The Agency by Agency Atlas 2026 Agency specialisms
Over the past year we have mapped the sector across 29 distinct capabilities, Amazon and Marketplace to Website and UX/UI Design. Because a single agency can offer more than one of these capabilities, the data in this chapter should be read as the proportion of agencies that have a particular specialism, not as mutually exclusive categories.
Most common specialisms
| % of all agencies |
Avg growth per year |
|
|---|---|---|
| Website and UX/UI Design | 33.3% | +2.4% |
| Digital | 21.7% | +4.8% |
| Design and Branding | 19.4% | +1.8% |
Fastest growing specialisms
| % of all agencies |
Avg growth per year |
|
|---|---|---|
| Influencer | 1.1% | +11.6% |
| Amazon and Marketplace | 0.6% | +11.4% |
| Data and Analytics | 1.9% | +10.6% |
An individual agency might appear in five or six specialism lists simultaneously, reflecting the breadth of what it offers. This means that specialisms are best understood as lenses onto the sector rather than strict classifications: each one reveals a different slice of what the UK’s agency community actually does, how it is valued and where it is heading.
The common specialisms are not the most valuable ones
A third of all UK agencies have a capability in Website and UX/UI Design. More than one in five have a digital capability. Nearly one in five offer design and branding. These are the specialisms that define the sector numerically, but they are not always where the money, the growth or the investment are concentrated.
The fastest-growing specialisms in the sector are Influencer (11.6%), Amazon and Marketplace (11.4%), Data and Analytics (10.6%) and Social Purpose and Sustainability (9.2%), none of which feature in the top five by agency count. The highest turnover per head belongs to Media, and Creative and Advertising, both of which rank low by number of agencies but are also sectors where third party advertising spend might show up in the agency’s turnover. Meanwhile, the lion’s share of investment funding flows to Digital and Social Media rather than to the execution-focused web and design specialisms that dominate the sector numerically.
The picture this creates is one of a sector whose centre of gravity, measured by the number of agencies, sits in one place, while its growth, revenue and investment momentum sits in another. Understanding that divergence is essential for anyone looking to commission, invest in, or build an agency, and for policy makers trying to direct support towards the parts of the creative sector with the greatest potential.
The long tail of specialisms is where the sector’s diversity lies
Website and UX/UI Design (33.3%) is by far the most common specialism in the sector, followed by Digital (21.7%) and Design and Branding (19.4%). These three specialisms together represent the predominant operational focus of the sector by agency count.
Beyond them, the distribution thins rapidly: PR and Communications (10.8%) and SEO (10.7%) sit in a second tier, and the remaining 24 specialisms each account for fewer than 9% of agencies.
The long tail, from Influencer at 1.1% to Conversion at 0.4%, represents some of the sector’s most dynamic areas, despite their small numerical footprint. Concentration at the top reflects low barriers to entry in digital execution, while the long tail reflects both specialisation and potentially the concentration of certain capabilities in a small number of larger agencies.
Agency share by specialism
About the data
We map the number of agencies in the UK agency sector together with our partners at The Data City, whose sophisticated machine-learning tool allows us to find and categorise active agencies after adjustment for dormant companies and those in liquidation or administration.
Depending on the individual agency and the services they offer, agencies can appear in more than one of our subsector or specialism lists.
Distribution of workforce and turnover speaks to the diversity of the sector
The workforce distribution across the specialisms tells a different story to the agency count, suggesting that the high number of nano agencies explored in chapter three of The Atlas are concentrated on specific capabilities. When it comes to workforce, agencies offering Digital services employ 18.2% of the sector total, followed by Media (13.6%), Creative and Advertising (13.4%) and Website and UX/UI Design (12.5%).
Media in particular punches above its numerical weight, as it accounts for just 2.3% of active agencies, reflecting the large team structures that media planning and buying operations typically require. At the other end, several of the fastest growing specialisms such as Social Purpose and Sustainability, Influencer and Conversion agencies employ less than 2% of the workforce each, suggesting growth is coming from a relatively small base.
Employee share by specialism
About the data
Data for employees / headcount is provided by our partners at The Data City based on reporting to Companies House. As there can be a lag in reporting, The Data City’s machine-learning platform can make an accurate best estimate. If an agency has less than three years reported data on employee number, no estimate is made and no data is reported.
Depending on the individual agency and the services they offer, agencies can appear in more than one of our subsector or specialism lists.
