Before you all head off for Christmas, today we can unveil the Top 50 PR Agencies list for 2025, marking the 13th edition of the North’s benchmark ranking for the public relations industry.
Over the last decade, this ranking has established a reputation as the go-to guide for this thriving industry across the region.
Thank you, as always, to Prolific North’s long-term independent research partner Mustard for continuing to compile this ranking.
Every eligible agency is considered for the ranking, with Mustard analysing a range of financial and operational metrics to build the final list. Factors include balance sheets, turnover and pre-tax profit, as well as publicly available information.
Analysis and special mentions
Prolific North has delved into the data from Mustard’s research, which reveals that pre-tax profit for the top 10 agencies in this year’s list surged by 39% compared with last year.
Further down the ranking for agencies placed 11 – 50, it is a mixed bag as pre-tax profit increased by just 2%. Overall across the Top 50 PR agencies, balance sheets were down 7.5% while revenue was up 8% and headcount was largely flat at -0.5%.
We’ve also analysed how the Northern PR landscape has evolved over the past decade.
“They say ‘turnover is vanity and profit is sanity’, but over the past decade of collecting data, the combined turnover of the top 50 has increased by an impressive 42% from £74.9m in 2020 to £106m in 2025. This is more notable when compared with the more modest growth in combined turnover of 9% in the preceding 5 years from £68.7m in 2015,” explains Robyn Mason, research manager at Mustard.
Headcount has grown at a more modest pace, rising 15% between 2020 and 2025, compared with an 11% increase in the previous five years.
“This, in itself, isn’t too surprising to find that bigger agencies are achieving more with less. This suggests PR agencies in the North are operating with greater
efficiency, stronger capability and more mature, consultancy-led models than we saw ten years ago,” explains Mason.
“This is also likely symptomatic of the changes the PR industry has witnessed in the last 10 years. The shift from “traditional” PR to digital has accelerated. PR is now much more about online media, social platforms, SEO, content marketing, and digital storytelling than it was a decade ago. With that comes increasing automation and efficiency. Many are offering broader services too – the last decade having seen a growth in areas such as reputation management, crisis comms and ESG / values-driven strategic communications – strengthening agencies’ ability to weather market fluctuations and sustain year-on-year revenue growth.”
REMIND YOURSELF OF THE TOP 50 IN 2024 – FULL LIST HERE
So, the big reveal is finally here. A big congratulations to everyone on the ranking this year – and to Citypress for retaining the top spot for a second year running!
There is also a minor shift in the top 10 as Manchester’s Bottled Imagination has climbed nine places to eighth, while Leeds-based iseepr slides into ninth position.
There were some real standout performers elsewhere on the list, as well as new entrants to this year’s ranking — we’ll be sharing more about them later today.
Check out the full rankings for 2025 below…
Join in the conversation on social media using the hashtag #PNTop50
The Prolific North Top 50 PR Agencies 2025
2024 ranked position is in brackets.
| Ranking | Company | Location | Private/Group | Headcount | Clients |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (1) | Citypress | Manchester | Private | 111 | Aldi, Arla, British Land, Coca-Cola, Lloyds Banking Group |
| 2 (3) | Tangerine Communications | Manchester | Private | 109 | Specsavers, Iceland Foods, Essity, PPG, Topcon |
| 3 (2) | Ramarketing | Newcastle upon Tyne | Private | 73 | Envision Pharma Group (EPG), Inizio, Recipharm, Blue Wolf Capital Partners |
| 4 (5) | BDB | Manchester | Private | 57 | dsm-firmenich, Bioiberica, Lonza Greenwood, Balchem, Catalent |
| 5 (6) | Counter Context | Sheffield | Private | 43 | Henry Boot Construction, Far East Consortium and Manchester City Council, National Grid, West Yorkshire Combined Authority |
