When Rob Shaw joined Leeds-based integrated agency HUB in November 2022, he was supposed to be winding down. The former CEO of Epiphany, Jaywing and CreativeRace had lined up non-executive roles, ready for what he called “semi-retirement”.
Three years later, Shaw is anything but retired. Under his leadership, HUB has nearly doubled its headcount from 35 to 63 staff, achieved 35% gross profit growth in 2025, and transformed from a well-kept secret into an agency confident enough to compete for household names like Mattel and Disney.
The growth story represents a careful balancing act, scaling an 18-year-old agency whilst energising the team that built it – co-founders Chris and Helen Hudson – while positioning HUB to win the kind of integrated briefs that larger network agencies once dominated.
Shaw’s approach has been deliberately methodical. Rather than immediately chasing new business, his first year focused entirely on brand positioning and operational foundations.
“You can’t just assume that everyone wants to go on the same journey with you,” Shaw said. “I reckon it’s probably taken me a year longer than I’d expected to get to where I wanted to be, but you can’t necessarily achieve all of that at the same time.”
That patient approach meant questioning everything from HUB’s values and mission to its market positioning. The agency, which had historically kept its head below the parapet, underwent a complete rebrand in 2023.
“It’s very hard to attract new high-quality talent into a business that doesn’t want a degree of fame,” Shaw added. The rebrand, developed entirely in-house with input from across the agency, marked HUB’s pivot from quiet referral-based growth to active market presence.
Strengthening performance marketing
A key element of Shaw’s strategy has been strengthening HUB’s performance marketing credentials as a gateway to winning larger, integrated accounts. In 2024, he brought in former CreativeRace and Jaywing/Epiphany colleague Malcolm Slade.
The investment has paid off. Shaw estimates that less than 10% of new business won in 2025 was for a single service line, with the vast majority of pitches expanding during the sales process as clients discovered HUB’s full capabilities.
“There’s always more performance-based tenders and pitches out there than there are branding, creative or media planning pitches, especially in the North,” Shaw said. “The moment you start having a proper conversation with a client as an integrated agency, you do start talking about their brand and their above the line marketing.”
Yorkshire-based Jorvik Tricycles exemplifies this approach. The company initially tendered for performance marketing services but HUB’s capabilities convinced them to expand into TV advertising for the first time, with offline activity supporting online conversion.
At the other end of the spectrum, HUB’s work with global brand Mattel – producing their Christmas cinema advertising – demonstrates the creative credentials the agency has built. Creative director Christian Shone, hired in 2024 from SharkNinja, has been instrumental in elevating HUB’s creative output to meet the demands of major brands.
Data as a differentiator
One of HUB’s long-standing strengths that attracted Shaw was its in-house data team – unusual for an independent agency of its size. The team provides independent analysis of marketing performance across all channels, building attribution models that give clients transparency on what’s actually driving results.
“There are lots of people that can say they’re integrated and can offer lots of services,” Shaw added. “But there’s a different skill set to being able to financially and through marketing data demonstrate that it actually works.”
Recent results support the data-driven approach. Baby brand Bababing, won last year, achieved 105% year-on-year sales growth and 622% increase in Instagram post interactions within six months, driven by integrated campaigns across content, SEO, influencer outreach, email marketing, paid social and PPC.
Investing in growth
HUB’s financial trajectory shows the patient strategy paying off. Headcount increased 27% in 2025, while gross profit grew 35% to almost £5million, with turnover reaching £19.1million. Further growth is expected in 2026.
Shaw said the current performance has been fueled by sacrifices made earlier on in his tenure. “Absolutely every single penny was going back into the business because we were bringing in senior hires,” he added. “We couldn’t bring in more junior members of the team until we had a decent-sized support structure in place for them to thrive.”
The senior hiring strategy has recently culminated in David Slater joining as growth director. Slater, previously group growth director at McCann Manchester, brings enterprise-level client relationships to an independent agency structure.
“What a great time to have someone who’s just spent the last four years working in that space,” Shaw said, referring to current challenges facing network agencies. “We’ve resisted bringing someone in at that level until the agency had the tools and scale to support them.”
Mills and boom
HUB’s location at Holly Park Mills – a converted Victorian textile mill in Calverley just west of Leeds city centre – has become a strategic advantage. The agency spans 15,000 square feet of production studios across three spaces, capable of producing everything from product photography to TV advertising in-house, this is in addition to their recently expanded offices.
Physical expansion has gone hand-in-hand with headcount growth. At the end of 2024, HUB invested in a brand-new dedicated creative studio, equipped with collaboration and presentation zones alongside leading tech capabilities. The improved space allows the creative team to deliver higher-quality campaigns more efficiently while working more closely with other departments.
The campus approach means creative outputs, shoots and digital expertise remain on one site. Recent facility expansion has also secured office space for the next two years of growth without requiring a split-site operation.
“No one’s doing the nightmare commute into a city centre, everyone gets parking, and clients love to be here when we’re producing content for them,” Shaw explained.
The agency has also developed a framework for evaluating opportunities based on three criteria: clients for fame, clients for fortune, and clients for fun. While Shaw won’t reveal the target percentages for each category, he credits the balanced mix with creating both strong financial results and team satisfaction.
“I have to be able to write the entire business strategy down on one slide,” Shaw said. “Every year the final point on that slide, which is presented to everyone in the agency, is we’ve got to enjoy the process. If people leading the agency still feel that excitement and energy, it does wash off on both your clients and your colleagues.”
Looking ahead
As HUB enters its fourth year under Shaw’s leadership, the focus remains on sustainable growth rather than aggressive expansion. The agency is carefully evaluating which opportunities will be “additive” rather than running “the engine too hot”.
With AI reshaping agency economics, Shaw sees HUB’s size as an advantage. “I’m glad I’m not running a really big agency right now because it becomes a headcount conversation,” he said. “For an agency of our size, I’m looking at it thinking, this is amazing – I can scale faster.”
HUB:Labs, a cross-functional group cataloging AI usage across the business, has created guardrails allowing the agency to be transparent with clients about when and how AI is deployed.
For an agency that started 18 years ago with three people around a sparse table – a moment forever documented by the black and white photograph that hangs on a wall at Holly Park Mills – the growth under Shaw marks a distinct chapter in HUB’s evolution. The agency’s ability to attract senior talent from network agencies while growing profitability suggests the independent model still has plenty to offer.
