Contents
- Executive summary
- What is an independent agency?
- Impact of independent agencies
- The development of the independent agency sector
- New independent agencies founded
- Growth across the independent agency sector
- Size of independent agencies
- Number of independent agencies by size
- The independent agency sector by size
- How agency size shapes performance
- Subsectors of independent agencies
- Independent agencies by subsector
- Subsector productivity
- Growth across the subsectors
- Regional distribution of independent agencies
- Independent agency locations
- Regional growth and productivity
- Independent agency subsector clusters
- Women in the independent agency sector
- Women in the sector overview
- Women in independent agency subsectors
- Investment and innovation funding
- Independent sector attracting funding
- Investment and agency subsectors
- Innovate UK funding and independent agency subsectors
- About Agency by Agency
- FAQS
We are extremely proud to present the findings of our report on the UK’s independent agency landscape, based on comprehensive mapping of more than 25,000 independent agencies to allow us to dive into the complexities and nuances of the independent sector, from agency size and performance, subsector specialisms, regional talent clusters and growth rates for all different types of agencies.
In mapping the independent agency sector and creating the first comprehensive report on independent agencies in the UK, we can see that independent agencies come in all sizes, work across all subsectors and specialisms, and have an important economic impact both for the agency sector and for the wider economy.
Executive summary
Independent agencies in the United Kingdom make up 99% of all active agencies, employ 88% of all workers in the agency sector, and contribute 87% of total agency GVA to the UK economy. But the importance and impact of the independent agency sector goes much deeper than these headline figures, as is explored in the following report. Our key findings are:
- The average growth rate for independent agencies is higher than for the sector as a whole
- New independent agencies are still being founded, but the rate has slowed since a peak in 2019
- Independent agencies come in all sizes, from nano agencies with 1-2 employees to large agencies with a headcount of 251+
- The size of independent agencies has an impact on performance, when measured by average turnover, turnover-per-head, GVA-per-head and growth rates
- Independent agencies have been mapped across 28 subsectors based on specialism
- Productivity and growth varies across the different subsectors, with some outperforming the sector averages quite considerably
- Independent agencies are located throughout the UK with subsector variance when it comes to number of agencies and employees
- London remains vitally important within certain subsectors, but elsewhere regional talent clusters can be observed
- The proportion of women-led and women-founded independent agencies are similar to the sector as whole, but the proportion of women directors is lower in independent agencies
- The independent agency sector attracts the vast majority of agency investment and innovation funding
- Investment and innovation funding is not flowing uniformly across all subsectors
What is an independent agency?
Together with our partners The Data City, we have developed the most comprehensive mapping of the UK’s marketing, advertising, creative and media agency sector ever before seen. Within this, we have been able to separate out those agencies that belong to one of the ‘Big Seven’ (Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC) holding companies, and those that can be classified as independent.
As of Spring 2025, we have mapped 25,320 independent agencies active in the UK.
These agencies:
- Employ 233,000 people
- Have a total turnover of £26.7bn
- Contribute £17.8bn in Gross Value Added (GVA) to the UK economy
Have a GVA per agency employee of £76,316
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
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.
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.
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.
Impact of independent agencies
When looking at independent agencies within the agency sector as a whole, we can see that 99% of active agencies are independent. These agencies make an important contribution to both the agency sector and the wider economy.
Here we can see the share of the independent sector across the agency sector as a whole on three key metrics:
of agency employees work in independent agencies
of total agency turnover is generated by independent agencies
of total agency GVA is contributed by independent agencies
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
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.
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.
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.
The development of the independent agency sector
The average growth rate of independent agencies is 7.8%, which compares favourably with the overall agency sector rate of 7.3% (see our Agency by Agency Report – Spring 2025).
New independent agencies founded
As within the wider agency sector, the number of new agencies founded has continued to increase but the rate of new agencies founded has slowed since a peak in 2019. The drop in the rate of new independent agencies founded has become less severe in the past couple of years and it will be interesting to see the trends as we begin to map new agencies founded over the past twelve months.
New independent agencies founded
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
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.
Growth across the independent agency sector
As we have seen, the average growth rate for independent agencies is 7.8%. At the same time, this growth rate is not uniform across all agencies. With our Growth Traffic Light, we have divided independent agencies up based on their growth rates, to see what proportion of agencies are Growing Fast, Growing, Stable, Shrinking and Shrinking Fast.
