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The Prolific North Top 50 Integrated Agencies 2020

The Prolific North Top 50 Digital Agencies 2020

News, Top 50 Digital Agencies, Top 50s

by David Prior
May 22, 2020

Today we are delighted to unveil the 2020 edition of the Prolific North Top 50 Digital Agencies, the benchmark guide to the North’s leading digital agencies spanning SEO and PPC, web, content, mobile and e-commerce.

This year’s ranking, first revealed at our special webinar yesterday afternoon, is part of our market-defining Top 50 series which also includes the Top 50 PR Agencies and the Top 50 Integrated Agencies.

For the eighth consecutive year, we’re very pleased to have partnered with Mustard Research, who have ensured the ranking is thoroughly researched and entirely independent.

Methodology

Unlike some rankings which are predicated on financial subscriptions and payments to be included, our Top 50 rankings are entirely independent and underpinned by a significant degree of research undertaken by Mustard Research.

The Top 50 Digital Agencies is anchored on financials including balance sheet/shareholder funds, turnover, pre-tax profit, headcount and growth, with the information and data sourced from the agencies themselves and confirmed with the financial reporting company fame Bureau van Dijk and data at Companies House.

We do not publish or reveal any financials; these are discussed privately between the companies and Mustard as we understand that the majority of companies in the ranking publish abbreviated accounts.

Thanks once again to those agencies who have taken the time to compile information for the initiative.

Webinar

Over 60 people attended a webinar yesterday, when this year’s Top 50 was exclusively revealed.

The virtual event also included an inspiring fireside chat with the CEOs of two of the top five agencies – Dean Benson, CEO of Visualsoft, and Chris Attewell, CEO of Search Laboratory.

During the discussion, they covered off a range of pertinent issues relating to the challenges and opportunities of running an agency in the time of Covid-19:

How challenging has lockdown been?
What have you learnt about the agency during this time?
Has it also been an opportunity for some clients?
Has your agency seen a particular demand for certain services?
What is your agency doing for the ‘greater good’?
How much harder is it for an agency leader to lead remotely?
Has the relationship between an agency and the office changed forever?
If you were starting a digital agency from scratch now, what would it look like?

You can watch their thoughts and a replay of the countdown here:

Summary

A stellar performance from Leeds agencies in this year’s ranking. A total of six agencies from the city make up the top 10, with a further two Yorkshire agencies elsewhere in the 10.

And the number one spot once again belongs to Stickyeyes, ahead of North East-based Visualsoft in second and Manchester’s Dept, who climb two places to number three.

The top five is made up by Harrogate agency IDHL Group and Leeds-based Search Laboratory.

Special mention should go to And Digital, which surges a whole 18 places to 11th, as well as Manchester’s Apadmi, up 13 to 15th.

Of the new entries, Journey Further is the highest at 23rd, with nods also to Regital (25th), 9xb (31st), Ampersand (36th) and Netsells (41st).