Contents
- Key findings
- Agencies in Bristol
- The development of the agency sector in Bristol
- New agencies founded
- Age of agencies in Bristol
- Increase in active agencies compared to other cities in the UK
- Agency growth in Bristol
- Growth within the agency sector in Bristol
- Scale-up agencies in Bristol
- Size of agencies in Bristol
- Subsectors based on specialism - what do agencies and their employees do?
- Agencies by subsector
- Employees by subsector
- Productivity
- Social responsibility
- Innovation
- Gender
- What does this mean for Bristol’s agency community?
Bristol stands as one of the UK’s most distinctive creative hubs, where an established agency community has developed clear specialisms and demonstrated remarkable resilience. Our comprehensive analysis of the city’s agency sector reveals patterns that distinguish Bristol from both the national picture and other major creative centres across the country.
This report examines different aspects of Bristol’s agency landscape, from the development and growth patterns of its creative businesses to their specialisms, productivity levels and commitment to social responsibility. We explore how Bristol’s agencies have evolved over the past decade, their current scale and ambitions and what sets them apart.
Key findings
- Bristol hosts a notably mature agency community, with a significantly higher proportion of established agencies compared to the national average
- The city leads all major UK cities in nurturing scale-up agencies, demonstrating exceptional capability in supporting substantial business expansion
- Bristol has developed distinctive sectoral specialisms, particularly in experiential and events work, and social purpose and sustainability services
- Agencies in the city show a different size distribution to the national picture, with stronger representation in mid-sized brackets
- Innovation activity outperforms Bristol’s overall share of the agency sector, with notably higher rates of Innovate UK funding success
- The city demonstrates strong commitment to social responsibility, ranking second among major agency cities for ESG engagement
- Productivity levels present both challenges and opportunities when benchmarked against other creative hubs
- Bristol’s agency founding patterns reveal different timing to national trends, with peak activity occurring earlier and decline beginning later than the sector average
Agencies in Bristol
Altogether we have mapped 482 active agencies in Bristol, representing 1.9% of the agency sector as a whole. These agencies:
- Employ 4,367 people (1.9% of the agency workforce)
- Have a total turnover of £468 million (1.2% of total agency turnover)
- Generate £284 million in GVA (1.7% of total agency GVA)
The development of the agency sector in Bristol
New agencies founded
Unlike the agency sector as a whole, which saw a peak in new agencies founded in 2019, the peak in Bristol came a few years earlier in 2016. And although Bristol has experienced a similar drop-off in new agency formation over the past few years, the downturn happened later. Within the sector as a whole, the downturn began already in 2021. In Bristol, the same number of agencies were founded in that year as in the year before, with the drop-off only happening in 2022.
New agencies founded in Bristol
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.
Our data on new agencies founded is based on company births and deaths, as registered with Companies House.
For the city distribution of agencies we are looking at the OECD-defined functional urban areas (FUA) or the UK. An FUA is composed of a core city and its commuting zones.
Our partners at The Data City provide us with this data for agencies based on registered company address.
New agencies founded across the agency sector
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.
Our data on new agencies founded is based on company births and deaths, as registered with Companies House.
Age of agencies in Bristol
On the whole, agencies in Bristol are more established than the agency sector in general. While 7.5% of all agencies in the UK are between 1 and 3 years old, only 2.7% of agencies in Bristol are in this age category. Altogether, 44.2% of agencies in the UK are under 10 years old, compared to 33% of agencies in Bristol.
In contrast, 27.8% of all agencies in the UK are 15 years old and over, whereas more than a third of Bristol agencies (37.1%) have been in existence for a decade and a half or more.
Age of agencies in Bristol
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.
Our data on agency age is based on company births and deaths, as registered with Companies House.
For the city distribution of agencies we are looking at the OECD-defined functional urban areas (FUA) or the UK. An FUA is composed of a core city and its commuting zones.
Our partners at The Data City provide us with this data for agencies based on registered company address.
Age of agencies in the sector
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.
