Welcome to the 2015 edition of the Prolific North Top 50 PR Agencies, the definitive list of the North’s leading PR agencies. The initiative is published in association with theEword.
The ranking is anchored on financial information taken from Companies House and also draws upon data submitted and verified by the agencies themselves including additional financials, headcount, client information and – where appropriate – confidential private background information.
Working together with Mustard Research, one of the UK’s leading independent research companies, and the financial reporting company fame BVD, we initially looked at information on over 200 PR agencies which are either based in or have offices in the North and then drilled down in more depth on the accounts of around 120 agencies.
These were ultimately whittled down to the 50 in this ranking.
This year the top three hail from Manchester, with Citypress taking the top spot after a successful year that saw it pick up significant business from the likes of Coca-Cola, Swinton and Pilkington, while it was also the only Northern agency to be included on the Post Office roster.
Tangerine, led by the newly honoured Sandy Lindsay, holds on to its second-placed position from last year after another year of growth, while Weber Shandwick – last year’s top-ranked agency – put in another solid year to claim third spot.
The top five is made up by Leeds-headquarted Manifest, which now also has a Manchester presence, and Macclesfield agency Good Relations.
We did not give agencies the option of being included or not. This does mean however that sometimes larger, or indeed, smaller agencies, can have unusual years which can inflate or hurt their performance in a given year.
And once again, integrated or digital agencies with significant PR operations such as Amaze and McCann’s have not been included because this ranking is dictated by the agencies’ prime offering: PR and comms.
Finally, many thanks to all the agencies who have so helpfully supplied us with information and data, as well as responding to our questions where required.
The Prolific North Top 50 PR Agencies 2015
| # | Agency Name | Location | Headcount | Agency’s selection of clients |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Citypress | Manchester | 60 | Coca-Cola GB, Lloyds Banking Group, British Gas, British Land, The Post Office |
| 2 | Tangerine PR | Manchester | 62 | Peugeot UK, Wilko, Pizza Hut, Reebok, Jewson |
| 3 | Weber Shandwick | Manchester | 30 | Aldi, Manchester Business School, Macdonald Hotels, Bernard Matthews, Sealed Ai |
| 4 | Manifest Comms | Leeds and Manchester | 31 | ABP, Tooway, KPMG, Wienerberger and Grumpy Mule |
| 5 | Good Relations Regional | Macclesfield & Leeds | 60 | Xercise4less, Co-op Energy, Portmeirion, Thwaites, B&Q |
| 6 | Finn Communications | Leeds | 24 | R&R Ice Cream, Taylors of Harrogate, ghd, Quorn Foods, Morphy Richards |
| 7 | Barrett Dixon Bell | Altrincham | 28 | ADM, DSM, Tata Steel, TNA, Tyco |
| 8 | Brazen PR | Manchester | 25 | Adams Foods, Dr Oetker, Mitchells & Butlers, Magnet, Rekorderlig |
| 9 | Beattie Communications Group | Leeds and Manchester | 22 | Specsavers, Shepherd Group Built Environment, Biffa, La Redoute, Flybe |
| 10 | Corporate Culture | Liverpool | 25 | Crown Estate, Unilever, WWF, Asda, Royal Mail |
| 11 | Havas PR UK | Manchester | 22 | Greggs, Asda, Pets at Home, Mecca, Well (formerly Co-operative Pharmacy) |
| 12 | Influential PR (formerly Paver Smith) | Liverpool | 18 | Quilter Cheviot Asset Management, Morgan Sindall, Camelot, Liverpool City Council, Grosvenor Liverpool Fund (Liverpool One) |
| 13 | Kenyon Fraser | Liverpool | 32 | Merseytravel, M&S, Bradford College, Aintree, Liverpool JMU |
| 14 | SKV PR | Manchester | 14 | Construction Industry Training Board, Department of Business Innovation and Skills, Food Standards Agency, Trafford Housing Trust, BDP |
| 15 | Peppermint Soda | Manchester | 24 | Home Bargains, ASDA, Melia Hotels International, Muse Developments, Caunce O’Hara |
| 16 | Scott Partnership | Holmes Chapel | 13 | Rigaku, Agilent, Sciformix, Crown BioScience, Precision Polymer Engineering (Idex) |
