BT examines corporate affairs agency partnerships as function struggles for internal recognition

BT is reviewing its corporate affairs agency support as the telecommunications company grapples with wider industry questions about whether communications functions deliver measurable business outcomes or simply justify their own existence. The move reflects mounting pressure across the sector, where corporate affairs teams face simultaneous demands for expanded responsibilities and shrinking budgets, raising uncomfortable questions about their true value to organisations.

The Value Question

Recent research from Deloitte examined how corporate affairs is perceived within UK businesses. The findings reveal a disconnect between how professionals view their role and how senior leadership actually values the function. While 43 percent of surveyed corporate affairs professionals identify themselves as growth drivers, the report stresses that widespread acceptance of the function as indispensable has not yet been achieved across the business community.

The instability is stark. Corporate affairs teams face an unpredictable future within organisations, with some chief executives building and investing in the function while their successors downgrade or dismantle it. Finance departments enjoy relative protection from such restructuring, yet corporate affairs has become fair game for cost-cutting exercises and organisational shake-ups. The function appears caught in a cycle of advancement followed by retreat.

The Internal Reputation Problem

A significant weakness undermines corporate affairs' case for survival: the function struggles to manage its own internal reputation. Despite their expertise in stakeholder perception and reputation management, corporate affairs professionals rarely conduct formal audits of how their own work is perceived by executives and decision-makers. Most corporate affairs teams cannot articulate how chief executives or chief financial officers genuinely view their contribution. This inconsistency across leadership creates vulnerability when budgets tighten or leadership changes.

Experts in the field argue that corporate affairs teams must shift focus from activity-based metrics to demonstrable business outcomes. The question posed by communications leaders is increasingly direct: if your corporate affairs team disappeared tomorrow, would the organisation genuinely miss the impact, or merely the activity? BT's agency review suggests the company is asking exactly that question internally, forcing external partners to justify their contribution in tangible business terms rather than communication outputs alone.