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The Prolific North Top 50 PR Agencies 2015

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ProlificTop50pragenciesfinalWelcome to the 2015 edition of the Prolific North Top 50 PR Agencies, the definitive list of the North’s leading PR agencies. The initiative is published in association with theEword.

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The ranking is anchored on financial information taken from Companies House and also draws upon data submitted and verified by the agencies themselves including additional financials, headcount, client information and – where appropriate – confidential private background information.

Working together with Mustard Research, one of the UK’s leading independent research companies, and the financial reporting company fame BVD, we initially looked at information on over 200 PR agencies which are either based in or have offices in the North and then drilled down in more depth on the accounts of around 120 agencies.

These were ultimately whittled down to the 50 in this ranking.

This year the top three hail from Manchester, with Citypress taking the top spot after a successful year that saw it pick up significant business from the likes of  Coca-Cola, Swinton and Pilkington, while it was also the only Northern agency to be included on the Post Office roster.

Tangerine, led by the newly honoured Sandy Lindsay, holds on to its second-placed position from last year after another year of growth, while Weber Shandwick – last year’s top-ranked agency – put in another solid year to claim third spot.

The top five is made up by Leeds-headquarted Manifest, which now also has a Manchester presence, and Macclesfield agency Good Relations.

We did not give agencies the option of being included or not. This does mean however that sometimes larger, or indeed, smaller agencies, can have unusual years which can inflate or hurt their performance in a given year.

And once again, integrated or digital agencies with significant PR operations such as Amaze and McCann’s have not been included because this ranking is dictated by the agencies’ prime offering: PR and comms.

Finally, many thanks to all the agencies who have so helpfully supplied us with information and data, as well as responding to our questions where required.

