24 October 2008
Public Finance has improved as a publication over the past two years and has been given high satisfaction ratings in an online reader survey.
The survey, undertaken by CIPFA's market research department, examined the views of almost 1,000 PF readers. It asked for feedback on the magazine, its online version (publicfinance.co.uk) and its recruitment website (pfjobs.co.uk).
The vast majority of respondents, 87%, described the magazine either as 'good' or 'very good'. This is four percentage points up on the figure recorded when the survey was last carried out in 2006. Eighty-four per cent said they were 'very satisfied' or 'quite satisfied' with PF overall.
News and features generated the highest ratings with 91% and 87%, respectively, describing these sections as 'good' or 'very good'. Both of these figures are an improvement on the 2006 survey.
Design and style were also commended. Eighty-eight per cent said that design and visual appeal were 'good' or 'very good', while 92% said that writing style and readability were 'good' or 'very good'.
Satisfaction levels for publicfinance.co.uk and for pfjobs.co.uk were not as high, but this also reflected lower awareness levels than for the magazine. For publicfinance.co.uk, 41% were 'quite' or 'very satisfied', with 56% offering no opinion. Similarly, 36% of respondents were 'very' or 'quite satisfied' with pfjobs.co.uk and 56% again offered no opinion.
We are currently redesigning publicfinance.co.uk and will be relaunching the site within the next few weeks. The new version will be more independent of Public Finance and will offer greater interactivity.
Chief executives, finance directors, auditors, accountants and consultants were among the 965 respondents to the survey. Their suggestions for improvement included calls for more technical content, an improved 'People' section and greater central government coverage.
The editorial staff will be discussing these suggestions and others as we plan how to take Public Finance forward.
We are grateful to everyone who took the time to fill in the online questionnaire. We welcome feedback from readers and want the magazine and its websites to be informative, entertaining and useful.
Thanks for continuing to support us in this endeavour.
MIKE THATCHER
Editor
Mike Griffiths, director of research services at University College London, was the winner of our survey competition. He receives £100 worth of Marks & Spencer vouchers
PFoct2008