Over two thirds of independent agencies are classed as Stable, with a significant proportion (11.7%) growing at a rate of 20% or more.
Growth rates for independent agencies
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
Growth rates are provided by our partners at The Data City and are based on the annual headcount and turnover growth of any given agency we have mapped. Employee count data is more common than 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.
Size of independent agencies
A question that is being increasingly asked across the sector, and nowhere more so than among independent agencies, is: When does an agency become an agency? In our mapping, we measure agency size by either headcount or turnover. When it comes to headcount in particular, the rise of fast AI adoption, fractional working, freelancer pools and other developments mean that the number of employees may become less important when understanding both agency growth and performance.
Number of independent agencies by size
When exploring independent agencies by headcount, we can see that the vast majority of agencies have between 1 and 10 employees. When we exclude the agencies for which we have no data – usually due to a lag in reporting, or new agencies for which there is insufficient data available – we can see that 85.9% of agencies for which we have data have between 1 and 10 employees.
When it comes to mapping independent agencies by turnover, we can again see that by far and away the highest proportion of agencies have a turnover of up to £500k. Once the agencies for which we have no data are excluded, these agencies in the lowest turnover interval account for 85% of all independent agencies.
Number of independent agencies by size (headcount)
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
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.
If part of the chart is empty, this means that there were no agencies mapped in that particular interval.
Percentage of independent agencies by size (headcount)
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
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 this chart, we are showing the percentage share of each interval (size by headcount), after the agencies for which we have no data have been excluded.
Number of independent agencies by size (turnover)
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
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.
If part of the chart is empty, this means that there were no agencies mapped in that particular interval.
Percentage of independent agencies by size (turnover)
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
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 this chart, we are showing the percentage share of each interval (size by headcount), after the agencies for which we have no data have been excluded.
The independent agency sector by size
As we have already seen, the majority of agencies fall within the smallest size intervals whether measured by headcount or turnover. When exploring the share of employees, we can see that a little over a third (35.7%) of all independent agency employees work for agencies with a headcount of 251+. One in five independent agency employees work for agencies with a turnover of up to £500k, while 29.6% work for companies with a turnover of £50m and above. When it comes to agency employees, there is a spread across agencies of all sizes.
When we look at total turnover, we can see that the largest agencies make up the largest share of total turnover. Independent agencies with a headcount of 250+ account for 42.1% of total independent agency turnover, while just over half of all independent agency turnover (51.1%) is created by those agencies with a turnover of £50m and above. Nevertheless, small independent agencies contribute significantly to employment within the agency sector and turnover.
| Independent agencies by headcount | Number of agencies | % of independent agencies | Total employees | % of independent agency employees | Total turnover | % of total independent agency turnover |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 2 | 13846 | 63.2% | 18,549 | 8.0% | 1,063,311,736 | 4.0% |
| 3 to 10 | 4970 | 22.7% | 25,890 | 11.2% | 1,468,984,072 | 5.6% |
| 11 to 20 | 1390 | 6.3% | 20,140 | 8.7% | 1,259,093,742 | 4.8% |
| 21 to 50 | 1073 | 4.9% | 32,992 | 14.3% | 2,728,675,002 | 10.4% |
| 51 to 100 | 347 | 1.6% | 24,837 | 10.8% | 3,230,403,256 | 12.3% |
| 101 to 250 | 174 | 0.8% | 25,808 | 11.2% | 5,508,804,195 | 20.9% |
| 251+ | 124 | 0.6% | 82,347 | 35.7% | 11,081,717,811 | 42.1% |
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
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.
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.
For this table, percentages are calculated once the agencies for which we have no data are removed.
| Independent agencies by turnover | Number of agencies | % of independent agencies | Total employees | % of independent agency employees | Total turnover | % of total independent agency turnover |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up to £500k | 18860 | 85.0% | 46,768 | 20.3% | 2,007,513,227 | 7.6% |
| £500k to £1m | 1457 | 6.6% | 20,062 | 8.7% | 1,012,901,178 | 3.8% |
| £1m to £3m | 1079 | 4.9% | 30,410 | 13.2% | 1,772,044,788 | 6.7% |
| £3m to £10m | 392 | 1.8% | 22,588 | 9.8% | 1,948,345,112 | 7.3% |
| £10m to £50m | 297 | 1.3% | 42,163 | 18.3% | 6,234,404,814 | 23.5% |
| £50m+ | 114 | 0.5% | 68,147 | 29.6% | 13,572,693,225 | 51.1% |
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
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.
