Former AMEC Chair Richard Bagnall, captures AMEC’s close relationship with Francis Ingham, and how he was one of our most respected industry supporters. Francis was bestowed with AMEC’s highest accolade in 2021; the Don Bartholomew Award for outstanding service to the industry and he was a tireless advocate for the importance of measurement and evaluation.

Remembering Francis Ingham, by Richard Bagnall, Co-Managing Partner Carma, AMEC Chair 2016-2022

Like many in the PR & Comms community, I am deeply saddened by the news of Francis Ingham’s passing. As the news reverberates around the world, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on his achievements and the many qualities that he brought specifically to the measurement and evaluation industry. He worked incredibly hard in the support, development and adoption of best-practice. I hope you will indulge me to share a few photos to enrich some of the memories.

I had the pleasure of knowing Francis well for over 15 years. In this time I’ve worked closely with him through a number of roles, notably at AMEC, CARMA, and the Cabinet Office’s Strategy & Evaluation Council.

It wasn’t always work work work though. We had a lot of laughs along the way. Anyone spending time in his company would recognise the same.

Francis began his role as DG of the PRCA in 2007, coincidentally the same time as Barry Leggetter joined AMEC as our CEO. In their first week, they met for lunch and agreed how important close collaboration between the two organisations would be if the global PR and comms sector was to be helped to embrace the benefits of measurement and evaluation.

Francis was passionate in his views of the importance of this. In his own words he would often say:

“Talent is the biggest issue facing our industry. We don’t pay enough. We don’t pay enough because we don’t charge enough. We don’t charge enough because we don’t measure well enough. So we need to invest in measurement, then we can resolve the biggest issue”

Over the years Francis, PRCA and ICCO have remained strong friends and partners of AMEC, collaborating on many important educational initiatives, supporting our events and annual measurement summits.

Francis was a tireless advocate for our industry and understood better than anyone how meaningful measurement and evaluation were linked to the future success of the PR and comms industry.

Francis brought the full weight and power of the PRCA and ICCO membership and their wider global communities to support our educational work. He was a friend to many of us in the industry and after Barry’s retirement, that bond and friendship flourished with our current CEO, Johna Burke.

As Chair of AMEC, it was one of my great privileges to decide who should be recognised with the Don Bartholomew Award each year. This award is AMEC’s highest honour and is given at the chair’s discretion to acknowledge outstanding service to our industry. In November 2021, it was easy for me to choose Francis to receive this honour.

His drive, energy and support left an indelible mark on our industry, and we will always be grateful for everything that he did.

I hope that my speech on the awards night captured the professional qualities of the man, and are a strong record of all that the world of #publicrelations has lost with his passing. The transcript of my words and a recording of Francis’ acceptance speech are both below as a lasting tribute to him.

Francis, thank you for your support and friendship to our industry and its many individuals. Your legacy and memory will live on, and you will be deeply missed. May your soul rest in peace.”

November 30th 2021

As was typical of the man, Francis made a very gracious acceptance speech which I am happy to say was recorded. It is available to watch again as a reminder of all that the industry has lost.

ends…

You can view the original and full tribute here.

It is our pleasure to share this befitting tribute to Francis Ingham, one of AMEC’s biggest supporters who championed the true importance of measurement and evaluation.