Our data on agency age is based on company births and deaths, as registered with Companies House.
For the city distribution of agencies we are looking at the OECD-defined functional urban areas (FUA) or the UK. An FUA is composed of a core city and its commuting zones.
Our partners at The Data City provide us with this data for agencies based on registered company address.
Increase in active agencies compared to other cities in the UK
Over the course of the past 10 years, the number of active agencies in the UK has increased by 79%. When looking at some of the top agency hubs, we can see that Bristol is one of only two cities, along with Leeds, that has seen a lower than average increase in the number of active agencies across the past decade, which reflects the fact that Bristol has an above average proportion of established agencies (10 years plus).
Percentage growth of active agencies 2015-2025
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.
Our data on new agencies founded is based on company births and deaths, as registered with Companies House.
For the city distribution of agencies we are looking at the OECD-defined functional urban areas (FUA) or the UK. An FUA is composed of a core city and its commuting zones.
Our partners at The Data City provide us with this data for agencies based on registered company address.
Agency growth in Bristol
Growth within the agency sector in Bristol
The agency sector in Bristol has an average growth rate of 8.1%, slightly less than the average for the agency sector as a whole (8.2%). However, when we explore the growth rates of agencies in Bristol in more detail, we can see that there is a higher proportion of Growing or Growing Fast agencies (24.5%) than can be observed when we look at the data for all agencies in the UK (20.3%).
Growth Traffic Light
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.
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.
For the city distribution of agencies we are looking at the OECD-defined functional urban areas (FUA) or the UK. An FUA is composed of a core city and its commuting zones.
Our partners at The Data City provide us with this data for agencies based on registered company address.
Scale-up agencies in Bristol
We define scale-up agencies using the OECD definition. This means that an agency has at least four years of employment data with more than 10 employees, at least ten employees at the beginning of the measurement period, and a growth rate of more than 20% per year.
Across the agency sector as a whole, 4% are defined as scale-up agencies. Altogether, 5.4% of agencies in Bristol are defined as scale-up agencies, a higher proportion than in any other major city. London is second (5%) followed by Manchester (4.9%) and Glasgow (4%).
Percentage of agencies defined as scale-up companies
About the data
Data on scale-up agencies is provided by our partners at The Data City and based on OECD definitions. A scale-up agency is one that has at least four years of employment data with more than 10 employees, a time span covering at least three years between the first and last data points, more than ten employees at the beginning of the growth period (not just ever) and an average growth rate of 20%+.
For the city distribution of agencies we are looking at the OECD-defined functional urban areas (FUA) or the UK. An FUA is composed of a core city and its commuting zones.
Our partners at The Data City provide us with this data for agencies based on registered company address.
Size of agencies in Bristol
When looking at the size of agencies based on average turnover, we can see that although the sector in Bristol is dominated by agencies in the lowest interval (£0-£500k), it has a higher proportion of mid-sized agencies than across the sector as a whole. For example, 8.3% of agencies in Bristol have a turnover of £500k-£1m compared to 6.2% of all agencies, 8.1% have a turnover of £1m-£3m compared to 5.3% of all agencies, and 3.5% have a turnover of £3m-£10m compared to 1.9% of the agency sector as a whole.
Size of agencies in Bristol (by turnover)
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.
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.
For the city distribution of agencies we are looking at the OECD-defined functional urban areas (FUA) or the UK. An FUA is composed of a core city and its commuting zones.
Our partners at The Data City provide us with this data for agencies based on registered company address.
Size of all agencies (by turnover)
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.
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.
For the city distribution of agencies we are looking at the OECD-defined functional urban areas (FUA) or the UK. An FUA is composed of a core city and its commuting zones.
Our partners at The Data City provide us with this data for agencies based on registered company address.
We can observe something similar when we measure agency size by headcount. Across the sector as a whole, almost 60% of the agencies for which we have headcount data have 1-2 employees. In Bristol, this is closer to half. Across all the other intervals, Bristol has a high proportion of agencies of that size compared to the sector as a whole, except for the very largest agencies. When it comes to agencies with a headcount of 251+, 0.5% of agencies of Bristol are that size compared to 0.8% of the entire agency sector.
