PR firm Q4 bosses get pay package boost as net profit slips 20%

Four senior advisers share ownership of the group which celebrates two decades in business this year

PR group Q4 has provided 'community engagement and communications services' to the agency building the national children’s hospital at St James’s Hospital in Dublin.
PR group Q4 has provided 'community engagement and communications services' to the agency building the national children’s hospital at St James’s Hospital in Dublin.

Directors and key account management personnel at Dublin public relations firm Q4 shared pay packages of €3.61 million last year.

Accounts filed by Q4 PR Ltd show the remuneration for this group rose marginally even as profit at the business after tax dipped just over 20 per cent to €70,640 in the 12 months to the end of June last.

The pay package to four directors and key account management personnel totalled €3.61 million, up from €3.57 million. Within that, their pay actually fell to €2.92 million from €3.4 million the previous year while pension contributions increased more than fourfold from €150,000 to €690,000.

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The directors of the company, which is celebrating 20 years in business this year, are former Fianna Fáil press secretary Martin Mackin; former political adviser and business journalist Jackie Gallagher; former Eircom director of communications Gerry O’Sullivan; and former Esat Telecom marketing director Angie Kinane.

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The four each have an equal share in the business, which had accumulated profit of €2.177 million at the end of the last financial year.

The company’s clients include Microsoft, VHI Healthcare, Tesco Ireland, Dell EMC, Coillte and Medtronic.

Revenues were boosted last year by work it does on behalf of the agency building the national children’s hospital. Figures previously released under Freedom of Information show that the firm received €326,474 in fees (including VAT) for “community engagement and communications services” concerning the children’s hospital project in 2020.

That brought to €1.7 million the amount the company had been paid for its PR services on the hospital project between 2015 and 2020.

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan is a contributor to The Irish Times