PA practitioners call for dedicated body

The survey was commissioned by networking forum PubAffairs and carried out by Communicate Research. Eighty-eight per cent of respondents identified themselves as PA rather than PR practitioners, and 79 per cent called for a separate PA association to be set up.

Communicate chief executive Andrew Hawkins said the number of practitioners calling for a dedicated PA body was 'staggeringly high'. Associations do exist, but the survey suggested they may not be enough, he added.

The Association for Professional Political Consultants, for example, is only applicable to the 28 per cent of respondents who work for a consultancy.

PubAffairs founder Phil Murphy said because the vast majority of PA practitioners did not identify themselves primarily as PR professionals, they may be discouraged from joining the CIPR Government Affairs Group.

Murphy said the disparate PA associations and groups should come together to discuss the future of the industry: 'How can we work
together? Do we need an overarching PA organisation separate from other PR associations?'

The survey also detailed pay, holiday entitlement and other benefits, showing that – of those who had moved jobs within the past year – 31 per cent received a pay rise of 20 to 30 per cent. Seventeen per cent gained a ten to 20 per cent salary increase.

Hawkins said: 'The significant increase in salaries shows it to be a sector full of opportunities.'

The survey was sent out to all 1,300 PubAffairs members, of which 250 responded. Three quarters were aged 30 or under, fairly representative of PubAffairs members, although not of the
industry as a whole. The gender split was 47 per cent
female, 53 per cent male.