LONDON — Two PR agencies have become the latest in the industry to achieve B Corp certification: Third City, and SEO and digital specialist Blue Array. Certified B Corporations are verified by B Lab to meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability.

MADRID — LLYC, the communications, public affairs and digital agency focused on Spanish and Portuguese-speaking markets around the world, posted total revenues of €43.6 million in the first half of the year, 70% up on the same period in 2021. Operating revenues (total revenues less re-invoicing of services to customers) rose 53% to €35.6 million. Meanwhile, recurring EBITDA (gross operating profit) improved by 25% to €8.1 million.

LONDON — Enero Group has released its full-year financial results, showing revenue increasing 20% and underlying operating EBITDA up 40%. The group’s brand transformation business segment – which includes agencies Hotwire, BMF and CPR – grew net revenue by 11%. Hotwire grew in all geographies, especially in the US, UK, and Australia; its new ‘Reputation to Revenue’ service offering continues to gain momentum in the UK, combined with performance marketing capabilities from the McDonald Butler Associates acquisition in April 2021 and the recent acquisitions of ROI DNA and GetIT, as well as new client wins including LinkedIn and Peloton.

LONDON — Splendid Communications has acquired 100% of culture and entertainment PR agency Riot Communications to join its network, The Splendid Collective. Riot is the second agency to join the network after youth, culture and music specialist Kingdom Collective, which joined in November 2021. The aim of the group is to bring together ambitious, values-led agencies to share their expertise across PR, social media, influencer, digital marketing and events, under a group leadership team led by Splendid Communications CEO Alec Samways. Riot will retain its identity and director Caitlin Allen, a director in Riot’s Senior Leadership team, will take over as MD from Preena Gadher, who co-founded Riot with Anwen Hooson in 2009 and who is leaving to become MD of Penguin General, a division of publisher Penguin Random House.

DUBAI — UK agency Jargon PR has opened its first international office in Dubai to service the UAE technology market. The agency will focus on business-to-business campaigns and will grow through new client wins and the expansion of existing client campaigns into the region. Supporting the agency’s growth on the ground with media strategy is Cheryl King (pictured) of King & Co, who has been in the region for almost eight years. The agency has also recently opened an office in Cardiff and now has four offices in the UK, with a total headcount of 35.

LONDON — The PRCA Global Ethics Council has launched a global research project, in partnership with the Washington DC-based Ethics & Compliance Initiative, to examine the state of ethics and compliance in PR and communications. The survey, based on ECI’s Global Business Ethics Survey, will measure ethics outcomes including workplace misconduct observed by PR practitioners, and any retaliation experienced as a result of reporting misconduct The PRCA will use the findings to form a picture of global attitudes towards workplace ethics and the roadblocks to engaging in ethical practice, as well as informing recommendations on how the industry should handle unethical requests and mandates from management and clients.

LONDON — More PRCA research: the organisation’s Race and Ethnicity Equity Board (REEB) is seeking communications professionals from a diverse range of ethnic backgrounds to take part in a new research study exploring the lived experiences of Black, Asian, mixed race and non-white men. The research aims to provide an unfiltered and holistic account of the experiences of Black, Asian, mixed race and non-white practitioners in PR, along with recommendations for agencies and in-house teams. REEB would like to hear from practitioners across all levels of seniority. Participants will be asked to take part in interviews reflecting on their experiences of working in PR. The discussions will touch on a range of issues including organisational culture, promotions and mobility, and salaries. To apply to take part in the research, please email senior policy and research manager Faisal Hussain with a brief summary of your career.

LONDON – Freelance PR matchmaking service The PR Cavalry, which has around 2,000 independent practitioners on its books, has launched a bi-annual benchmarking study into the freelance market and is calling for responses from freelance PR practitioners. Founder of The PR Cavalry Nigel Sarbutts says: “The UK freelance PR market is worth around £550m per annum. It is a huge but poorly understood market and we want to reveal more granular detail on issues like late payments, exactly what services freelancers are providing to clients and the confidence of the sector as the economy heads into recession.”