Mustard is now able to reveal who are the top digital agencies in Northern England.

Prolific North and Mustard have again collaborated to produce a definitive list of agencies from across the North of England. The rankings have been driven by financials, with key variables including balance sheet / shareholder funds, turnover, growth and headcount.

Much of the information was volunteered from the agencies themselves, for which we are grateful. Other information was captured and verified through various online sources – most notably Fame.

Given the raised and increasing profile of this definitive list, this year the list of “entrants” has increased, with WMG, Leighton, Sigma Consulting Solutions, EMS Internet,  SEO Next, Active Win Media, Think, Yoma, Tecmark, Venn Digital, The Neighbourhood and Ixis IT Ltd. making their debut in the rankings and / or breaking into the Top 50 with strong growth.

The big success story in this year’s rankings is Manchester’s Amaze – moving from 13th to 1st position. Others climbing the rankings include Fat Media (up 5 to 15th), Prodo Digital (up 11 to 30th) and Cube3 (up 7 to 33rd).

The rankings in full:

# Company Name Northern office locations Ownership Clients 2015 Head count
1 Amaze Manchester, Liverpool St Ives Group plc Lexus, Toyota, Unilever, ASICS, Pizza Hut 160
2 Epiphany Leeds Jaywing plc Pets At Home, Virgin Holidays, Waterstones, Q Hotels and Kempinski 140
3 Stickyeyes Leeds Independent Hertz, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Staples Europe, MTV, Leeds Building Society 118
4 twentysix Leeds Part of MSQ Partners London Stock Exchange Group, P&G, BrightHouse, NHSBT, Superbreak 125
5 Search Laboratory Leeds Independent BT, Viking, Superdry, Ted Baker, Hootsuite 161
6 Web Marketing Group (WMG) Harrogate Independent Safestore, Petit Bateau, Illamasqua, Axa, Park Resorts 94
7 Rippleffect Liverpool and Manchester Trinity Mirror plc Aldermore, UK Sport, NHS Confederation, Everton FC, Liverpool FC, Visit Guernsey, People’s Collection Wales 73
8 Code Computerlove Manchester Independent HMV, Hillarys, SCA, Brother, Chester Zoo 80
9 Summit Media East Yorks Independent Argos, BHS, Carpetright, Reckitt Benckiser, 3, Homebase 111
10 Leighton Durham Independent British Airways, Sage, Home Group, Sunderland AFC 82
11 Latitude Digital Marketing Warrington Callcredit Information Group 1&1, Royal Mail, Haven, Parcelforce, BT 93
12 Axonn Media Manchester Independent Western Union, Monarch Airlines, Hatstand, The Holiday Place, Heyland & Whittle 89
13 Click Consult Cheshire Independent Chill.ie, Lloyds Pharmacy, Virgin, Rectella, boohoo.com 65
14 Lakestar McCann Manchester Interpublic Group Timberland, Coral, Office, Screwfix, Harley Medical 50
15 Fat Media Lancaster Independent Lakeland, Lancaster University, Warburtons, Yotel, Jessops 90
16 Delete Leeds Independent Expedia, Manheim, Red Bull, Ella’s Kitchen, Persimmon 51
17 Mediaworks Newcastle Independent Yorkshire Water, Scottish Power, House of Fraser, Brantano, Jones 70
18 Building Blocks Manchester Independent Guinness World Records, Butlin’s, Adama Agricultural Solutions, Celebrity Cruises, GE 63
19 CTI Digital Manchester Paperhat Group British Council, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Greater London Authority and Gatwick Airport 60
20 Branded3 Leeds St Ives Group plc Ladbrokes, Inchcape, Virgin Holidays, City Index , Vue 75
