From the ‘gruelling’ realities of selling an agency to protecting margins and winning better clients, Northern agency leaders recently came together in Leeds for the latest Growth to Gold event to share some hard-earned lessons about building, growing and selling businesses.
Hosted at KPMG’s Leeds offices on 8 October, the eighth Growth to Gold event brought together agency founders, senior leaders and industry experts to tackle some of the biggest questions facing the sector right now.
And with agencies navigating mounting pressure on margins, changing client expectations and the growing influence of AI, the discussions went beyond simply chasing revenue growth to explore what it really takes to build a profitable, scalable and valuable business.
Hosted by Richard Gregory, co-founder of AgencyNXD, the event was supported by KPMG, Synergist and Vestd, with a series of panel discussions and interactive roundtables covering everything from M&A and operational efficiency to business development and retaining talent.
The reality of selling an agency
For many agency founders, selling a business or securing investment is the ultimate ambition. But what happens when that ambition becomes reality?
That was the starting point for a candid fireside discussion with three agency leaders who have overseen significant growth in their businesses over the past year: Tim Grice, CEO of Connective3; Leigh Gammons, CEO of Tangent; and Martin Corcoran, CEO of Summit Media.
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Having since sold their businesses or navigated taking on private equity investment, all three remain involved in their businesses but now face a new set of challenges, from answering to bosses within a wider group to having investors around the boardroom table.
For Martin Corcoran, whose agency was acquired by Glass Atlas earlier this year, preparation began long before a buyer was on the horizon. Following a management buyout in 2022, he put a “very intentional” three to five year plan in place and brought in experienced advisers to help shape the business for its next chapter.
“Starting out, it’s all about driving the quality of revenue and quality of earnings. You set yourself up so someone, like an external partner, can see the business looks like something they can buy reliably by looking from the outside in. I think that’s really important,” he said.
Similarly Grice over at Connective3 said his business had a “clear” five-year vision in place. When the business got to year four, the team started to discuss what they wanted to do next and “decided eventually” to go down the private equity route.
After receiving growth investment from regional private equity firm Foresight Group, he admitted the agency underestimated the level of detail required during the due diligence process, particularly around its data and financial information and the process took around nine months in total.
For Leigh Gammons at Tangent, he was brought into the agency with the intention of preparing the business for sale. From the initial meetings to closing, Tangent sold to global AI and digital engineering firm Exadel in just six months in what was described at the time as a ‘multi-million’ pound deal, with Gammons continuing to lead the business as MD and senior vice president.
Despite their different experiences, the trio agreed that buyers and investors were looking well beyond headline revenue and profit figures. The strength of leadership teams, long-standing client relationships, quality of earnings and contracts all played an important role in determining value.
Leigh Gammons gave some savvy advice for those in the room looking to sell. If agencies have original IP, particularly in AI, “make sure yours is differentiated”. He also highlighted how having the right team around you is the “most important bit” as buyers will be looking at your leadership and how things are set up.
And with almost every business now claiming to have some form of AI capability or intellectual property (IP), “genuine differentiation” matters far more than simply having the technology.
“Whatever can add value can also take value away. You’ve got to remember that when you’re going through the process,” added Tim Grice from Connective3. “Making sure that you have good contracts in place, a solid client base with quality of earnings, and then a proven track record, was key for us.”
Corcoran also stressed the importance of “really significant and deep” corporate relationships for extended periods of time as reflecting well on your business and highlighted how crucial financial discipline is, explaining how Summit had deliberately retained cash and reinvested profits rather than taking significant dividends.
“The message I think that sends to potential acquirers is really really strong,” he said. “If you’ve got really good plans, that makes a real difference in terms of your confidence when you go into what will inevitably be quite significant corporate negotiations.”
Then came the part nobody seemed particularly keen to relive when quizzed by Richard Gregory: how they navigated the due diligence stage.
“It’s a gruelling process. It will be the most detailed thing you’ll ever go through,” admitted Grice, who warned that any founders selling or looking for investment should expect repeated questions and meetings, shifting timescales and far more demands on their time than they might initially anticipate.
