Warren Newman FCIPR 1947–2026

The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) is sad to learn that former President of 1987, Warren Newman FCIPR, died at home on the 13th of February 2026, aged 78.

Warren was born in Denmark Hill, South London, on the 20th of July 1947. Having left grammar school at the age of sixteen, he started his career in sales at Pratts of Streatham, which would later become part of John Lewis. He soon became a reporter for the John Lewis staff newspaper, which is where he first began to hone his craft in the fields of communications and PR.

Warren undertook a variety of press officer, PR and public affairs roles in a wide range of sectors during his career, including as Director of the Information Division at the NFU from 1984 and as the Communications Director of the Atomic Energy Authority in the early nineties.

Warren himself described his appointment as CIPR President in 1987 as the pinnacle of his career. Having left school with few qualifications, he was also immensely proud to have been asked to be a guest lecturer at a local college – for a course he observed he wouldn’t have been qualified to enrol on himself. His family describe him as an exemplar of social mobility.

Later in his career, Warren was appointed as CEO of Bacta (the trade association representing the amusement industry and land-based low-stake gambling entertainment industry) and then as an interim executive for several companies before taking early retirement.

Alongside his work and other interests, Warren was also a dedicated trustee of two charities: The Voice of the Listener and The Viewer and the Childhood Eye Cancer Trust.

Warren and his late wife, Avril, are survived by their two children, David and Debbie, and their two grandchildren, Talia and Caspar.