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.
For this table, percentages are calculated once the agencies for which we have no data are removed.
How agency size shapes performance
To get a feel for how agency size impacts performance, we can look at a number of key metrics focusing on average turnover, turnover-per-head, productivity (GVA-per-head) and growth.
The average turnover of independent agencies grows with the increase in headcount. When looking at average turnover by different size intervals, the true impact of scaling an agency can be seen more clearly when looking at turnover-per-head (see below).
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
Average turnover of independent agencies by size (headcount)
| Headcount | Average turnover |
|---|---|
| 1 to 2 | £72,686 |
| 3 to 10 | £296,452 |
| 11 to 20 | £870,976 |
| 21 to 50 | £2,550,892 |
| 51 to 100 | £9,181,655 |
| 101 to 250 | £29,080,249 |
| 251+ | £89,945,943 |
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
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.
When looking at turnover-per-head, the performance of agencies in the lower three intervals whether measured by headcount (1-2, 3-10, 11-20) or by turnover (up to £500k, £500k to £1m, £1m to £3m) the averages are fairly similar. As agencies increase in size beyond this, the turnover-per-head also increases, with the exception of the largest agencies in each category.
Turnover-per-head by independent agency size (headcount)
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
Turnover-per-head is calculated using total turnover and total number of employees. 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.
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.
Turnover-per-head by independent agency size (turnover)
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
Turnover-per-head is calculated using total turnover and total number of employees. 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.
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.
When using GVA (Gross Value Added) as an indicator of productivity, we can see that there is little difference across the lower intervals when it comes to the size of independent agencies, when measured by headcount or turnover. The increase in turnover-per-head comes with agencies over £3m in turnover or over 51 employees. From this point on, there is a notable increase in the turnover-per-head with each size interval.
GVA-per-head in independent agencies by size (headcount)
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
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.
GVA-per-head in independent agencies by size (turnover)
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
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.
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.
When looking at the average growth rates of independent agencies by size (headcount and turnover), we can compare the data to independent agencies as a whole, who have an average growth rate of 7.8%. As we can see, on average, the larger the agency the higher the growth rate (with an interesting exception for agencies with a turnover between £10m to £50m).
As with the independent agency sector as a whole, it is important to break down each size interval to explore what proportion of agencies are Shrinking Fast, Shrinking, Stable, Growing and Growing Fast. This gives us a more nuanced picture of growth rates within each size cohort of independent agencies than if we take the simple average percentage rate.
Growth rate of independent agencies by size (headcount)
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
Growth rates are provided by our partners at The Data City and are based on the annual headcount and turnover growth of any given agency we have mapped. Employee count data is more common than 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.
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.
Growth rate of independent agencies by size (turnover)
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
Growth rates are provided by our partners at The Data City and are based on the annual headcount and turnover growth of any given agency we have mapped. Employee count data is more common than 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.
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.
Growth rates for independent agencies by size (headcount)
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
Growth rates are provided by our partners at The Data City and are based on the annual headcount and turnover growth of any given agency we have mapped. Employee count data is more common than 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.
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.
Growth rates for independent agencies by size (turnover)
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
Growth rates are provided by our partners at The Data City and are based on the annual headcount and turnover growth of any given agency we have mapped. Employee count data is more common than 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.
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.
Subsectors of independent agencies
We map the agency sector by offering insight (and for subscribers, benchmarking data via our Data Shots) for 28 agency subsectors based on specialism. When exploring independent agencies by their subsector, it is always important to remember that – depending on what an individual agency does – it may appear in more than one of these subsector lists.
Independent agencies by subsector
The number of individual agencies working in any subsector can give us an initial indication of the competition within any given specialism. The three subsectors with the highest number of active agencies are Website & UX/UI design (8,403), Digital (5,499) and Design and branding (4,870).
Number of independent agencies by subsector
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
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.
