Catalogue description Post Office: Public Relations Department, predecessors and successors

Chronological order in subseries.

The first Public Relations Officer was appointed on 1 October 1933, although an active 'public relations' function had already been in existence for at least ten years. This was followed by the formation of the Public Relations Department, which was formally established on 25 April 1934, when other changes in headquarters organisation were made.

The Post Office was the first government ministry to form a separate public relations department. In 1934 the first charter of the Public Relations Department stated that the responsibilities of the department were 'to promote good relations with the public, and to conduct sales and publicity for the services provided by The Post Office' (POST 108/18). The department was so successful that the Home Office borrowed its controller and some other officers in 1938 to plan publicity for air raid precautions. In 1939 some of its staff were seconded to help in establishing the wartime Ministry of Information.

In September 1939 many of the department's remaining staff were dispersed to assist in other government work, but it was soon realised that public relations work was just as necessary in war time as in peacetime, and the department's operations were revived.

By the 1950s the department was organised into three main divisions: press and broadcast, publicity, and publications.

• Press and broadcast, established in 1934, was the oldest division of the three. From November 1940 it was headed by a specialist with previous journalistic experience. It issued news bulletins, and other bulletins on individual matters were distributed to newspapers, broadcasters and other interested parties. In addition the division's officers answered a continual flow of enquiries, mainly by telephone from journalists. It also had responsibility for organising occasional press conferences for ministers.
• The publicity division's main area of responsibility was to ensure that The Post Office was presented in print, display, and film, with the highest possible standard of modern art and technique.
• The publications division was responsible for compiling and editing the various Post Office publications. These included the Post Office Guide, Post Offices in the United Kingdom, London Post Offices and Streets, and Postal Addresses.

During the 1990s the department was renamed Communication Services and was positioned as part of Royal Mail Group Centre. Four directors, reporting to a Director of Communication Services, were made responsible for: Regional Communications, Communications Consultancy, Creative Services, and 'Commercial Matters'. Communication Services activities and functions were reviewed and redesigned and changes made to resourcing levels. Under this new structure Communication Services was organised and run as an external agency. The intention was to expand the range of services offered, in order to support The Post Office aim of being recognised as 'the complete distribution company', and build a closer relationship with the users of its services.