The Prolific North Top 50 PR Agencies 2024
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| Ranking | Company | Location | Private/Group | Headcount | Clients |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (3) | Citypress | Manchester | Private | 110 | Aldi, Arla, Coca-Cola, Lloyds Banking Group, Primark |
| 2 (2) | Ramarketing | Newcastle upon Tyne & US | Private | 75 | cognizant, Onyx Scientific, Sharp |
| 3 (1) | Tangerine Communications | Manchester | Private | 110 | Specsavers, Topcon, Iceland Foods, Dunelm, Essity |
| 4 (4) | Brazen PR | Manchester | Private | 47 | Greene King, Dr Oetker, Wren Kitchens, Showcase, La Redoute |
| 5 (6) | BDB | Manchester | Private | 63 | DSM-Firmenich, Bioiberica, Foodchain ID, Lonza Greenwood, IFF Health & Biosciences |
| 6 (7) | Counter Context | Sheffield | Private | 38 | RWE, Ørsted, Canal & River Trust, Far East Consortium and Henry Boot Construction |
| 7 (5) | Weber Shandwick | Manchester | Interpublic | 38 | ABInBev, IBM, Moto, NextDoor, Princes Foods |
| 8 (8) | Hatch | Leeds | Private | 39 | Hisense, Spectrum, Patron Tequila, Grand Central, Bet365 |
| 9 (10) | Prohibition PR | Leeds | Private | 28 | Global Brands, Keystone Brewing Group, Yorkshire Water, LSL Property Services |
| 10 (12) | Carousel | Manchester | Private | 28 | Selfridges, Cotton Traders, MGA Entertainment, Peoples Postcode Lottery, Teletrac Navman |
| 11 (14) | iseepr | Leeds | Private | 23 | Visa International, EMVCo, NFC Forum, Trusted Connectivity Alliance, GLEIF |
| 12 (11) | Influential | Liverpool, Manchester | Private | 27 | Merlin, Grant Thornton, Landsec, Palatine, Allwyn Entertainment |
| 13 (24) | Pace | Hull | Private | 28 | Trex, Reckitt, Victory Leisure Homes, Bio-D, Beal Homes |
| 14 (21) | Sky Parlour | Manchester | Private | 24 | Bankfi, imrg, GRIN, Brite |
| 15 (18) | No Brainer | Cheshire | Private | 15 | AO.com, Places for People, MBNA, Business Comparison.com, Advancetrack |
| 16 (23) | Active Profile | Liverpool | Private | 20 | Avison Young UK, Bistech plc, Turing Innovation Catalyst Manchester, igloo |
| 17 | Bottled Imagination | Manchester | Private | 14 | Protein Works, Victorian Plumbing, Bynder, Music Magpie, Sofa Club |
| 18 (25) | Smoking Gun | Manchester | Private | 22 | Alton Towers Resort, Philips, Best Western Hotels Group, American Golf, ESP Play |
| 19 (19) | Havas Red North | Manchester | Havas Group | 16 | NBA, GetYourGuide, Tourism Tasmania, Collection, Montirex |
| 20 (17) | PR Agency One | Manchester | Private | 24 | The Gift Voucher Shop, De faire Medical, Integrated Environmental Solutions, Mthree |
| 21 (15) | Social | Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester | Private | 21 | Extra MSA, Caddick , GC Business Growth Hub, Lovell, Westminster City Council |
| 22 (35) | Harris Creative | Leeds | Private | 15 | CCF, Senior Architectural Systems, Novus Property Splutions, CMO Group plc, Collard Group |
| 23 (20) | Scott Partnership | Cheshire | Private | 16 | BrightSpec, SGD Pharma, Ascelia Pharma, Linkam Scientific Instrument, Synergy Flavours |
| 24 (16) | Finn | Leeds | Private | 29 | smol, Boost, Yorkshire Tea |
| 25 (22) | Refresh PR | Manchester | Private | 14 | Samsung Climate Solutions, Watco, Heating Installer Awards, Grayce, The Boys’ Brigade |
| 26 (26) | Recognition PR | Darlington | Private | 12 | Arqiva, Vertu, Bannatyne, GMI and Ducati |
| 27 (32) | JBH | Manchester | Private | 26 | The Neem Tree, Workwear Express, Select Car Leasing |
| 28 (28) | Umpf | Leeds | Private | 14 | Thomas Cook, Morphy Richards, LUFC, Harrison Spinks |
| 29 (39) | Viva PR | Rawtenstall | Private | 12 | BAE Systems, Eurofighter, NHS, VEKA, Lancs, Cumbria IoT |
| 30 (33) | DTW | Guisborough | Private | 12 | FCA, SRA, F40, Emovis, HCEOA |
| 31 (30) | Intelligent Conversation | Manchester | Private | 10 | EMIS Group plc, Certas Energy, Synectics plc, Materialise NV, {my}dentist |
| 32 (43) | Truth PR | Manchester | Private | 10 | Cadent, Furness Building Society, Bright Horizons, Vistry Group, Caddick Group |
| 33 (45) | Aberfield Communications | Leeds | Private | 11 | The Compleat Food Group, Homes England, Theakston, NG Bailey Young’s Seafood (Sofina Europe), Rudy’s |
