Next Fifteen, which owns Bite, Inferno and Text100, said that despite good results it would be acting cautiously given the economic climate.
Chief executive Tim Dyson said that PR is one of the most efficient forms of marketing but that the industry needs to justify its worth by measuring the effectiveness of PR campaigns. He said agencies have no one to blame but themselves if they don't measure their campaigns because the cost of measurement tools has dramatically decreased.
'If the PR industry gets hit hard by this recession it is because we haven't done a good enough job getting our clients to really embrace measurement,' said Dyson.
Revenue climbed 6.5 per cent, from £59.3m in 2007 to £63.1m in 2008. Pre-tax profit was up 7.7 per cent from £5.12m in 2007 to £5.52m this year.