From knowing when to say “no” to finding the right talent, focusing on a specialism and working out where AI actually should be used, several leaders behind some of the North’s new, rising independent agencies recently came together to share some of their big growth lessons so far.
Supported by Glaisyers and Synergist, the roundtable event was hosted at Glaisyers’ offices in the heart of Manchester to celebrate some of the 15 exciting new businesses featured on Prolific North’s recently published Independent Agencies to Watch list for 2026.
READ MORE: Revealed: Prolific North’s Independent Agencies to Watch list 2026
Despite being at different stages of growth with very different ambitions, the morning conversation revealed plenty of shared challenges and opportunities for the future, covering everything from hiring and client demands to company culture and, inevitably, where they stand on using AI both inside their businesses and with clients.
Whether they’re keen to shake up the traditional agency model or passionate about proving that creative talent doesn’t need to head south, for some, success means scaling their teams and expanding internationally.
For others, it means staying deliberately small, becoming more specialist, tapping into a freelance model or simply creating a business they still want to be running in three years’ time.
The ‘snowball effect’
For several agencies around the table, one of the biggest surprises since launching has been how quickly growth can build once the right pieces fall into place.
Lee Weaver, co-founder of Liverpool-based agency OneMay, set up his business with Martin Porter in 2022 after the pair had spent two decades working together initially as designers.
For two people new to running their own business, one of the biggest surprises has been how quickly things have grown since starting out with just one client. As Weaver put it, it has “really snowballed” from there.
Simon Rigby, co-founder of Altrincham-based Reign, had experienced a similar “snowball effect” as his business enters its second year. But what surprised him most was that clients were less concerned about the age or headcount of a young agency than he had initially expected. What mattered more was being able to demonstrate the experience of the people actually doing the work.
“That’s a testament to hiring senior talent with vast experience working on really good brands,” he explained.
Gary Bannister-Simm, co-founder of Manchester-based adam+gary, also pointed to an early project for Wimbledon which has since “unlocked so many doors” through referrals and inbound work.
But as those opportunities increased, so did the need to be more selective. One of his biggest challenges earlier in the agency’s journey was learning to say “no” to projects, with adam+gary moving away from offering almost “everything” to focus more closely on video and VFX.
For Dan Sheridan, founder of PR and strategic communications agency Duo Consulting, an early lesson came from a different direction after carving out a niche in working with both ambitious North West businesses and international companies expanding into the UK.
After international businesses were “spooked” by the Liz Truss budget and became more cautious about investing in the UK, Sheridan said it led him to think carefully about the right structure for his own business. Duo has since developed around a senior-led freelance consultancy model to remain “agile” and an alternative to the traditional agency structure.
He also pointed to “some great camaraderie” across PR and communications circles in the North and more widely across the UK, with agency leaders willing to support each other through informal networks.
Relationships have been equally important elsewhere. Tom Etherington, founder of Newcastle-based WE-COM, said every client the agency now works with can be traced in some way back to existing or previous relationships, while OffType founder Mariam Aslam-Digger has similarly built her business on connections made throughout her career. Since setting up her agency in MediaCity last year, she also highlighted the value of being able to turn to other agency leaders for advice when facing unfamiliar challenges.
Getting comfortable with saying ‘no’
As the conversation moved on to winning work and clients, one of the liveliest debates focused on how far an agency should niche down.
For Manchester-based EDGEY, that has meant becoming more focused on performance marketing for hospitality brands rather than trying to offer everything to everyone.
EDGEY Founder Jack Edge and Kate Foley, head of digital, explained that part of that process had been recognising what the agency could genuinely deliver well and when work might not be the right fit.
It was a familiar dilemma around the table, particularly for new agencies, as turning down potential revenue is not always easy.
Adam Aubrey, co-founder of Leeds-based Primo, described another approach as being able to “niche within a niche”.
His agency specialises in Amazon and marketplace growth, honing in on his own expertise from working in-house at FMCG and sports nutrition brands. But Aubrey pointed out that specialising does not necessarily mean restricting an agency to one narrow market, with plenty of knowledge and experience transferable between different clients.
For Jay Neale, CEO at Synergist, once an agency has worked out its proposition, the important thing is sticking to it.
“Don’t deviate from it. If that’s what you do, that’s what you do, and do it really, really well.”
What are clients asking for?
There was less agreement when the discussion turned to what clients are actually asking agencies to deliver in the current market.
Asked whether clients increasingly expect more for less, or whether businesses are shifting back towards longer-term thinking around strategy and brand, the picture appeared to vary considerably depending on the type and size of client.
Cumbria-based CreativeHutch, set up by Vicky Hutchinson and Carol Wallace in 2021, has seen a divide between smaller or medium-sized clients looking for more for less while larger organisations are now placing more value on strategic input.
Others, like Lee Weaver from OneMay, pointed to how a lot of pitches are now for longer-term work particularly in the public sector space. Rather than simply wanting “more for less”, he suggested some brands increasingly want more, quicker.
There was also debate around whether brands are putting greater value back into longer-term brand building, but those experiences varied around the table.
For adam+gary, Gary Bannister-Simm said the sheer amount of content now being produced has created another challenge for brands trying to stand out and there was still demand for work that feels “distinctly different”.
Simon Rigby over at Reign pointed to the importance of demonstrating effectiveness through data, outcomes and case studies, particularly when trying to move conversations beyond price.
