CIPR and PRCA merger shelved following critical meeting

A group of senior practitioners, including CIPR president Kevin Taylor and PRCA chairman David Gallagher, met to discuss ‘areas of common interest and potential collaboration'.
 
A joint statement put out by the two bodies said it had been agreed that there were a number of programme and policy areas that could be further explored.
 
But the statement added that both sides had decided not to investigate the scope for a merger.
 
‘The group agreed that discussion of a merger would be premature and is not on the table for exploration at present,' it said.
 
The CIPR is expecting to make a loss of around £700,000 in 2009.

Last month, the PR industry's two leading trade bodies both played down suggestions of a possible merger, with Taylor telling PRWeek: 'It's too soon to talk about a merger.'

Prior to this week's meeting, the CIPR had insisted there would be no discussion of a merger.
 
Speaking after the meeting, Taylor said: ‘We already work closely with the PRCA in a number of areas and exploring ways to extend that collaboration makes good business sense and is in the best interests of our memberships and the wider PR profession.'
 
Gallagher said: ‘It was a productive meeting and should set the stage for identifying specific issues and opportunities that we can best address together.'