ABSTRACT
I n 1990, Peter Gummer, Chairman of Shandwick plc, gave the annual CAM Foundationlecture at Trinity and All Saints College in Leeds. He took as his theme ‘PR in the Year2000’. He stated that while at that time the number of people working in consultancies outnumbered those working in-house by four to one, by the turn of the century companies would ‘have an in-house function represented at a very senior level, probably at board or very near board level, able to buy in external assistance, both internationally and in particular specialisations’. He also estimated that consultancy fees would rise by 300 per cent to £15 billion worldwide, and that this growth would be driven by the development of PR in underdeveloped markets outside the UK and the USA. Important areas for growth were mainly environmental and government PR. ‘I believe that PR will increasingly be seen for what it really is – an indispensable tool of management’ (Gummer 1990).