Size of agencies in Bristol (by headcount)
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.
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.
For the city distribution of agencies we are looking at the OECD-defined functional urban areas (FUA) or the UK. An FUA is composed of a core city and its commuting zones.
Our partners at The Data City provide us with this data for agencies based on registered company address.
Size of all agencies (by headcount)
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.
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.
For the city distribution of agencies we are looking at the OECD-defined functional urban areas (FUA) or the UK. An FUA is composed of a core city and its commuting zones.
Our partners at The Data City provide us with this data for agencies based on registered company address.
Subsectors based on specialism – what do agencies and their employees do?
We have mapped 29 different subsectors based on what services agencies offer. Some agencies will appear in more than one list, but this allows us to get a sense for which agency services and specialisms are most prevalent across the sector. At the same time, we can also measure the number of employees working for agencies in each subsector, allowing us to measure the importance of a specialism for the sector as a whole in a different way.
Agencies by subsector
When looking at active agencies by subsector, we can see that there are certain specialisms that have a higher proportion of agencies in Bristol than across the sector as a whole. For example, 4.2% of agencies in Bristol offer Conversion services (compared to 0.4% of all agencies), 4.8% in Bristol offer Digital Transformations services (compared to 3% of all agencies), 1.5% in Bristol offer Internal communications and employee engagement (compared to 0.6% of all agencies) and 10.2% in Bristol offer Video and production services (compared to 8.2% of all agencies).
What proportion of agencies offer the following services…
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 lists.
For the city distribution of agencies we are looking at the OECD-defined functional urban areas (FUA) or the UK. An FUA is composed of a core city and its commuting zones.
Our partners at The Data City provide us with this data for agencies based on registered company address.
Employees by subsector
When it comes to the agency workforce, there are also some stark differences between the types of agencies people work for in Bristol compared to across the agency sector as a whole. Experiential and events agencies account for 26.5% of the agency workforce in Bristol, compared to 6.6% of the wider agency sector. Social purpose and sustainability agencies employ 6% of the agency workforce in Bristol, compared to 1.9% across the country.
Other subsectors with a higher proportion of the workforce in Bristol compared to the overall agency sector include Conversion (1.7% vs 0.6%), Copywriting (1.3% vs 0.6%), Digital product design (16.1% vs 11.2%), Direct marketing (8.0% vs 3.6%) and Internal communication and employee engagement (2.1% vs 0.5%).
Proportion of agency workforce in each subsector
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 lists.
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.
For the city distribution of agencies we are looking at the OECD-defined functional urban areas (FUA) or the UK. An FUA is composed of a core city and its commuting zones.
Our partners at The Data City provide us with this data for agencies based on registered company address.
Productivity
We can explore the productivity of agencies by looking at the Gross Value Added (GVA) per head. Across the agency sector as a whole, the GVA per head is £75,243. When we look at the ten largest agency cities, based on the number of active agencies, Bristol’s GVA per head is £69,378, with only Liverpool (£68,652) recording a lower figure. Three cities record above average GVA per head. Newcastle upon Tyne (£76,271), London (£76,489) and Birmingham and Wolverhampton (£77,442).
GVA per head in major agency cities
About the data
For the city distribution of agencies we are looking at the OECD-defined functional urban areas (FUA) or the UK. An FUA is composed of a core city and its commuting zones.
Our partners at The Data City provide us with this data for agencies based on registered company address.
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.
Social responsibility
One measure of social responsibility within the agency sector is to analyse how many individual agencies have made ESG commitments. Across the agency sector as a whole, 36% of agencies have at least one ESG statement on their website. Bristol has a higher proportion of agencies with an ESG statement at 39%, second across the major agency cities to Birmingham and Wolverhampton (42%).
Agencies with ESG statements in major UK cities
About the data
For the city distribution of agencies we are looking at the OECD-defined functional urban areas (FUA) or the UK. An FUA is composed of a core city and its commuting zones.
