The agency sought re-assessment against the IIP standards in January 2018 after having achieved Bronze accreditation for the previous three years.
IIP Specialist, Lindsey Waters, commenting on her assessment of Conscious Communications for the accolade, said: “The principles and ethics of being a conscious business are the foundation on which Conscious Communications operates, and understanding this ambition and how this translates into the day to day operation and behaviours is a strength for the organisation. Such high levels of collaboration and collective decision making are rarely seen, resulting in a high level of trust and respect for the leadership team.
“The focus on making a positive impact on the community is impressive, through initiatives such as FXP– an initiative spear-headed by Conscious Communications’ Managing Director to drive aspiration and opportunity in deprived communities – and volunteering days. These activities align back to ensuring that Conscious Communications is indeed a conscious business”.
To achieve IIP accreditation, organisations are assessed against particular indicators and, dependent on how highly an organisation scores against each indicator, IIP awards the appropriate IIP level. The levels represent the organisation’s level of “maturity”, from a fundamental “developed” level to a “high performing” level.
Alison Taylor, Managing Director, Conscious Communications, said: “It is a real credit to a business of our size to be awarded the IIP Gold accreditation. Our team operates on the basis that “it’s not just what we do that is important; it’s how we do it”. The success of Conscious Communications is down to the team’s hard work and dedication - from our pledge to go above and beyond for our clients, to the voluntary work that we undertake and our respect for each other, our clients, the environment and local communities”.
The IIP accreditation isn’t the only accolade the team has celebrated recently. At the end of 2017 the agency was crowned a “Force for Good” at the national PR Week UK Awards for its community project, FXP. Commenting on the FXP project, judges of the Award, all esteemed public relations industry professionals, said that it is: “A shining example of selfless work from a PR agency for the local community, addressing a real need in the broader community”.
Taylor said: “Receiving recognition for the set of values and ethics that our agency upholds, along with the impactful community work we undertake, confirms our place as one of the UK’s top agencies and our commitment to make a tangible positive impact on the world around us reinforces why we do what we do”.