Chartered Institute of Public Relations Director General honoured

The CIPR Council has awarded CIPR Director General Colin Farrington an Honorary Fellowship in recognition of his ten years of service to the Institute and PR industry, and to mark the close of the CIPR’s 60th anniversary year.

Under Colin’s directorship the CIPR has almost doubled its membership; developed professional qualifications specifically for the PR industry; built a comprehensive training programme; accredited more than 40 PR graduate and postgraduate courses nationwide; and achieved Charter status. He has also increased the Institute’s turnover from £1m to £4m and its staff from eight to 40. Today, the Institute is regarded as one of the world’s leading public relations and communications organisations.

CIPR President Elisabeth Lewis-Jones said: “It gives me great personal as well as professional pleasure to be able to give Colin this award on behalf of the CIPR Council in recognition of the significant contribution he has made to the CIPR and by the same token the wider PR industry.

“During his ten years at the CIPR Colin has been the linchpin that has drawn together the Institute’s wide remit of activities and the engine that has driven their growth. Working with PR professionals across sectors, he has pushed PR up both corporate and political agendas and has seen the valuable role it plays in society acknowledged with the award of Charter status to the CIPR. If that were not enough, he has given the UK profession a leading international role and presence. Colin is a thoroughly deserving recipient of this rare award.”

As Director-General of the CIPR Colin has focused on modernising and re-structuring the Institute, increasing membership and promoting the profession's reputation. Colin is also concerned with strengthening the CIPR’s international links. He has achieved this through his roles as Secretary General and Board member of the European Confederation of Public Relations Associations (CERP), and Chair of the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management (GA), which he helped found in 2000.

The strength of the CIPR’s reputation overseas was evident earlier this year when over 33 countries nations were represented at the World PR Conference hosted by the CIPR in London.