Gammons agreed, advising agency leaders “not to take the process personally” and to be prepared for lots of questions. By the end, he said he “understood more” about his business as the process went on.
It was an “eye-opening” experience, added Corcoran, who also offered another piece of advice: carry out due diligence on the buyer if you’re selling up too.
“You need to look back at their business and make sure their business and their valuation and all the things associated with it are something that you want to be a part of,” he said, whether it be corporate and financial, through to cultural aspects of the business.
It doesn’t end there though as life after selling or taking on investment brings its own adjustments. Despite Gammons jokingly describing the unfamiliar experience of having a boss again after several years, he says the Tangent team have fully “grasped the opportunity” now with bigger and better jobs.
Corcoran explained it as a “bit like a marriage” and you should get to know who you’re partnering up with first and has had a “really good six months”.
“It’s nice to have a network around you rather than forever and solely being the figurehead up on your own.”
Growth is vanity, profit is sanity
With agencies facing continued pressure on profitability, the next panel discussion turned to how much of that revenue is actually making it to the bottom line.
Debbie Longbottom, a consultant and former group CFO of Leeds-founded Elmwood, joined Nick Handley, performance director at Connective3, and Ryan McNamara, global operations director at Rise at Seven.
For Longbottom, one of the most common problems is that agency founders become so focused on growing revenue that they lose sight of what it costs to deliver the work. Without a clear understanding of client profitability and balancing the “seesaw” of recovery and utilisation rates, agencies can often find themselves leaving significant margin on the table.
McNamara agreed, adding that while looking at last month’s utilisation figures might explain what went wrong, it does little to prevent the same problems happening again.
Instead, he encouraged agencies to forecast workloads, understand their capacity and plan resources before problems emerge.
Handley from Connective3 pointed to another potential issue in agencies undervaluing the specialist expertise they already have especially the way the world is moving as data is becoming “a lot more key and king”.
Data, analytics and technical teams can be among the most expensive parts of an agency to operate, yet their services are often treated as an add-on and often “not sold in the right way at pitch stage”.
“It’s a huge education piece. But for moving forward, it’s trying to make sure it’s sold in on the same lines as an activation piece more than anything.”
McNamara agreed with that view especially when it comes to reporting, arguing that better scoping and more consistent pricing could make a significant difference to profitability before work even reaches delivery teams.
Of course, no conversation about operational efficiency in 2026 could avoid AI. But while AI is helping agencies automate reporting, analyse data and speed up repetitive tasks, the panel cautioned against treating it as a quick fix for every operational challenge.
Handley pointed out that although AI can reduce the time spent completing certain tasks, automation has been “around for years” and that does not necessarily mean employees face less mental demand as more agencies are being “squeezed more” by clients.
He also urged agencies to “own your data” rather than becoming overly dependent on third-party platforms that may hike their prices.
At Rise at Seven, McNamara explained the focus has been on developing smaller tools that helps to support teams and free up more time for creative thinking and “bigger and better things”, rather than automating everything.
Longbottom also warned that client expectations are moving quickly, with larger organisations increasingly expecting their agency partners to demonstrate a meaningful understanding of AI.
“They expect their agencies to have a really good level of understanding and have some of those things in play and to be able to talk to where AI will really improve their business and their offer is quite critical, really.”
Wrapping up the session, the trio each shared one takeaway that leaders in the room could take back to their businesses if they want to improve their margins and profitabilty, as Richard Gregory from AgencyNXD highlighted how the average margins across agencies are bouncing around the 10% mark.
“Know your numbers, that’s the first thing I’d say,” said Longbottom. “I go into agencies and I sometimes see they’re not getting their numbers for two or three weeks. You need those numbers asap, you need to understand your KPIs and keep them simple, so you can understand them and drive your business around them.”
She added agencies should understand their revenue forecast too, and making sure that number is credible, as well as looking at those recovery rates and what it means for the business.
Handley also encouraged agencies to know their numbers but also audit their client relationships as well, considering not just financial performance but the impact on employees, particularly where teams are consistently “overservicing” difficult accounts.
For McNamara, it came back to getting the basics right at the beginning by “consistently scoping pieces of work out” so you know you’re making margin and plan how it will be delivered.