21 Sigma Consulting Solutions Macclesfield Independent Astra Zeneca, InterContinental Hotels Group, Citizens Advice, Sport England, NCC Group 46
22 EMS Internet Warrington Independent Reebok, Onyx, 6Talent, St Helens RLFC, Mobalpa 63
23 Mando Liverpool Independent Talk Talk, Bentley, United Utilities, Marks & Spencer, Jones Lang LaSalle 55
24 RE:Systems Bakewell, Manchester Independent Heathrow Express, Freesat, ATOS Worldline, EDF Energy, Universal Music 36
25 CSI Media Crewe Independent Experian, ICE Enterprise, HF Holidays, Fred Olsen, Schools Cool 34
26 New Mind (merged with scandinavian agency tellUs IT) Liverpool Merged 4/10/13 Visit Scotland, Fjord Norway, Destination Bristol, Bath Tourism Plus, Visit Liverpool 30
27 Digital Next Manchester Independent English and Wales Cricket Board, Sixt, Robinsons Equestrian, Forever Unique 40
28 Apadmi Manchester Independent BBC, The Guardian, The X Factor, BT, Aviva, Skyscanner 60
29 Active Win Media Manchester Independent Betfred, ToteSport, MoneyPlus, Peninsula, Butcher & Barlow 56
30 Prodo Digital Chester Independent New York Times, RBS, webuyanycar.com, The Aspinall Foundation, Affinity Sutton 44
31 Think Newcastle Independent Britvic, Atom Bank, Toyota, Relish
32 Ampersand Manchester Independent Harvey Nichols, Bensons for Beds, Harveys Furniture, Poundland, Hillarys Blinds 34
33 Cube3 Manchester Independent Inventive Leisure, Novus Lesuire, ANS Group, Pork Farms, NHS 34
34 I-Com Manchester Independent Moda in Pelle, Christy Towels, JMW, King of Servers, Sellick Partnership 38
35 Orange Bus Newcastle Independent HMRC, National Health Service Professionals, Capita Teachers’ Pensions, Philips, Barbour 40
36 Clicky Media Chester Independent The Tabor Group, RDI, NHS, Country House Weddings, Darwen Contracts Ltd 30
37 Yoma Liverpool Independent Matalan, Boohoo, B&M, Mars Group, Zoggs, Soap and Glory 40
37 Webtise Wirral Independent Oddbins, Little Black Dress, Sofaworks, Help for Heroes, Daisy Street, Teapigs, Shop Direct, Sarah Chapman, David Shuttle 37
38 TheEword Manchester Independent Merlin Entertainments, Warburtons, Atkins, TJ Hughes, Sage 42
39 Tecmark Manchester Independent 888casino, Bupa, Sony, Saga, Holiday Gems 30
40 RO Eye Manchester Independent eBay, Coral, Ladbrokes, Wonga, Harveys 12
41 Blueleaf Cheshire Independent Laura Ashley, Red Bull, Ena Shaw, BBC, Fat Face 25
42 Silverbean (N21) Newcastle Independent Warner Bros, ScS, BUNZL Group, Berghaus, Danone 32
43 Venn Digital Limited Wilmslow Independent Go Compare, Capita Resourcing, Pareto Law, Genesis Associates, Clearsky Accounting 30
44 The Neighbourhood Manchester Independent Heston Blumenthal, Derwent London, The Saucy Fish Company, Sony, Blackberry 25
45 Fast Web Media Manchester Independent PZ Cussons, Carling, Urban Eat, Golden Wonder
46 Return On Digital Manchester Independent Luton Airport, Asos, Izziwotnot, Clink Hostels 27
47 Enjoy Digital Leeds Independent Thorntons, Care UK, Costcutter Supermarket Group, Northumbria University, Park Leisure 25
48 Magnetic North Manchester Independent BBC, NOMA, Imperial War Museum, Manchester City Council 25
49 Ixis IT Limited Warrington Independent British Council, Epilepsy Action, Bristol City Council, Westminster City Council, Basware 18
50 Online Ventures Manchester Independent GreenDealShop.com Ltd, Desser, TABlites, Lease Car 32