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).
Top 50 PR 2018

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