Finding the right people and building agencies people want to work for
All that talk about client growth inevitably moved the conversation onto talent, with several agencies revealing they have faced challenges around finding either senior people or the right specialist skills.
Passionate about keeping creative talent in Cumbria, Vicky Hutchinson and Carol Wallace from CreativeHutch set up the business five years ago and have since seen it double in size across staff, clients and revenue. But they acknowledged that once you hit that growth, the bigger a team becomes, the more challenges you need to navigate.
Over at EDGEY, founder Jack Edge said one of the biggest challenges has been getting the “right people in at the right time”, particularly those with the right combination of agency and hospitality experience.
Although Leeds-based Yasper is still “fairly small” as a core team of three, senior consultant Kayley Worsley explained how having really senior people in the business has helped with growth and in building relationships with clients.
For Nathan Selby, founder and MD of Liverpool agency Resultful, one of the early questions was working out which roles the business actually needed first and what those people should focus on. “Trying to hire, and hire for the right skills, became a big focus,” he explained, adding he has been “lucky” with the talent he’s hired so far.
But as teams grow, the founder’s role has to change too. Jay Neale from Synergist explained that founders who used to do everything themselves eventually have to get comfortable delegating, especially as an agency moves beyond its earliest stages.
“Everyone around this table has got a different version of what good looks like,” he said. “The best advice I can give is to be really honest with yourself and ask: what does good look like for me in three years and how do I want to get there?”
After honing in on that vision and by sticking to a proposition, he said it’s crucial that agencies focus on people as they grow, firm up their hiring processes, and assess what those people need to deliver as an outcome to the business.
Beyond recruitment, there was a discussion on the type of culture founders are trying to create as their businesses develop.
Having come from hospitality backgrounds, Jack Edge and Kate Foley from EDGEY were conscious of perceptions around agency “hustle culture” and long hours.
The duo explained the importance of balancing an enjoyable workplace with maintaining standards as the business grows. Transparency has become part of that approach for EDGEY, with Edge describing the importance of “taking the team on that growth journey”.
Over at OffType, where work can include demanding creative projects and long hours at events, founder Mariam Aslam-Digger pointed to the importance of being clear about expectations and creating structure and balance around the working week.
Sam Marriott-Dowding said he’s heard of “horror stories” and for him, creating a culture based on “basic respect” and making sure no one has the “Sunday scaries” that some people experience should be a fundamental part of building an agency.
Getting off the fence on AI and what does good growth look like?
When it comes to using AI, experiences around the table again varied significantly, both in how agencies are using it and what their clients are asking for.
While some agencies said they have encountered clients introducing contract clauses that restrict the use of AI, others are being asked to declare where it has been used in work such as pitches and written submissions.
For adam+gary, there has been another unexpected development. Bannister-Simm said behind the scenes (BTS) content showing how creative work has actually been produced is increasingly becoming a deliverable in its own right, particularly as assumptions grow around whether certain work has been generated using AI.
He is of the view that generative AI can cloud opinion over the true efficiencies behind the scenes, as it is still quite “poor”, and it should be used as part ‘of the toolbox’ to work alongside a designer or animator.
From realising they need to “get off the fence” when it comes to AI and either embrace it or reject it to give clients what they need, others revealed they are using it as a tool for research or to drive efficiencies inside their businesses.
Neale from Synergist said he had also seen agencies use AI to open up revenue streams they “never would have got before”, while Steve Kuncewicz from Glaisyers said the value of “real creativity is going to become more and more important” as clients value agencies offering judgment, expertise and insight.
There was no single view on exactly how far agencies should go with AI. But there was broader agreement that they increasingly need to understand it well enough to have a position on where it should, and should not, be used.
As the discussion wrapped up, leaders around the room shared their big ambitions for the future.
Some founders are focusing on building their teams as others plan to deliberately continue with a smaller, senior-led or freelance model. Some have narrowed their proposition, while others are still working out where their strongest opportunities lie.
Neale’s earlier observation that “everyone around this table has got a different version of what good looks like” perhaps summed it up best.
But he also brought the conversation back to the numbers behind running a sustainable agency: earnings per head should be “north of £85k”; salary costs, including pensions and associated costs, should remain below 65%; and overheads should be no more than 20%.
If agencies keep within those parameters, he suggested they should “always turn a profit”.
Attendee list:
- Jay Neale, CEO, Synergist
- Steve Kuncewicz, Partner ‐ Head of Creative, Digital & Media, Glaisyers
- Gary Bannister-Simm, co-founder and director of Moving Image, adam+gary
- Vicky Hutchinson, co-founder and creative director, CreativeHutch
- Carol Wallace, co-founder and Marketing Director, CreativeHutch
- Dan Sherican, founder, Duo Consulting
- Jack Edge, director, EDGEY
- Kate Foley, head of digital, EDGEY
- Samuel Marriot-Dowding, founder and CEO, Marriott Communications
- Mariam Aslam-Digger, founder and MD, OffType
- Lee Weaver, co-founder, OneMay
- Martin Porter, co-founder, OneMay
- Adam Aubrey, founder, Primo
- Stephen Quinn, account director, Primo
- Simon Rigby, co-founder, Reign
- Nathan Selby, founder and MD, Resultful
- Tom Etherington, co-founder, WE-COM
- Kayley Worsley, senior consultant, Yasper
