Founder of Integrated Reporting awarded Honorary Fellowship of the CIPR
Judge Professor Mervyn King SC, the founder of Integrated Reporting, has been awarded Honorary Fellowship of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations. He was invested as the Institute’s 25th Honorary Fellow last night, by CIPR President, Sarah Pinch FCIPR MIoD, at a special celebration hosted at the London offices of DWF LLP.
Judge Professor King has a long and distinguished career at the South African bar, becoming Senior Counsel in 1975 and serving as a judge in the Supreme Court from 1977 to 1980. He came to further prominence after the end of apartheid, playing a key role in reforming the legal and corporate structures to serve the needs of the new South Africa. The outcome of this was the King Report on Corporate Governance, published in 1994. This was updated in 2002, to take greater account of sustainability, and again in 2009, bringing together governance, strategy and sustainability, and effectively ushering in what we now know as Integrated Reporting.
Many CIPR members are involved in advising the boards of their organisations on strategic issues, and we have long held the view that a traditional annual report, with its focus on finance, does not really provide a sufficiently full and meaningful account of how an organisation is performing.
The Integrated Reporting format provides public relations, for the first time, a means of properly describing what we do and how we create and sustain value. This is why we want to recognise Professor King’s role as the founding father of the Integrated Reporting movement.
I believe that strategic communications is the only way we can rebuild the trust between corporations and the public – so I will treasure this award.
In June 2015, the CIPR adopted Integrated Reporting – also known as – for the first time. This was in a bid to encourage members make the case for Integrated Reporting to their clients and organisations. A comprehensive suite of information and resources to learn and understand more about Integrated Reporting is available via the CIPR website.
Notes to editors
About the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR)Founded in 1948, the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) is the Royal Chartered professional body for public relations practitioners in the UK and overseas. The CIPR is the largest membership organisation for PR practitioners outside of North America. By size of turnover and number of individually registered members, we are the leading representative body for the PR profession and industry in Europe.
The CIPR advances professionalism in public relations by making its members accountable to their employers and the public through a code of conduct and searchable public register, setting standards through training, qualifications, awards and the production of best practice and skills guidance, facilitating Continuing Professional Development (CPD), and awarding Chartered Public Relations Practitioner status (Chart.PR).