AFTER the hit TV sit-com Absolutely Fabulous, they were often referred to in business as "luvvies".

But the local public relations industry these days belies the fluffy image portrayed by Joanna Lumley's chain-smoking, champagne-quaffing Patsy.

Figures released by PR Week - the bible of the PR industry - show regional agencies slugging it out for a slice of the multi-million pound action in an increasingly cut-throat market.

According to the highly respected trade magazine, there is "plenty of cheer" for non-London consultancies, which proved their worth by showing a 13 per cent rise in overall fee income to £77.3m.

Among those doing well, PR Week named an agency near Southampton as both the fastest grower outside of London and the third fastest grower in the UK.

Income at the 20-client McKenna Townsend agency in Ringwood nearly tripled to £770,713 last year, while the number of staff nearly doubled, increasing from seven to 13 over the same period.

PR Week said: "McKenna Townsend PR achieved the largest percentage growth in fee income in the top 50, up 172 per cent over 2005."

The agency, set up three years ago by Matt McKenna and Sarah Townsend, was placed number 46 in PR Week's Top 50 Outside London.

Clients include Lotto operator Camelot, AXA Insurance, Channel 4's 4 Homes, Fujitsu Services, the Subway sandwich chain, the Dorset Safety Camera Partnership and Naomi House Children's Hospice, near Winchester.

Topping the table at £6.3m - a rise of 28 per cent - is Bristol based Harrison Cowley, which has clients like Age Concern, Land Rover and the Central Office for Information.

Placed second is The Big Partnership with £5.2m of revenue, while Golley Slater PR came third with £4.6m.

Whiteoaks, the consultancy led by the 2004 Wessex Businesswoman of the Year, Gill Craig of Farnham, is 22nd with £1.4m.