JIM DEVLIN Principal Cunningham Devlin PR & Communications
ACTIVITY 2020 was better than most of us forecast at the start of the pandemic, among clients and in the communications/PR sector. We have been maintaining a similar level of lobbying activity, usually across Zoom or Microsoft Teams. Stakeholders are amenable to continuing to engage with clients, even if this is not in person.
REMOTE WORKING We coped surprisingly well with remote working; everybody has adapted. We have pretty robust broadband connectivity and the web conferencing applications have worked very well. My best investment over the last few months was a large desktop screen for the home office – essential! I think a large element of home working is definitely here to stay. But we are not giving up on the office just yet.
OUTLOOK I think most clients are doing their best to maintain activity levels and are fairly hopeful of a strong rebound once the pandemic is brought under control. However, the long-term impacts of Brexit and the costs of the pandemic, could still be a significant drag on the economy for some time to come.
‘Most clients are doing theirb est to maintain activity levels’