New research has found that senior corporate affairs professionals at FTSE 100 companies only spend an average of 3.3 years in their roles.

The CASA UK Casa UK communications and corporate affairs turnover report 2025, by Corporate Affairs Search Alliance and Ithaca Partners found that international counterparts stayed longer, with 5.6 years in Germany and 4.6 years in the US.

Additionally, turnover in the UK was 23% last year, which is more than double the turnover of European counterparts like Germany or Ireland, and still substantially higher than the US, which had a turnover of 15.2%.

The report suggested this could have been because of a change in government, or CEO’s desire to “upgrade” internal talent to navigate a challenging political landscape. It also said the UK’s recent high rate of CEO turnover is “likely to have played a role”.

Meanwhile, the UK is outperforming other countries with gender balance at senior levels, with 53% of corporate affairs positions in FTSE 100 companies filled by women and 47% by men. In comparison, women in the US occupy 68% of communications leadership positions in the Fortune 500.

Alex Gordon Shute, founder of Ithaca Partners UK said: “The UK stakeholder universe is one of the toughest and most aggressive, making the UK home to some of the most capable corporate affairs talent in the world. Media and political attitudes to business can be cynical, and relationships with unions and NGOs are often fractious, so strong corporate affairs leadership has never been more critical.

“There’s a clear desire from CEOs to upgrade their top talent; it’s a challenging environment, and they need expert judgment within easy reach. While corporate affairs teams face the same budget pressures as other functions, the number one role is usually too crucial for CEOs to think of doing without it."

Read the full report here