Another way to explore the size of each subsector, to account for subsectors that may have a large number of very small agencies, is to explore the total number of employees working for agencies mapped within a given specialism. Here we can see that although Website & UX/UI design remains one of the larger subsectors with 31,131 employees, it is overtaken by Digital (44,494) and Digital transformation (32,636).
Total employees by independent agency subsector
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
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.
Subsector productivity
GVA-per-head (value of goods or services minus the cost of all inputs directly attributable to that production) can be used to measure economic growth and productivity. Our data allows us to analyse the GVA-per-head of independent agencies by subsector, with some interesting results.
The independent agency subsector with the highest GVA-per-head is Brand strategy, with £106,092, compared to a GVA-per-head of £76,316 across in the independent agency sector as a whole. Other subsectors with a notably higher GVA-per-head than the independent sector average include Media (£98,677) and Video and production (£95,419). The subsectors with the lowest GVA-per-head are Amazon/Marketplace (£62,117), PR and communications (£62,118) and Direct marketing (£62,884).
GVA-per-head of independent agencies by subsector
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
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.
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.
Growth across the subsectors
The different independent agency subsectors are showing quite different growth rates, giving us a better understanding of the overall growth rate of the independent sector (7.8%). The independent agency subsectors with the highest growth rates are Digital transformation (23.4%), Influencer (18%), Amazon/Marketplace (15.7%), Data and marketing analytics (13.7%) and Media (13.3%).
The largest of the subsectors when based on the overall number of independent agencies, Website & UX/UI design, has a growth rate of 5.1%, lower than the average across all independent agencies. The largest subsector based on employees – Digital – is showing an above-average growth rate of 9.5%.
As we have noted before, single growth rates for any cohort of agencies only tells part of the story. By exploring each subsector via our Growth Traffic Light, we can see which subsectors have the highest proportion of agencies that are Shrinking or Shrinking Fast, the highest proportion that are Growing or Growing Fast, and the highest proportion of Stable agencies.
The subsectors with the highest proportion of (combined) Growing and Growing Fast agencies are Influencer (42.8%), Conversion (42.4%) and Amazon/Marketplace (41%). The subsectors with the highest proportion of (combined) Shrinking and Shrinking Fast agencies are Brand strategy (14%), Translation and localisation (13.4%) and E-commerce (13%) and Market research (13%).
Interestingly, Conversion almost made both the Growing (42,4%) and the Shrinking (12.3%), suggesting a volatility within the subsector. In contrast, the subsectors with the highest proportion of Stable agencies are Copywriting (79.7%), Design and branding (75.9%) and Internal communications and employee engagement (75.7%).
Growth rates of independent agencies by subsector
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
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.
Growth rates are provided by our partners at The Data City and are based on the annual headcount and turnover growth of any given agency we have mapped. Employee count data is more common than 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 Traffic Light for independent agency subsectors
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
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.
Growth rates are provided by our partners at The Data City and are based on the annual headcount and turnover growth of any given agency we have mapped. Employee count data is more common than 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.
Regional distribution of independent agencies
For our IndieNation report we are exploring the independent agency sector regional clusters based on the UK’s ITL1 regions (International Territorial Level, used by the Office of National Statistics or ONS). This allows us to look for regional trends when it comes to all independent agencies, in terms of agency numbers, growth rates and productivity (GVA-per-head).
To explore regional talent clusters, we can look at the number of agencies by subsector as well as the total number of employees within any given subsector across the different regions.
Independent agency locations
The region with the highest number of independent agencies is London, followed by the South East. The two regions combined are home to 46.7% of all independent agencies in the UK. Outside these two regions, almost one-in-ten independent agencies can be found in the North West (9.4%), followed by the East (8.9%).
Number of independent agencies by location
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
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.
For regional distribution of agencies we use the United Kingdom’s ITL1 regions. This stands for International Territorial Level, a geocode standard for subdividing the United Kingdom for statistical purposes and is used by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Our partners at The Data City provide us with this data for agencies based on registered company address.
Percentage of independent agencies by region
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
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.
For regional distribution of agencies we use the United Kingdom’s ITL1 regions. This stands for International Territorial Level, a geocode standard for subdividing the United Kingdom for statistical purposes and is used by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Our partners at The Data City provide us with this data for agencies based on registered company address.
