce, 91% of public relations professionals had experienced poor mental health in the previous 12 months. This compared with 63% of the wider UK workforce. Almost three in ten rated their job as highly stressful, while 58% identified overwhelming workload as a key source of workplace stress.

Independent research company Opinium, which conducted the original CIPR and PRCA research, has globalised the survey for this project, providing continuity from the established evidence base while scaling up worldwide.

Members of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) have elected Anne-Marie Lacey Chart.PR FCIPR as President-Elect for 2027. She will become the Institute's President in 2028.

The Institute can also confirm that its Council has elected Paul Compton Chart.PR, MCIPR and Naomi MG Smith Chart.PR, FCIPR to the CIPR’s Board of Directors. Both will serve a three-year term from 2027 to 2029.

Anne-Marie is a Senior Lecturer in Public Relations at Newcastle University. A CIPR Fellow, she has sat on the Institute's Board of Directors and contributed to its recent syllabus review. She received the 2025 Sir Stephen Tallents' Medal for her service to the CIPR and her advocacy for professionalism, Chartership and qualifications.

She won the Outstanding Young Communicator Award at the 2014 CIPR North East PRide Awards and went on to win it nationally at the CIPR Excellence Awards in 2017. She has since judged both awards at regional and national level.

Anne-Marie will serve a three-year term on the Institute’s Board of Directors, from 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2029. She will act as President-Elect in 2027, President in 2028, and Past-President in 2029.

Over half of public relations professionals say their organisation is more cautious about taking public positions on issues than it was five years ago. A similar number report that polarisation in society has made their job more difficult.

With boards expected to navigate an increasingly complex crisis landscape, the new handbook offers practical guidance on managing the communications challenges of a crisis from start to finish

The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) has retained the National Equality Standard (NES) for a further three years and published its new Equity, Diversity andInclusion (EDI) strategy.

The NES is the UK's leading EDI assessment framework. Developed in partnership with the UK Government, it provides independent assessment of an organisation's leadership, culture and everyday practice against rigorous inclusion standards. The CIPR first achieved the standard in 2023, becoming the first professional body to hold it and the first organisation assessed on both its employed workforce and its volunteer community.

The 2026 reassessment placed the CIPR in the upper quartile of organisations assessed under the framework, with an overall score of 115 out of 150 and 22 of the 30 competencies met. The CIPR passed first time, something fewer than one in ten organisations achieve. Assessors identified improvement in its maturity rating since the last cycle and particular strengths in governance, accountability and strategic oversight; stakeholder insight and evidence-led decision-making; and inclusive recruitment and volunteer engagement.

Alongside its reaccreditation, the Institute has launched its updated EDI strategy covering 2026 to 2029. The strategy sets a clear expectation of the whole profession. It moves inclusive practice from something the CIPR champions to something it expects of every practitioner, treating it as a core part of what it means to be a competent and ethical public relations professional. The new strategy aligns the CIPR’s EDI work with its five-year priorities and details key areas of focus informed by the Institute’s 2025 member survey and other research into barriers to participation, progression and belonging in PR. This includes:

• socio-economic background and class;
• age;
• ethnicity and race;
• neurodiversity and cognitive differences;
• and disability