Month: January 2026

First-ever analysis of UK-wide census data reveals Scotland leading on gender representation in PR

Stuart Mitchell

The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) has published the first UK-wide analysis of public relations practitioners, revealing the national differences in gender representation at senior levels and confirming that practitioner numbers have grown by 53% since 2011. The PR Population Report: UK-wide edition was produced in partnership with Chalkstream and represents the first dataset to combine Census 2021 and 2022 occupational data for PR practitioners across all four nations. It provides the most comprehensive picture to date of the size and makeup of the UK’s population of PR professionals,…

Read More

UNESCO warns of serious decline in freedom of expression and safety of journalists worldwide

Stuart Mitchell

UNESCO’s flagship report on global trends in freedom of expression and journalism points to a historic 10% decline in freedom of expression globally between 2012 and 2024. This trend is a consequence of the alarming rise in self-censorship by journalists and the attacks they face – both in real life and online. Freedom of expression and information is not an option: it is the very condition for lasting peace. Faced with a historic regression, we must act together to protect and defend everyone’s right to think, write and inform. UNESCO…

Read More

The Royal Academy of Music announces £30M donation

Stuart Mitchell

The Royal Academy of Music announce a transformational £30 million donation from philanthropist Mrs Aud Jebsen. This gift, the largest in our 203-year history and the biggest donation ever given to a conservatoire outside the USA, will be used to transform the Academy’s facilities. In recognition of Mrs Jebsen’s outstanding support, 1-5 York Gate, a large Nash-terrace building, part of the Academy’s main site on London’s Marylebone Road, will be named Aud Jebsen House. The donation will be staggered and the Grade II-listed Regency building will undergo major works over…

Read More

A quarter of UK working parents have turned to food support services to put food on their tables

Stuart Mitchell

Almost a quarter of working parents across the UK have had to turn to a food support service in the last year to help them feed their children. Food redistribution charity The Felix Project surveyed 4,000 working parents with at least one child at home aged 16 and under. They found 23% have used a food bank, that could equate to 1,725,000 parents across the UK. Of those, 1 in 4 are using food services every one or two weeks to make sure they have enough food to feed their…

Read More

Tesco announces two new nature partnerships as it ramps up plans to boost biodiversity across land connected to food production

Stuart Mitchell

Tesco has today reaffirmed its aim to protect and restore nature across key sourcing regions in its supply chain, as it revealed the progress it’s made during the first year of its Nature Programme initiative. The retailer launched its Nature Programme in 2023, with five projects now established in partnership with Forestry England, delivered in the Blackdown Hills; RSPB; the Rivers Trust, alongside beef and lamb supplier, ABP; Herefordshire Rural Hub; and ANSE (Asociación de Naturalistas del Sureste) and key fruit supplier AMFRESH in Spain.   As part of the programme, land linked to the production of 18 high risk commodities is already benefiting from a range of initiatives, including creating habitats for key species, increasing pollinators, improving soil health and…

Read More