Agency Associations Form Federation in UK

The IPA, the PRCA and MCCA in the UK have agreed to establish the Communications Agency Federation (CAF) with immediate effect. The Federation will provide a forum in which the associations can exchange views, co-ordinate their work and manage joint projects.

The Federation Council will comprise the presidents and chief executives of the three federations and will meet at least quarterly. The Council will have a rotating chairman and one of the chief executives will act as Secretary. It is not intended that the Federation will have its own staff, offices or funds.

Membership of the Federation will be open to other associations representing agencies in the communications field.

The decision to establish the Federation follows consideration of a report by trade association consultant Mark Boleat, who had been commissioned by the associations to review the trade association structure for communications agencies. The Boleat report concluded that the present trade association structure was broadly right and was regarded as appropriate in the industry. The report could see no case for mergers although it saw merit in some pooling of resources. This could extend to sharing accommodation although this was largely an economic issue and was probably not practicable in the near future.

Mark Boleat commented 'Communications agencies have been well served by their trade associations, each of which enjoys strong member support. The associations increasingly work together on matters of common interest. While there is no strong case for the associations seeking to merge they do need to strengthen their relationships in order to best serve their increasingly overlapping memberships. An informal federation is the best means of achieving this in the short term. At minimal cost it will provide a framework within which the associations can co-operate. There will be issues on which the Federation may wish to make joint representations or commission a project, but more generally the exchange of information will help each of the associations become more effective. Among the specific issues the Federation should be involved in are the agency/client relationship, European representation and the growing threat to freedom to advertise.'

Bruce Haines, Graham Lancaster and Matthew Hooper, the presidents of the three associations, added 'Mark Boleat's report has given us a valuable independent insight into the role of each of our associations. He has identified the need for the associations to work more closely together but concludes that a merger is not the right way forward. We have accepted this conclusion and have established the Federation to formalise and develop our working relationship. The Federation will be valuable in its own right and the experience that we gain in the Federation will determine the nature of any future initiatives between our associations.'

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.