| 34 (36) | The Karol Marketing Group | Newcastle upon Tyne | Private | 9 | NHS, Teeside University, Everturn mental health, Nuffield Health |
| 35 (46) | Brand8 PR | Leeds | Private | 8 | Avant Homes, Chancerygate, Findel, Pelsis, SportsShoes.com |
| 36 (13) | Democracy | Manchester | Private | 20 | Tequila Rose, AkzoNobel, Flymo and GARDENA |
| 37 (27) | GOLD79 | Leeds | Private | 23 | TOMY, Holland's Pies, Kodak, MEPC |
| 38 (41) | Context Public Relations | Macclesfield | Private | 9 | Keysight Technologies, Algosec, Apprentify, Simul8, Zivver |
| 39 (49) | MTJ PR | Salford | Private | 7 | Quorn, Kepak, AG Barr, Florette, Republic Technologies |
| 40 (64) | Smith Goodfellow | Macclesfield | Private | 10 | Kingspan, Guardian Building Systems, EPIC, SIDERISE |
| 41 (47) | RMS | Altrincham | Private | 12 | Northern Care Alliance, V.Group, Warburtons, Manchester Law Soc |
| 42 (29) | Skout | Macclesfield | Private | 13 | sana, mmadigital, Awin, Vertex, Qbase |
| 43 (31) | Kenyons | Liverpool | Private | 12 | USS, Liverpool John Lennon Airport, NHS, Metro |
| 44 (56) | Partners PR | York | Private | 7 | Saint-Gobain Glass, EPUKI, JM Glendinning Insurance Brokers, Gough & Kelly, Silvery Tweed Cereals |
| 45 (60) | Mason Williams | Manchester | Private | 7 | Mersey Ferries, Q Hotels, Loctite, Strand Palace Hotel |
| 46 (40) | We are Indigo | Manchester | Private | 12 | Warehouse Project, Redbull UK, INNSIDE by Melia North, Rudy's Pizza |
| 47 (53) | Bonner & Hindley Communications | Leeds | Private | 15 | Museum Sheffield, Sheffield Doncaster Airport, Sunrise Radio, Yorkshire Attractions.org |
| 48 (42) | Fourth Day PR | Manchester | Private | 11 | Lytx, Partful, Edenhouse, Uber, Autocab |
| 49 (38) | Moore Media | Liverpool | Private | 14 | Morgan Sindall, Liverpool University Hospitals, Zoe's Place baby hospice |
| 50 (61) | Petal & Co | Manchester | Private | 5 | Reconomy Group, BGF, BDO LLP, Duo, Voicescape |
Over the last decade, this ranking has established a reputation as the go-to guide to the industry, the first port of call for anyone seeking clarity and order for the constantly shifting world of PR.
For each year we have partnered with independent research agency Mustard, and we thank them again for the diligence and rigour they have shown in helping to compile this year’s Top 50.
The ranking is compiled over the course of several weeks and is based upon data sourced from the agencies themselves, alongside publicly available data at Companies House. It is anchored on financials along with information on headcount, clients, private background information and more, confidentially shared with our research partner.
More on this year’s ranking
It’s worth remembering that this is not a list that aims to find the biggest agency or necessarily the most profitable agency, but it uses instead a carefully considered algorithm – that has remained constant throughout the last few years – that seeks to identify the top agencies in a given year.
As such, a host of factors – including turnover, profit, growth and headcount – are all taken into account in pursuit of the definitive list. Whether or not we achieve that is a matter of opinion, but we are confident that there is no more rigorously compiled leading PR agencies ranking in the country, certainly in relation to the North.
Special mentions
A huge congratulations goes to Citypress, moving up two spots to become our top PR agency in the North for 2024.
Despite some shuffling around, the top 10 largely remains the same aside from Manchester-based Carousel, as the agency makes a return back into the top 10.
Elsewhere, there have been some real standout performers this year.
Well done to new entrant – and one of Prolific North’s Independent Agencies to Watch for 2023 – Bottled Imagination, entering into the ranking at number 17. Liverpool’s Active Profile (16), Hull-based Pace (13) and Manchester agencies SkyParlour (14), Smoking Gun (18), plus Leeds-based Harris Creative (22) should all be credited for impressive rises on this year’s list.
Other high climbers include Lancashire’s Viva PR, MTJ PR and Truth PR in Manchester, plus Leeds-based agencies Aberfield Communications and Brand8 PR.
Congratulations to all agencies that made the list for 2024.
Join in the conversation on social media using the hashtag #PNTop50
