Following on from the hugely successful and enjoyable event to launch Prolific North’s Top 50 PR agencies in the North of England, we are delighted to officially announce the rankings for 2018.
Thank you to everyone who has supplied us with information this year. This year we had well over 100 agencies submit information to us. All data has been checked and verified using our online sources. The rankings are primarily predicated by financials, notably balance sheet value, turnover, profit and growth. We also take into account factors such as headcount.
So who are the winners and big movers in the PR agency rankings for 2018?
Once again, it’s congratulations to everyone at Citypress for taking top spot for a fourth consecutive year. The Manchester set has performed well again, with 8 out of the top 10 agencies being based in the Greater Manchester Area.
Some other noticeable movers and honourable mentions in this year’s list:
- DTW are the biggest movers, gaining 21 places to position 15 in the rankings. Closely followed by Prohibition PR who are at 17, up 20 places from last year.
- Aberfield Communications entered the top 50 this year in 37th position, moving up a healthy 16 positions from last year, similarly Fourth Day climbed into the Top 50 from 60th in 2017 to 44th this year.
- Gaining an impressive 15 places in the rankings are Ramarketing & PR (28th) and Skout (48th).
- Social Communications (11th) Roland Dransfield PR (19th) and Umpf (24th) also gained a healthy 14 places in 2018.
- New submissions entering straight into Top 50 this year include Sky Parlour (31st) and Truth Creative (33rd).
The full Top 50 PR agency ranking for 2018 is as follows:
| Rank | Company | Location | Ownership | Staff | Clients |
| 1 (1) | Citypress | Manchester | Private | 80 | Aldi, British Gas, Coca-Cola European Partners, Lloyds Banking Group, Brother UK |
| 2 (3) | Weber Shandwick | Manchester | Interpublic Group | 36 | Iceland, Avis Budget Group, Hitachi Capital UK, Port Aventura, Virgin Atlantic |
| 3 (2) | Tangerine | Manchester | Private | 55 | Jewson, Garmin, Iceland, Pizza Hut |
| 4 (4) | Finn Communications | Leeds | Private | 36 | Froneri, ghd, IPN, Taylors of Harrogate, Calbee |
| 5 (5) | Barrett Dixon Bell | Altrincham | Private | 30 | TNA, DSM, MacDermid, Johnson Controls, Tata Steel |
| 6 (6) | Brazen | Manchester | Private | 27 | Wilko, Magnet Kitchens, Dr Oetker, UCC Coffee |
| 7 (7) | Havas | Manchester | Havas Group | 25 | Asda, Kellogg’s, Pets at Home, Greggs, TransPennine Express |
| 8 (9) | Influential | Liverpool / Manchester | Private | 27 | Bruntwood, Grant Thornton, Camelot UK Lotteries, Grosvenor Liverpool (Liverpool One) |
| 9 (16) | Carousel | Manchester | Private | 25 | MGA Entertainment, Selfridges, Broadwick Live, MODA, Savills |
| 10 (18) | Hatch Communications | Leeds | Private | 21 | Diageo, Boost Energy Drinks, Checkatrade, Thomas Cook Sport, Spectrum Brands |
| 11 (25) | Social Communications | Manchester / Leeds | Private | 24 | National College of High Speed Rail, United Living, One Manchester, Bradford City Council |
| 12 (10) | Forepoint | Preston | Private | 20 | Moto, Hewlett Packard, Sellafield, Tata |
| 13 (15) | Democracy | Manchester | Private | 24 | Dulux – trade and retail, Carwow, Corgi Homeplan, Halewood Wines and Spirits |
| 14 (13) | PR Agency One | Manchester | Private | 22 | Decathlon, KPMG, Rada, One4all, Perkbox |
| 15 (36) | DTW | Cleveland | Private | 15 | The Law Society, Merseyflow, Sunderland City Council, Merseylink, Road Safety GB North East |
| 16 (19) | Scott Partnership | Cheshire | Private | 13 | Agilent Technologies, Crown BioScience, Sciformix, Allscripts Healthcare |
| 17 (37) | Prohibition PR | Leeds | Private | 13 | Interflora, Goldsmiths, Mappin & Webb, Watches of Switzerland, ENGIE UK |
