It’s been a tough couple of years for the PR industry, as many agencies have struggled under the pressure of the recession. There is, however, some good news.

PR Week’s latest league table of the top 150 U.K.-based PR consultancies suggests that it’s not all doom and gloom. The league tables, which rank the U.K.'s top PR agencies according to fee income, showed the average growth for a PR agency in 2010 was 9.24 per cent.

Top of the table was Bell Pottinger, which retained its position as the U.K.'s largest PR agency by fee income, with £68 million (about $112 million), up £7.9 million (about $13 million) on the previous year.

Francis Ingham, Director general at the PRCA (Public Relations Consultants Association) told PR Week:

“Last year was the year PR consultancies shrugged off the recession and got into their stride again. For every one that contracted, roughly four grew. Rather than the prolonged period of gloom and retrenchment that some predicted, there is now good reason to anticipate strong future growth.”

Read the full article here, and check out the full 150 here.