When it comes to total turnover, Media agencies account for 23.9% of total sector turnover, ahead of Creative and Advertising (19.8%) and Digital (12.7%). It is important to note that Media agency turnover frequently includes client media spend, which means their turnover figures are not directly comparable to those of other specialisms.
At the other end, Copywriting (0.2%), Internal Communications (0.2%) and Conversion (0.2%) generate the smallest shares of sector revenue, consistent with their small numerical presence and typically project-based rather than retainer-based commercial models.
Turnover share by specialism
About the data
Data for turnover is provided by our partners at The Data City based on financial reporting to Companies House. As there can be a lag in financial reporting, The Data City uses sophisticated modelling to provide estimated turnover for the current year’s values. Where this is impossible, no data is reported.
Naturally, turnover should be treated carefully. Some types of agency, such as media, are more likely to include media billings and other campaign costs in the turnover figure they submit at Companies House. Our roadmap includes the development of benchmarking metrics to overcome this including revenue per head, gross profit and net asset value.
Depending on the individual agency and the services they offer, agencies can appear in more than one of our subsector or specialism lists.
Where growth is: Data, influence and purpose are pulling ahead
The five fastest-growing specialisms by average growth rate are Influencer (11.6%), Amazon and Marketplace (11.4%), Data and Analytics (10.6%), Social Purpose and Sustainability (9.2%) and Digital and AI Transformation (7.6%). None of these appears in the top five by agency count. At the other end, Design and Branding (1.8%), Market Research (2.0%), Video and Production (2.0%) and Website and UX/UI Design (2.4%), which are all numerically significant when it comes to active agencies, are growing at or near the bottom of the sector.
Average growth per year by specialism
The growth traffic light reinforces the picture: Influencer, Data Analytics, and Amazon and Marketplace have among the highest proportions of fast-growing agencies, while Conversion, alongside Behavioural Research and Behaviour Change, Customer Experience, E-commerce and Market Research, are showing elevated shrinking rates. One interesting finding is that Social Purpose and Sustainability agencies are second only to Amazon and Marketplace agencies when it comes to the percentage that are either Growing or Growing Fast.
Some of the specialisms that have the highest proportion of growing agencies also have a high proportion of shrinking agencies, suggesting volatility. These include Amazon and Marketplace, Conversion and Influencer. In all these specialisms, only about half of agencies are classified as Stable. Conversely, the specialisms with the highest proportion of stable agencies are Copywriting, Design and Branding and Internal Communications, all of which have below average growth rates in general, reflecting their stability within a volatile sector.
Growth rates by specialism
About the data
Growth rates are provided by our partners at The Data City and are based on the annual headcount growth of any given agency we have mapped. Headcount growth is based on employee count data and turnover data, and to account for the lag in reporting, The Data City’s machine-learning platform can make an accurate best estimate. If an agency has less than three years reported data on employee number, no estimate is made and no growth data is reported. Growth rates for any given cohort or list of agencies is based on the growth rates of active agencies only.
Our ‘Growth Traffic Light’ breaks down the percentage of agencies in any given group that land in one of five growth rate categories: Shrinking fast (below -20% annual growth), Shrinking (-20% to -10% annual growth), Stable (-10% to 10% annual growth), Growing (10% to 20% annual growth) and Growing Fast (over 20% annual growth). If part of the chart is empty, this means that there were no agencies mapped in that particular interval.
Depending on the individual agency and the services they offer, agencies can appear in more than one of our subsector or specialism lists.
Divergence across the specialisms when it comes to productivity data
Using GVA per head as a measure of productivity across the different specialisms, we can see that Creative and advertising leads at £123,714 per head, followed by Video and Production (£116,906), Media (£112,462) and Influencer (£108,210). At the lower end, Market Research (£66,661), PR and Communications (£75,131) and Digital Product Design (£80,066) sit below the sector average of £94,452.
Notably, several of the fastest-growing specialisms such as Social Purpose and Sustainability (£81,541), Digital and AI Transformation (£80,816), Amazon and Marketplace (£80,455) also sit below the GVA per head average, suggesting their growth has not yet translated into premium value creation.
Estimated GVA per employee by specialism
About the data
GVA stands for ‘Gross Value Added’ and our GVA data is provided by our partners at The Data City and is estimated at the company level using official GVA (as defined by ONS) and employment data.
