PR agencies selection checklist: ten gates from identity to exit

A PR agencies selection checklist should stop a weak appointment, not turn missing evidence into a score. Use this for one defined service and England-operating buyer. Record inspector, date, source version, evidence location, pass, HOLD or stop decision, exception owner and recheck date for every line.

The editorial desk prepared the checklist on 6 September 2026. Reviewing roles are unassigned; no supplier funding, affiliate link, gift, free access or client work was involved.

How to use the ten gates

Use the checklist for one defined service and an England-operating buyer. For every gate, record inspector, date, source version, evidence location, decision, exception owner and recheck date.

Mark a gate PASS only when its listed checks are evidenced and reviewed. Mark it HOLD if evidence is missing or unresolved; mark it STOP when its stated stop condition applies. The overall result is PASS only if all ten gates pass, HOLD if any gate is on hold and none is stopped, and STOP if any gate is stopped. Failed legal, privacy, security, rights or accessibility gates cannot be offset by price or portfolio.

Gate 1 — Identity

Reconcile legal name, trading name, company number where applicable, jurisdiction, signatory and payment account.
Treat Companies House material as limited register evidence. Its disclaimer says publication does not mean company-supplied information was verified or validated.
Stop if the contracting entity cannot be identified. Registration cannot prove quality, solvency or suitability.
Pass when the contracting entity and its evidence are reconciled; hold if any identity evidence is missing or unresolved.

Gate 2 — Service scope

Attach the exact service version, England scope, sectors, work items, exclusions, subcontractors and evidence cut-off.
Pass when the service and its boundaries are documented well enough to assess; hold if the scope or subcontractors are unclear. Stop if the service cannot be identified.

Gate 3 — Factual authority and claims

Name the buyer who approves each fact, quotation, spokesperson instruction, pitch and correction.
Inspect a versioned claims file. For objective advertising claims within scope, use CAP Section 3 as an authoritative substantiation record, not campaign clearance.
Pass when approval responsibility and relevant substantiation are documented; hold if either is missing or unresolved. Stop if the buyer cannot identify who has authority to approve facts and corrections.

Gate 4 — Media conduct

Record how contacts are researched, checked, approached, corrected and suppressed.
Reject any promise that the agency controls independent editorial acceptance, wording, prominence or timing.
Keep earned editorial, paid placement, advertorial, owned content and direct marketing in separate routes.
Pass when the agency's contact process and routes are documented. Hold if the process is untested or unclear; stop if the agency promises control over independent editorial decisions.

Gate 5 — Data, privacy and PECR

Map the purposes and decisions made by buyer, agency, subcontractor, database supplier and platform.
Determine controller, joint-controller or processor roles from actual conduct. The ICO's role guidance cannot be replaced by a contract label.
Record media-contact provenance, subscriber type, channel, transparency, objections, suppression, retention, rights, transfers and deletion.
Apply the ICO's business-to-business marketing guidance with qualified review. Public contact details do not create blanket permission.
Pass when roles, contact records and the proposed marketing route have been reviewed; hold if the evidence or qualified review is incomplete. Stop if the agency treats public contact details as blanket permission or cannot honour suppression.

Gate 6 — Rights and assets

Create an asset schedule with owner, licence, territory, term, edits, channels, archive, return and deletion. IPO ownership guidance is a starting point, not a decision about unidentified work.
Pass when the proposed use and its rights are documented; hold if ownership or licence evidence is incomplete. Stop if an asset is to be used and its owner or permission cannot be established.

Gate 7 — Accessibility

Test real proposed documents, recordings, events and response routes with a named accessibility reviewer. Do not accept a general accessibility statement as task evidence.
Pass when the proposed work has been tested and any required changes are agreed; hold if testing or review is incomplete. Stop if a failed accessibility test has no agreed remediation.

Gate 8 — Security

Keep buyer-owned access where required. Test least privilege, authentication, logs, confidential drafts, joiner and leaver changes, recovery and revocation.
Require reporting, review, remediation and exit evidence. NCSC supply-chain guidance supports those questions without certifying a supplier.
Pass when the required controls and evidence are tested; hold if a test or review is outstanding. Stop if required access, recovery or revocation cannot be demonstrated.

Gate 9 — Crisis readiness and measurement

Exercise one synthetic crisis with factual authority, unavailable spokesperson, confidential route, incident evidence, correction, recovery and restart decisions.
Define inputs, activities, outputs, audience response, outcomes and organisational impact. AMEC's taxonomy supports these distinctions but does not prove performance.
Keep observed, attributed, modelled and causal values apart. Coverage and potential reach are not return on investment.
Pass when the crisis exercise and measurement definitions are documented; hold if either has not been tested or agreed. Stop if the agency cannot identify a workable route for factual authority, correction and recovery in the exercise.

Gate 10 — Cost, contract and exit

Separate fee, third-party purchases, production, travel, monitoring, accessible formats, legal and specialist review, VAT, buyer labour, change and exit. Record currency, unit, period, quantity and tax basis; do not guess.
Check parties, scope, acceptance, approvals, confidentiality, data terms, rights, security, accessible formats, fees, VAT, change, correction, liability, continuity, termination, export, deletion and transition.
Use controlled fixtures to prove correction, suppression, access recovery and handover. A watched demonstration is not a buyer test.
Pass when costs, contract terms and exit evidence are documented and reviewed; hold if any are incomplete. Stop if the buyer cannot secure the required termination, export, deletion or transition arrangements.

The current verdict is HOLD because no candidate dossier or test record was supplied. Named specialist reviewers must sign their own gates, and every source, service term and test requires a publication-day recheck.

Before you act

Gate 1Reconcile legal name, trading name, company number where applicable, jurisdiction, signatory and payment account.
Gate 2Attach the exact service version, England scope, sectors, work items, exclusions, subcontractors and evidence cut-off.
Gate 3Name the buyer who approves each fact, quotation, spokesperson instruction, pitch and correction; inspect the claims file.
Gate 4Record how media contacts are researched, checked, approached, corrected and suppressed; separate editorial, paid, advertorial, owned and direct-marketing routes.
Gate 5Map data roles and record contact provenance, marketing route, objections, suppression, retention, transfers and deletion.
Gate 6Record asset ownership, licence, territory, term, permitted edits and channels, archive, return and deletion.
Gate 7Test proposed documents, recordings, events and response routes with a named accessibility reviewer.
Gate 8Test access, authentication, logs, joiner and leaver changes, recovery, revocation and exit evidence.
Gate 9Exercise a synthetic crisis and define the measurement framework and value categories.
Gate 10Record costs and contract terms; test correction, suppression, access recovery and handover.

Common questions

What should a buyer do if the contracting entity or service cannot be identified?

Stop. The article says registration cannot prove quality, solvency or suitability, and the checklist requires the contracting entity and service to be identified before any further gate is assessed.

How should a buyer treat Companies House material when selecting a PR agency?

Treat it as limited register evidence. The article cites the Companies House disclaimer saying publication does not mean company-supplied information was verified or validated, so it cannot establish quality, solvency or suitability.

Why is the current verdict HOLD rather than a pass or stop?

The article states the verdict is HOLD because no candidate dossier or test record was supplied. Named specialist reviewers must sign their own gates, and every source, service term and test requires a publication-day recheck.