| 17 | The Write Angle | Chorley | 16 | Stocks Hall, Champion accountants, Preston’s College, Praetura |
| 18 | Freshfield Public Relations | Preston | 16 | Lancashire County Council, Sherwin Williams, Exova, Moore and Smalley, Enterprise Ventures |
| 19 | Smoking Gun | Manchester | 17 | Provident Financial Services, Silentnight Group, Robert McBride, Holt LLoyd International, Innovation First |
| 20 | Pelican Communications | Oldham | 15 | FCC Environment, NCC, APEAL, 3663, BFFF |
| 21 | Lucre | Leeds | 17 | Jet2.com, Slug & Lettuce, Leger Holidays, Ashley Madison, Cott |
| 22 | RMS PR, Design & Marketing | Altrincham | 16 | Warburtons, Swizzels, Hiscox, Character World, Jerrold Holdings |
| 23 | Mason Williams | Manchester | 12 | Accor, TOMY, Fruit Heroes, Holland’s, Athenaeum |
| =24 | Carousel PR | Manchester | 15 | Selfridges, MGA, Savills, LEGOLAND Discovery Centre, Festival Number 6 |
| =24 | Judge & Howard | Manchester | 10 | Synectic Systems Group plc, EMIS Group plc, United Utilities plc, Wheelabrator Group, Brother Europe |
| 25 | Acceleris | Harrogate | 14 | Europeche, Rentplus, NHS IQ, UK Fuels, Nexus |
| 26 | Hatch Communications | Leeds | 12 | Crabbie’s Alcoholic Ginger Beer, First Utility, World Vision, Burgess Pet Care, Wensleydale Creamery |
| 27 | Context Public Relations | Macclesfield | 11 | Appsense, Check Point Software Technologies, Roku, CANDDi, Simoco |
| 28 | MCG PR | Leeds | 12 | TaxAssist Accountants, Pink Lady® Apples, Vileda, Damart, University of Leeds |
| 29 | iseepr | Otley | 12 | GlobalPlatform, SIMalliance, EMVCo, NG Bailey IT Services, FIME |
| 30 | The Partners Group | York | 8 | Hartlaw LLP, Emmark UK, Pearce Bottomley, CMS Window Systems, Bishy Brew |
| 31 | Democracy | Manchester | 14 | Knowsley Safari Park, TJ Hughes, Travis Perkins, Jack Daniel’s, Duerr’s Jam |
| 32 | de Winter PR & Marketing | Chester | 14 | Bank of America, Grosvenor Shopping Centre, Royal Crown Derby, Aaron & Partners, Greenthumb |
| 33 | Roland Dransfield PR | Manchester | 9 | Hill Dickinson, Nuffield Health, Schroders, Bilfinger GVA, Royal London Asset Management |
| 34 | HR Media | Sheffield | 9 | Copthorne Hotels, Hawsons accountants, John Holland, West Yorkshire Sport, SheffEx |
| 35 | PR Agency One | Manchester | 12 | Fletchers Solicitors Ltd, Gift Voucher Shop Ltd, Ironmongery Direct, AlldayPA, BuyItDirectGroup |
| 36 | DTW | Guisborough | 11 | The Law Society, Mersey Gateway Project, Redcar and Cleveland College, SITA UK, f40 |
| 37 | Label PR | Manchester | 11 | Fragrance Direct, Swimwear365, Curvissa, Transform Cosmetic Surgery, Footasylum |
| 38 | Active Profile | Manchester and Liverpool | 9 | Muse Developments, Pozzoni, Energy Innovation Centre (EIC), Riello UPS and Northern Gas Networks |
| 39 | IPB Communications | Sale | 9 | National Grid, RWE Innogy, Barratt and David Wilson Homes, South Yorkshire PTE |
| 40 | Dragonfly Public Relations | Rotherham | 8 | NHS, Marshalls, Pland |
| 41 | JAMpr Ltd | Manchester | 8 | Argos for Business, my Travel Cash, CK Tools, Carrot Insurance, The Printworks |
| 42 | Plinkfizz | Newcastle-under-Lyme | 9 | The Trentham Estate, Packmate, Pipsta, City Learning Trust, Bowcock & Pursaill Solicitors |
| 43 | Umpf | Leeds | 7 | LivingSocial, Park Inn by Radisson, Virgin Trains East Coast, Visit Malta, YESSS Electrical |
| 44 | Hattrick PR | Manchester | 7 | Desso, Petsafe, Repic, Dulux, Jefferies Solicitors |
| 45 | Prohibition PR | Leeds | 8 | Netto, Savills, Silent Night Group, Interflora, Keepmoat Homes |
| 46 | MANC FRANK | Manchester | 6 | Carole Nash, Icelolly, First Group, Fitbug, Weetabix |
| 47 | MTJ Associates | Leyland | 6 | Burton’s Biscuit Company, AG Barr, Kepak Convenience Foods, Grace Foods UK and Republic Technologies (UK) |
| 48 | Brand8 PR | Leeds | 6 | Avant Homes, Gordons, Sanderson Weatherall, Lansinoh, TOMRA Sorting Solutions |
| 49 | Faith PR | Brighouse | 8 | Vorwerk UK, Kirklees Council, Orchard Energy, Bertie’s @ La Cachette, Yorkshire Payments |
| 50 | Down at the Social | Manchester | 7 | Freeport Fleetwood, Lakeside Village, Freeport Braintree, Manchester Pride, Black Dog Ballroom Group |
Has your agency made the Top 50?
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