GVA-per-head is calculated based on the estimated GVA at company level and the number of employees / headcount, as provided by our partners at The Data City based on reporting to Companies House. As there can be a lag in reporting, The Data City’s machine-learning platform can make an accurate best estimate. If an agency has less than three years reported data on employee number, no estimate is made and no data is reported.
Depending on the individual agency and the services they offer, agencies can appear in more than one of our subsector or specialism lists.
Digital and Social media attract a significant proportion of all investment into the sector
The specialisms that have attracted the most investment into the agency sector include Digital (25.4% of total investment funding) and Social Media (23.4%). Market Research (13.1%) and Digital Product Design (9.2%) also receive meaningful shares. However, the most striking feature of this data is the near total absence of investment recorded for many specialisms including Behavioural Research and Behaviour Change, Conversion, Copywriting, Amazon and Marketplace, Internal Communications, Influencer and Social Purpose and Sustainability, among others.
Several of these include some of the fastest-growing specialisms such as Influencer and Social Purpose and Sustainability, which raises questions about whether the investment community is tracking growth trends in the sector effectively, or whether structural factors (agency size, ownership model, revenue predictability) are acting as barriers to capital for high-growth but smaller specialisms.
Total investment funding by specialism
About the data
Our partners at The Data City provide us with data on investment funding via Dealroom.
Depending on the individual agency and the services they offer, agencies can appear in more than one of our subsector or specialism lists.
Innovate UK funding rewards research and data capability
The distribution of Innovate UK funding across specialisms is strikingly different from the investment picture. Market research leads with 20.3% of all Innovate UK funding, followed by Data and Analytics (12.6%), Digital Product Design (11.4%) and Digital (10.0%). Website and UX/UI design (8.5%) and Design and Branding (7.1%) also feature. By contrast, several high-investment specialisms such Social Media (0.9%) and Creative and Advertising (0.6%), receive very little public innovation funding.
The pattern suggests Innovate UK funding is flowing towards specialisms with a measurable research or technology development component, consistent with the eligibility criteria for innovation grants. Specialisms built around creative output or content production, however commercially successful, appear less well served by the public innovation funding landscape.
Total Innovate UK funding by specialism
About the data
Innovate UK grant funding data includes the total amount of grant funding to agencies we have mapped and the public descriptions of the successful funding bids.
Depending on the individual agency and the services they offer, agencies can appear in more than one of our subsector or specialism lists.
“There is a risk of reinforcing existing structures rather than enabling the transition the strategy is meant to drive.”
— The Agency by Agency Atlas 2026
Agency specialisms and questions for the sector
The divergence between where agencies are concentrated and where growth and value are being created presents a genuine strategic challenge for anyone looking to shape policy towards our sector. For example, in the UK Industrial Strategy, the Creative Industries Sector Plan identifies frontier sub-sectors within the creative economy, and this data suggests that within the agency sector specifically, those frontiers are in data intelligence, platform commerce, influencer marketing and social purpose, rather than the web design and digital execution services that numerically define the sector.
If public support, for example through Innovate UK, cluster investment or skills development, continues to be designed around the sector’s largest and most visible specialisms rather than its most dynamic ones, there is a risk of reinforcing existing structures rather than enabling the transition the strategy is meant to drive.
When it comes to identifying opportunities within the sector, the combination of high growth and minimal investment in specialisms like Influencer, Social Purpose and Sustainability and Data and Analytics suggests either an underserved opportunity or a structural barrier worth understanding. The near-total absence of investment in some of the fastest-growing corners of the sector is unlikely to reflect a lack of quality businesses, rather it might reflect the difficulty of identifying and reaching specialist agencies.
The Social Purpose and Sustainability specialism is an interesting case study. Agencies within this specialism are, on average, growing at 9.2% with nearly 39% of its agencies either Growing or Growing fast, while generating GVA per head below the sector average. This raises an important longer-term question about whether this is a segment of the sector that is in the early stages of building the commercial model to match its growth trajectory, or perhaps purpose-driven work carries structural productivity discounts that has not (and perhaps will not) be addressed by the market. It also reveals a pattern that we see in our strategy and advisory work with agencies, in that one of the hallmarks of any successful agency is having clarity on who they’re for, when they’re for, why they exist and how they create value.
The answer will matter, not just for the agencies involved, but for how the UK’s creative industries position themselves in an economy where the demand for sustainable, values-led services is only likely to grow.
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