For full story link to PR Week website
Thanks to PR Week for confirming what we suspected for a while now that we are the UK’s number one tech PR firm. As usual, PR Week has a hard time putting together full lists as the advertising groups that own the other big PR firms hide behind Sarbanes Oxley and do not let the PR firms release their figures (as I know most of them want to by the way). We are fairly certain we are bigger than any the table has missed, but happy to be corrected by anyone brave enough to defy the bean-counters that own them. I reproduce here by the way my own global league table from a while back. It is more than a shame that this still occurs as PR Week’s league tables are really useful to help clients make decisions about which agencies to go with. And given that we are the industry that bangs on about the importance of transparency and openness to our clients it does seem a tad hypocritical too.
sixtysecondview.blog 
Congrats!
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SARBOX compliant firms don’t ‘hide’ behind the law, we comply with them. That’s what laws are for. No more of this competitive knockabout stuff or I will reveal all about our Lost Night In Moscow!
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With the greatest of respect my friend it is not just knockabout and it is not just me on this subject. See below PR Week US on this. But I do live in fear of the events of Moscow being revealed…..so I may quieten down on it a bit.
It’s time for agencies to stop hiding behind SOX
February 06, 2008
We continue to wait in vain for revenue and staffing figures from the major holding company agencies. While many have perhaps forgotten that full and transparent disclosure of this information used to be standard practice, PRWeek – we can assure you – has not.
We continue to object to the specious reasoning that caused the holding companies to withdraw from participating in all industry rankings.
We object strongly to the perpetuation of the myth that Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) mandates that holding companies not disclose this information. Make no mistake: these companies have elected not to reveal this information to shareholders and stakeholders, much less the readers of marketing titles. This decision goes against the spirit of increased and accurate disclosure that the act was meant to foster.
To be sure, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance is an expensive and labor-intensive undertaking. But even though their revenues are not publicly disclosed, holding company agencies have been GAAP-compliant in their reporting for years. There are no barriers to full transparency, other than a stubborn lack of candor on the part of the holding companies, and perhaps the fact that some agencies might have been less than buttoned down in their reporting in years past.
That is all the more reason why responsible firms must fight the lack of disclosure. For an industry that is the biggest proponent of openness and candor, the stance against transparency is increasingly indefensible.
The rankings form for the PRWeek Agency Business Report is available for download at http://www.prweek.com. The deadline to receive forms is February 29. If you have any questions, please e-mail rankings@prweek.com.
From the February 11, 2008 Issue of PRWeek
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