Chime's PR interest, The Bell Pottinger Group, the UK's largest PR firm, recorded operating income of £27.7m in the first half of 2008 - up 15 per cent on last year.
Coming after last week's news of Huntsworth's half-year profit increase of 21.9 per cent, and WPP's 13.8 per cent increase in global PR revenue over the same period, the statistics paint a picture of an industry in rude health. 'Offline advertising has been affected more than anything, and our results show that,' said Lord Bell. 'PR is not suffering at all.'