The Prolific North Top 50 PR Agencies 2015

in association with theEword

# Agency Name Location Headcount Agency’s selection of clients
1 Citypress Manchester 60 Coca-Cola GB, Lloyds Banking Group, British Gas, British Land, The Post Office
2 Tangerine PR Manchester 62 Peugeot UK, Wilko, Pizza Hut, Reebok, Jewson
3 Weber Shandwick Manchester 30 Aldi, Manchester Business School, Macdonald Hotels, Bernard Matthews, Sealed Ai
4 Manifest Comms Leeds and Manchester 31 ABP, Tooway, KPMG, Wienerberger and Grumpy Mule
5 Good Relations Regional Macclesfield & Leeds 60 Xercise4less, Co-op Energy, Portmeirion, Thwaites, B&Q
6 Finn Communications Leeds 24 R&R Ice Cream, Taylors of Harrogate, ghd, Quorn Foods, Morphy Richards
7 Barrett Dixon Bell Altrincham 28 ADM, DSM, Tata Steel, TNA, Tyco
8 Brazen PR Manchester 25 Adams Foods, Dr Oetker, Mitchells & Butlers, Magnet, Rekorderlig
9 Beattie Communications Group Leeds and Manchester 22 Specsavers, Shepherd Group Built Environment, Biffa, La Redoute, Flybe
10 Corporate Culture Liverpool 25 Crown Estate, Unilever, WWF, Asda, Royal Mail
11 Havas PR UK Manchester 22 Greggs, Asda, Pets at Home, Mecca, Well (formerly Co-operative Pharmacy)
12 Influential PR (formerly Paver Smith) Liverpool 18 Quilter Cheviot Asset Management, Morgan Sindall, Camelot, Liverpool City Council, Grosvenor Liverpool Fund (Liverpool One)
13 Kenyon Fraser Liverpool 32 Merseytravel, M&S, Bradford College, Aintree, Liverpool JMU
14 SKV PR Manchester 14 Construction Industry Training Board, Department of Business Innovation and Skills, Food Standards Agency, Trafford Housing Trust, BDP
15 Peppermint Soda Manchester 24 Home Bargains, ASDA, Melia Hotels International, Muse Developments, Caunce O’Hara
16 Scott Partnership Holmes Chapel 13 Rigaku, Agilent, Sciformix, Crown BioScience, Precision Polymer Engineering (Idex)
17 The Write Angle Chorley 16 Stocks Hall, Champion accountants, Preston’s College, Praetura
18 Freshfield Public Relations Preston 16 Lancashire County Council, Sherwin Williams, Exova, Moore and Smalley, Enterprise Ventures
19 Smoking Gun Manchester 17 Provident Financial Services, Silentnight Group, Robert McBride, Holt LLoyd International, Innovation First
20 Pelican Communications  Oldham 15 FCC Environment, NCC, APEAL, 3663, BFFF
21 Lucre Leeds 17 Jet2.com, Slug & Lettuce, Leger Holidays, Ashley Madison, Cott
22 RMS PR, Design & Marketing Altrincham 16 Warburtons, Swizzels, Hiscox, Character World, Jerrold Holdings
23 Mason Williams Manchester 12 Accor, TOMY, Fruit Heroes, Holland’s, Athenaeum
=24 Carousel PR Manchester 15 Selfridges, MGA, Savills, LEGOLAND Discovery Centre, Festival Number 6
=24 Judge & Howard Manchester 10 Synectic Systems Group plc, EMIS Group plc, United Utilities plc, Wheelabrator Group, Brother Europe
25 Acceleris Harrogate 14 Europeche, Rentplus, NHS IQ, UK Fuels, Nexus
26 Hatch Communications Leeds 12 Crabbie’s Alcoholic Ginger Beer, First Utility, World Vision, Burgess Pet Care, Wensleydale Creamery
27 Context Public Relations Macclesfield 11 Appsense, Check Point Software Technologies, Roku, CANDDi, Simoco
28 MCG PR Leeds 12 TaxAssist Accountants, Pink Lady® Apples, Vileda, Damart, University of Leeds
29 iseepr Otley 12 GlobalPlatform, SIMalliance, EMVCo, NG Bailey IT Services, FIME
30 The Partners Group York 8 Hartlaw LLP, Emmark UK, Pearce Bottomley, CMS Window Systems, Bishy Brew
31 Democracy Manchester 14 Knowsley Safari Park, TJ Hughes, Travis Perkins, Jack Daniel’s, Duerr’s Jam
32 de Winter PR & Marketing Chester 14 Bank of America, Grosvenor Shopping Centre, Royal Crown Derby, Aaron & Partners, Greenthumb
33 Roland Dransfield PR Manchester 9 Hill Dickinson, Nuffield Health, Schroders, Bilfinger GVA, Royal London Asset Management
34 HR Media Sheffield 9 Copthorne Hotels, Hawsons accountants, John Holland, West Yorkshire Sport, SheffEx
35 PR Agency One Manchester 12 Fletchers Solicitors Ltd, Gift Voucher Shop Ltd, Ironmongery Direct, AlldayPA, BuyItDirectGroup
36 DTW Guisborough 11 The Law Society, Mersey Gateway Project, Redcar and Cleveland College, SITA UK, f40
37 Label PR Manchester 11 Fragrance Direct, Swimwear365, Curvissa, Transform Cosmetic Surgery, Footasylum
38 Active Profile Manchester and Liverpool 9 Muse Developments, Pozzoni, Energy Innovation Centre (EIC), Riello UPS and Northern Gas Networks
39 IPB Communications Sale 9 National Grid, RWE Innogy, Barratt and David Wilson Homes, South Yorkshire PTE
40 Dragonfly Public Relations Rotherham 8 NHS, Marshalls, Pland
41 JAMpr Ltd Manchester 8 Argos for Business, my Travel Cash, CK Tools, Carrot Insurance, The Printworks
42 Plinkfizz Newcastle-under-Lyme 9 The Trentham Estate, Packmate, Pipsta, City Learning Trust, Bowcock & Pursaill Solicitors
43 Umpf Leeds 7 LivingSocial, Park Inn by Radisson, Virgin Trains East Coast, Visit Malta, YESSS Electrical
44 Hattrick PR Manchester 7 Desso, Petsafe, Repic, Dulux, Jefferies Solicitors
45 Prohibition PR Leeds 8 Netto, Savills, Silent Night Group, Interflora, Keepmoat Homes
46 MANC FRANK Manchester 6 Carole Nash, Icelolly, First Group, Fitbug, Weetabix
47 MTJ Associates Leyland 6 Burton’s Biscuit Company, AG Barr, Kepak Convenience Foods, Grace Foods UK and Republic Technologies (UK)
48 Brand8 PR Leeds 6 Avant Homes, Gordons, Sanderson Weatherall, Lansinoh, TOMRA Sorting Solutions
49 Faith PR Brighouse 8 Vorwerk UK, Kirklees Council, Orchard Energy, Bertie’s @ La Cachette, Yorkshire Payments
50 Down at the Social Manchester 7 Freeport Fleetwood, Lakeside Village, Freeport Braintree, Manchester Pride, Black Dog Ballroom Group

 

Has your agency made the Top 50?

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