Regional growth and productivity
A number of regions are showing growth at a higher rate than the independent agency average (7.8%). The growth rate for independent agencies in the North West stands at 14.6%, closely followed by the West Midlands at 14.4%. The other regions with significant double digit growth are Scotland at 12.5% and Wales at 10.7%.
On the other hand, growth is slowest in the North East (3.4%) and the South West (4.5%). As the region with the most agencies and the most agency employees, the growth rate for independent agencies in London stands at 9%.
Growth rate of independent agencies by region
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
For regional distribution of agencies we use the United Kingdom’s ITL1 regions. This stands for International Territorial Level, a geocode standard for subdividing the United Kingdom for statistical purposes and is used by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Our partners at The Data City provide us with this data for agencies based on registered company address.
Growth rates are provided by our partners at The Data City and are based on the annual headcount and turnover growth of any given agency we have mapped. Employee count data is more common than 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.
When exploring regional productivity of independent agencies, a useful measure is Gross Value Added (GVA) per employee. The GVA-per-head across the independent agency sector as a whole is £76,316. The three regions with the highest GVA-per-head across independent agencies are Wales (£79,766), the South West (£79,636) and Scotland (£79,012).
GVA-per-head of independent agencies by region
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
For regional distribution of agencies we use the United Kingdom’s ITL1 regions. This stands for International Territorial Level, a geocode standard for subdividing the United Kingdom for statistical purposes and is used by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
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.
Independent agency subsector clusters
When we explore independent agencies in each region by subsector, we can see some interesting stories emerging from the data. For example, across all subsectors, the highest proportion of independent agencies can be found in London – with two exceptions. In Direct marketing, 21.8% of independent agencies are in the South East region, with 19.1% in London. Similarly, in Internal communications and employee engagement, 27.1% of independent agencies are in the South East, compared to 25.7% in London.
Even if London has the highest proportion of any individual region across the remaining subsectors, it is noticeable that some are less London-centric than others. For example, more than half of the independent Creative and advertising agencies (51.1%) and Influencer agencies (54.5%) are located in London, with four-in-ten independent Media agencies (41.8%) based in the capital.
On the other hand, the subsectors with the lowest proportion of independent agencies in London are Direct marketing (19.1%), Website and UX/UI design (22.8%) and Copywriting (23.5%).
Other regional agency clusters that emerge from the data are 15.3% Data and marketing analytics companies located in the East region, 13.5% of all independent Conversion agencies are located in Yorkshire and The Humber, with 12.5% in the North West.
Proportion of each independent agency subsector by region – number of agencies
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
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 regional distribution of agencies we use the United Kingdom’s ITL1 regions. This stands for International Territorial Level, a geocode standard for subdividing the United Kingdom for statistical purposes and is used by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Our partners at The Data City provide us with this data for agencies based on registered company address.
When exploring the proportion of employees in independent agencies across the different subsectors, we can see the importance of London even more clearly. A massive 81.8% of all employees in independent Creative and advertising agencies work in London, with Media (75%) and Market research (66.4%) also showing an extremely high proportion of total employees working in the capital.
Some interesting employee clusters elsewhere in the UK include Internal communications and employee engagement, a subsector where 17.5% of employees in independent agencies work in Yorkshire and The Humber. Within Customer experience (CX), 17% of total employees work in the East, while 18.9% of E-commerce employees work for independent agencies based in the North East.
One-in-five employees working for Direct marketing agencies can be found in the North West (21.6%), a region which also shows a high proportion of total employees working in independent Translation and localisation agencies (15.9%) and Behavioural research and behaviour change agencies (15%).
Proportion of each independent agency subsector by region – total employees
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
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 regional distribution of agencies we use the United Kingdom’s ITL1 regions. This stands for International Territorial Level, a geocode standard for subdividing the United Kingdom for statistical purposes and is used by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Our partners at The Data City provide us with this data for agencies based on registered company address.
Women in the independent agency sector
Our mapping allows us to explore the proportion of independent agencies that are women-founded (at least one woman director who remains in post after the first year of operation), women-led (majority directors are women) and the total number of active women directors.