“Look forwards as much as you possibly can and stop looking backwards.”
Building an agency that attracts better clients
The final panel session of the day tackled how to attract the right clients in the first place.
Stephen Kenwright, non-executive director at Digitaloft and eComOne, joined Stuart Taylor, CRO and sales coach, and Katy Powell, PR director and co-founder of Bottled Imagination, to discuss the balance between inbound and outbound sales, brand building and knowing when to walk away from an opportunity.
Candid about the realities of starting an agency, Katy Powell said Bottled Imagination took on as much work as it could back in the early days as it is “all about survival in year one”.
After sharing the highs and lows, four years on she said the business now uses a “qualification matrix” in a data-led approach to assess prospective clients against everything from healthy budget, relevant experience and whether the team can realistically deliver the work.
Kenwright, reflecting on when he co-founded Rise at Seven with Carrie Rose, said the agency set out from the beginning the type of clients it wanted to work with. He argued that agencies often make the mistake early on when accepting clients they already suspect will be problematic. “You can’t fix them,” he added.
Stuart Taylor agreed that turning away revenue can be difficult, particularly for smaller businesses, but said a “bad fit” client can end up costing far more than it brings in.
“It might be very, very difficult and very, very ballsy at an early stage. But sometimes the best choice you can make is walking away while you’re trying to keep the lights on,” he said.
“That’s obviously a balance that you’ve got to make, and you’ve got to make sure you bring the revenue in. But sometimes that customer that you win is the worst thing you can do, and that’s coming from somebody who’s sold for 25 years!”
The discussion also tackled the need for a revolving pipeline of new business opportunities and the importance of an ideal client profile (ICP).
For Taylor, you need to have a well-qualified pipeline with real opportunities. Otherwise, “things fall through the cracks and you lose the good opportunities.”
While its a “balancing act” between inbound and outbound, there are “creative ways” agencies can approach outbound beyond cold calls. Think inviting them to dinners or events, and that all comes down to knowing your ICP.
So how do agencies actually reach those clients? For Bottled Imagination, much of its new business now comes through inbound enquiries. LinkedIn has served as an “amazing platform” for the agency, alongside the hype they’ve built around industry events, awards and the agency’s growing reputation.
“Marketing for agencies is quite a long game. It’s about having quite a lot of touch points,” added Kenwright.
Out of the agencies he’s been inside the last 18 months, the median marketing budget is around £80,000 and half of that goes on events.
“Generally speaking, all of the agencies that I’ve worked with that had really successful growth, they have invested very heavily in brand building activity,” he said, pointing to thought leadership, speaking on stage, to becoming “famous in their field”.
Yet he added that what works for some agencies, doesn’t work for others. “You’ve got to be different. You’ve got to stand out,” said Taylor.
From the boardroom to the roundtables
The conversations continued in smaller groups as attendees joined a series of interactive roundtables covering agency M&A and planning an exit, profitability and protecting margins, accelerating agency growth, account management and attracting and retaining talent.
Reflecting on the M&A discussions, KPMG’s Nenad Simonovic highlighted continued activity in the agency market, although deals are becoming increasingly complex, with those announced having higher earn-outs and structured arrangements.
He added there is a “good deal of energy” in the M&A market for agencies and doesn’t see that stopping next year.
There was also a changing conversation around AI. While some buyers had been nervous about its potential impact on agencies earlier in 2026, Simonovic suggested that attention was increasingly shifting towards businesses capable of adapting and becoming “AI-native as quickly as possible”.
From the profitability roundtable, Synergist’s Steve Vincent reinforced the importance of understanding business data and, crucially, knowing what to do with it.
The discussion led by Vestd explored how expectations around attracting and retaining talent have changed. While there is “no magic bullet”, leaders had shared the importance of getting a “great dev” and the right senior leadership team in place leading up to an exit.
The days of relying on office perks such as pool tables to attract employees are fading when it comes to recruitment, now there is a greater emphasis now placed on career progression, development opportunities and having a clear business plan.
Other discussions explored the different ways agencies define growth, from revenue and profit to recurring contracts, alongside the opportunities for stronger account management and cross-selling.