| 18 (17) | Intelligent Conversation | Manchester | Private | 13 | United Utilities plc, Synectics plc, EMIS Group plc, Manchester Metropolitan University |
| 19 (33) | Roland Dransfield PR | Manchester | Private | 14 | North West Football Awards, Vincent Kompany’s Tackle4MCR testimonial, St Michael’s, Crowne Plaza |
| 20 (23) | MCG PR | Leeds | Private | 16 | Pink Lady and Tenderstem, Northern, Damart, Costcutter Supermarkets Group |
| 21 (14) | Lucre | Leeds | Private | 18 | Meadowhall, jet2.com, Holiday Extras |
| 22 (31) | Peppermint Soda | Cheshire | Private | 20 | Home Bargains, 1pm PLC, Bear Grylls Survival Academy, Health Shield |
| 23 (22) | SKV PR | Manchester | Private | 14 | Department for International Trade, Far East Consortium, Greater Manchester Business Growth Hub |
| 24 (38) | Umpf | Leeds | Private | 10 | ENGIE, Glen Dimplex Home Appliances, Harrison Spinks,Landsec, NHS |
| 25 (30) | Active Profile | Manchester / Liverpool | Private | 13 | Muse Developments, GVA North (Liverpool, Manchester & Leeds), Peak AI |
| 26 (24) | Smoking Gun | Manchester | Private | 18 | Childs Farm, Silentnight Group, Virgin Holidays, Nissan, Red Bull |
| 27 (29) | Fig Creative | Glossop | Private | 18 | Northwood Hygiene Products, Fastrak Group, University of Derby, Phonak |
| 28 (43) | Ramarketing
& PR |
Newcastle / Manchester | Private | 10 | Cambrex, Recipharm, Tracelink, Sterling Pharma, RAPS |
| 29 (26) | Pelican Public Relations | Oldham | Private | 14 | British Frozen Food Federation, Fowler Welch, British Aerosol Manufacturer’s Association |
| 30 (32) | Mason Williams | Manchester | Private | 15 | Accor, TOMY, Fruit Heroes, Holland’s, Athenaeum |
| 31 (-) | Sky Parlour | Manchester | Private | 14 | Ingenico ePayments, Pitney Bowes, IMRG, Intrapay |
| 32 (34) | Context Public Relations | Cheshire | Private | 10 | Keysight Technologies, Check Point Software Technologies, Yubico, Algosec |
| 33 (-) | Truth Creative | Manchester | Private | 10 | Wates Group, Crawford Healthcare, Countryside, FI Real Estate Management |
| 34 (12) | Corporate Culture | Liverpool | Private | 24 | Co-operative Group, WRAP, Unilever, Anglian Water |
| 35 (21) | Harris Associates | Leeds | Private | 12 | CDUK, Crown Paints, Cre8 Joinery Solutions |
| 36 (35) | Acceleris | Harrogate | Acceleris acquired Limelight PR in January 2018 | 12 | Ernst & Young (EY), Utilita Energy, Nexus Vehicle Rental, Nautilus International |
| 37 (53) | Aberfield Communications | Leeds | Private | 9 | First Direct, Malmaison/Hotel du Vin, Deloitte, CPP, NG Bailey |
| 38 (20) | RMS | Altrincham | Private | 20 | Swizzels, Character World, Myerson Solicitors, Barbican Group |
| 39 (28) | iseepr | Otley | Private | 15 | EMVCo, SIMalliance, GlobalPlatform, FIME, Rambus Payments |
| 40 (44) | Manc Frank | Manchester | Group – Enero Group | 7 | Anki, Pax, Media 10, Eviivo, Fiddes Payne |
| 41 (11) | Kenyons | Liverpool | Private | 24 | Aintree, IBF, LIPA, MerseyTravel |
| 42 (48) | The Partners Group | York | Private | 8 | Dynamic Networks, Caddick Construction, Saint-Gobain Glass, York Dungeon |
| 43 (54) | Brand8 | Leeds | Private | 8 | Avant Homes, Gordons, Paragon, Sewtec, TOMRA |
| 44 (60) | Fourth Day | Manchester | Fourth Day Group | 8 | Autocab, Carrington, APS Group, Probrand |
| 45 (50) | Allott & Associates | Knaresborough | Private | 10 | OxAir, Pickersgill-Kaye, Restore PLC, Force24 |
| 46 (45) | MTJ Associates | Preston | Private | 8 | Rustlers, AG Barr, Encona, Grace Foods, Quorn |
| 47 (59) | Polaris Media | Liverpool / Manchester | – | 11 | Cammell Laird, CBI, ACL, Intermarine Group |
| 48 (63) | Skout | Macclesfield | Private | 8 | Miele, Birmingham City University, Gazprom Energy |
| 49 (49) | JAMpr | Manchester | Private | 8 | Argos for Business, Due Course, C.K |
| 50 (41) | The Write Angle | Chorley | Private | 11 | PfP Energy, Morson, Sika, Equator Design, LGBT Foundation |