Our partners at The Data City provide us with this data for agencies based on registered company address.
Data on agencies with ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) statements is provided by our partners at The Data City via keyword analysis on agency websites and subpages.
Innovation
When it comes to Innovate UK funding, agencies in Bristol have won innovation grants valuing £1.04million. This is 2.5% of the Innovate UK funding raised by the UK agency sector as a whole, and higher than Bristol’s share of active agencies (1.9%), agency workforce (1.9%) and total turnover (1.2%).
Within Bristol itself, 2.3% of agencies have at least one round of Innovate UK funding to their name. This is more than twice the percentage across the agency sector as a whole (1.1%) and compares favourably with other major cities, with only Cardiff having a higher proportion of agencies with Innovate UK funding (2.6%).
Agencies with Innovate UK funding
About the data
For the city distribution of agencies we are looking at the OECD-defined functional urban areas (FUA) or the UK. An FUA is composed of a core city and its commuting zones.
Our partners at The Data City provide us with this data for agencies based on registered company address.
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.
Gender
When it comes to gender and agencies in Bristol, 24.5% of agencies are defined as women-founded compared to 23.5% across the sector as a whole. Interestingly, when it comes to women-led agencies, the proportion in Bristol (19.1%) is lower than the sector average (19.5%). The percentage of women directors in Bristol (30.8%) is identical to the percentage across all agencies in the UK.
Percentage of women-founded agencies in Bristol
Percentage of women-led agencies in Bristol
Percentage of women directors in Bristol
About the data
Our partners at The Data City provide us with this data for agencies based on registered company address.
Gender data for founders, leaders and directors of agencies is provided for us by our partners at The Data City, based on declared titles of officers at Companies House and the UK Government definition of Persons of Significant Control. The Data City does not use machine-learning to estimate gender.
A ‘women-founded agency’ is a company with officers appointed as a director within two years of it being incorporated. An agency can be only founded by women or men, or it can have mixed founders. A ‘women-led agency’ is a company with more active women directors than men directors.
For the city distribution of agencies we are looking at the OECD-defined functional urban areas (FUA) or the UK. An FUA is composed of a core city and its commuting zones.
What does this mean for Bristol’s agency community?
Bristol emerges from our analysis as a mature creative hub with distinctive characteristics that set it apart from both the national average and other major agency cities. The data reveals a sector in Bristol that has found its own rhythm, balancing stability with selective growth opportunities.
The maturity of Bristol’s agency landscape is striking, with more than a third of agencies operating for fifteen years or more. This suggests a creative community that has weathered multiple economic cycles, and yet one which continues to develop with a higher proportion of agencies classified as Growing or Growing Fast than the UK average.
Perhaps most remarkably, Bristol leads all major cities in scale-up activity, with 5.4% of agencies meeting OECD scale-up criteria, significantly above the national average of 4%. This suggests that whilst Bristol may not match the explosive growth rates seen, for example, in Birmingham or Glasgow, it seems to be excelling in bringing agencies through substantial expansion phases.
Bristol’s sector specialisations tell their own story. The concentration on Experiential and events work, representing 26.5% of the agency workforce in the city (compared to 6.6% nationally) reflects Bristol’s strong cultural infrastructure and event economy. Similarly, the 6% of agency workforce in Social purpose and sustainability agencies (compared to 1.9% nationally) aligns with Bristol’s reputation as a progressive, environmentally conscious city.
The productivity picture presents a nuanced challenge. At £69,378, Bristol’s GVA-per-head trails the national average of £75,243, ranking ninth among the ten largest agency cities. This suggests that whilst Bristol excels at fostering agency growth and specialisation, there may be opportunities to enhance operational efficiency or explore higher-value service areas.
For anyone considering Bristol’s potential, the data suggests a city well-positioned for sustainable growth rather than rapid expansion, offering an established talent base, proven market conditions and clear sectoral strengths in experience-led and purpose-driven work.
Photo by Jarred Kyle on Unsplash
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