Women in the sector overview
When mapping the agencies that are women-founded, we can see that there is a slightly higher proportion across independent agencies (28%) than across the agency sector as a whole (27%). The proportion of women-led agencies is the same, whether we look at independent agencies (19%) or the overall agency sector (19%). When it comes to women directors, however, 31% of independent agency directors are women, compared to 34% across the sector as a whole.
Women founded agencies
Women led agencies
Total women directors
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
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.
Women in independent agency subsectors
When exploring women-founded independent agencies by subsector, there is one subsector in which over half of the active agencies are women-founded. Copywriting is the subsector with the highest proportion of women-founded independent agencies with 50.6%, followed by PR and communications (46.2%) and Internal communications and employee engagement (43.3%). On the flipside, only 13.7% of independent E-commerce agencies are women-founded.
Women-founded independent agencies by subsector
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
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.
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.
There are similar patterns when it comes to women-led independent agencies across the subsectors. The subsectors with the highest proportion of women-led agencies are Copywriting (41.8%), PR and communications (37.4%) and Influencer (31.3%). The subsectors with the lowest proportion of women-led agencies are Conversion (7.3%), Digital product design (9.4%) and E-commerce (9.8%).
Women-led independent agencies by subsector
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
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.
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.
Unsurprisingly, similar subsector trends that we can observe for women-led agencies can be observed in the total number of women directors in independent agencies. Once again, Copywriting has the highest proportion of women directors (50.4%), followed by PR and communications (44.5%) and Internal communications and employee engagement (41.2%). Across all women directors within the independent agency sector, Data and marketing analytics is the subsector with the lowest proportion, at 18.7%.
Women directors of independent agencies by subsector
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
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.
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.
Investment and innovation funding
Working with The Data City and their partners at dealroom.co we can see that as a whole, the UK agency sector has attracted total investment funding of £1.5bn. The UK agency sector has also won £36.3m in Innovate UK grant funding. Of this funding, the vast majority has been raised by independent agencies.
Independent sector attracting funding
The independent agency sector has raised £1.47bn in investment funding, and won £35.9m in Innovate UK grant funding.
of all agency investment raised by independent agencies
of all Innovate UK grant funding for agencies went to independent agencies
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
Our partners at The Data City provide us with data on investment funding via Dealroom.
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.
Investment and agency subsectors
When looking at which subsectors of independent agencies have raised the most investment funding, we can get a sense of which specialisms are attracting interest from investors. The three subsectors with the highest investment are Digital (£491m), Digital product design (£373m) and Social media (£363m).
Top ten independent agency subsectors by investment raised
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
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.
Our partners at The Data City provide us with data on investment funding via Dealroom.
Innovate UK funding and independent agency subsectors
When it comes to Innovate UK grants and independent agency subsectors, it is interesting to note that there are subsectors in the top ten that are much higher in the Innovate UK funding list than they are when subsectors are ranked by number of agencies. Most notably this applies to Market research, with the most Innovate UK grants won at £12.4m, and Behavioural research and behaviour change, in tenth place with £1.6m. When it comes to the number of agencies, Market research is only the 12th largest subsector (10th by number of employees) and Behavioural research and behaviour change is the second smallest (27th in the list, 25th when measured by employees).
Top ten independent agency subsectors by Innovate UK grants
About the data
For this report, we are exploring the data of independent agencies. These have been mapped by removing those agencies that belong to the ‘Big Seven’ holding companies – Dentsu Group Inc, Publicis Groupe SA, Stagwell Inc, The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc, Vivendi SA, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP PLC – based on registrations at Companies House.
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.
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.
About Agency by Agency
Agency by Agency provides the only comprehensive benchmarking data and insight into the UK’s marketing, advertising, creative and media agency sector. Combining up-to-date data with industry expertise, we have been created by the sector for the sector.
If you are reading this as a single report, you can get full access to all our reports and Data Shots – benchmarking data for all 28 agency subsectors – by subscribing. We have a range of subscription options available including special rates for agencies with a headcount of 1-2 people.
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FAQS
You will find information about all our data points within the report. For an overview of our methodology, the work with our partners at The Data City, and a glossary of definitions for all our data points, please take a look at our FAQs page.
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- Report
City spotlight: Bristol
Our first city report explores Bristol, one of the UK’s most distinctive creative hubs, and what makes the agency landscape in the city different.
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