| 6 (4) | Brazen | Manchester | Private | 45 | Sudocrem, Young’s Seafood, Manchester Airport, Dr Oetker, The Range |
| 7 (7) | Weber Shandwick | Manchester | Interpublic Group of Companies | 38 | |
| 8 (17) | Bottled Imagination | Manchester | Private | 19 | MoneySuperMarket, Victorian Plumbing, On, Protein Works, Welltech |
| 9 (11) | iseepr | Leeds | Private | 20 | EMVCo, NFC Forum, Trusted Connectivity Alliance, GLEIF, Icon Solutions |
| 10 (9) | Prohibition PR | Leeds | Private | 28 | Prestige Flowers, EQUANS, Keystone Brewing Group, Northumbria University, Burgess Pet Care |
| 11 (8) | Hatch | Leeds | Private | 34 | Bet365, Hisense, Global Brands, Continental Tyres & Leeds Bradford Airport |
| 12 (18) | Smoking Gun | Manchester | Private | 21 | Philips, Alton Towers Resort, Best Western Hotels, American Golf, PZ Cussons |
| 13 (10) | Carousel PR | Manchester | Private | 29 | MGA Entertainment, Jarlsberg, Watches of Switzerland Group, Cotton Traders, Peel Retail & Leisure |
| 14 (36) | Democracy | Manchester | Private | 27 | Flymo/Gardena, Certas Energy, Delamere Health, Tequila Rose, Mark Hill |
| 15 (19) | Havas Red North | Manchester | Havas Group | 16 | NBA, GetYourGuide, Tourism Tasmania, Collection, OMNES |
| 16 (12) | Influential | Liverpool, Manchester | Private | 26 | Merlin, Grant Thornton, Landsec, Palatine, Allwyn Entertainment |
| 17 (31) | Intelligent Conversation | Manchester | Private | 10 | Norican Group, Optum UK, Synectics plc, Brother, HubRx |
| 18 (25) | Refresh PR | Manchester | Private | 12 | Samsung, Heating Installer Awards, Aluprof, CIPHE, Alsico |
| 19 (33) | Aberfield Communications | Leeds | Private | 12 | The Compleat Food Group, Sofina Europe (Young’s Seafood), Powerleague, William Hare Group, Moda Living |
| 20 (30) | DTW | Guisborough | Private | 12 | ROCKWOOL, ATT, HCEOA, SRA, FCA |
| 21 (13) | Pace | Hull | Private | 22 | Trex, Reckitt, Victory Leisure Homes, Ideal Heating, Bio-D |
| 22 (26) | Recognition PR | Darlington | Private | 9 | Arqiva, Vertu, Bannatyne, GMI and Ducati |
| 23 (new) | Jam | Manchester | Private | 12 | Raisin UK, Worldwide Global Brands, Sentai, Manchester Pride, Dematic |
| 24 (35) | Brand8 PR | Leeds | Private | 7 | Avant Homes, Chancerygate, Gordons, Pelsis, SportsShoes.com |
| 25 (34) | Karol Marketing Group | Newcastle upon Tyne | Private | 10 | Newcastle Hospitals Charity, NorthStandard Group Services Limited, The UK Pellet Council, Visit Northumberland, Keela International |
| 26 (27) | JBH | Manchester | Private | 12 | Select Car Leasing, Tails, Preply, Better.co.uk, Cosmetify |
| 27 (39) | MTJ PR | Salford | Private | 7 | A G Barr, Kepak Convenience Foods, Quorn foods, Republic Technologies, Agrial Fresh Produce |
| 28 (15) | No Brainer | Cheshire | Private | 17 | AO.com, Places for People, MBNA, Business Comparison.com, Advancetrack |
| 29 (20) | PR Agency One | Manchester | Private | 21 | UBS Wealth, Essity, One4all Giftcards, Cake Box, Homes England |
| 30 (28) | Umpf | Leeds | Private | 15 | Belling, Harrison Spinks, Landsec, the NHS |
| 31 (32) | Truth PR | Manchester | Private | 9 | Furness Building Society, Vistry Group, Warren James Jewellers, Valor Hospitality Partners, Caddick Group |
| 32 (50) | Petal & Co | Manchester | Private | 6 | BDO, BGF, Help to Grow: management course, Voicescape, Reconony Group |
| 33 (29) | Viva PR | Rawtenstall | Private | 10 | BAE Systems, Eurofighter, AWE, NHS, VEKA, Lancs and Cumbria IoT |
| 34 (14) | SkyParlour | Manchester | Private | 21 | |
| 35 (41) | RMS | Altrincham | Private | 12 | McLaughlin & Harvey, Muse, Swizzels, Warburtons, WestBridge |
| 36 (46) | We are Indigo | Manchester | Private | 12 | Warehouse Project, Redbull UK, INNSIDE by Melia North, Rudy’s Pizza |
| 37 (43) | Kenyons | Liverpool | Private | 10 | Liverpool John Lennon Airport, NHS, Metro |
| 38 (24) | Finn | Leeds | Private | 14 | Fox’s Burton’s Companies (FBCUK&I), Jason’s Sourdough, Rowntree’s Lollies, Vitalin Pet Food |
| 39 (42) | Skout | Macclesfield | Private | 12 | sana, mmadigital, Awin, Vertex, Qbase |
| 40 (38) | Context Public Relations | Macclesfield | Private | 11 | Keysight Technologies, Algosec, Apprentify, Simul8, Zivver |
| 41 (44) | Partners PR | York | Private | 7 | EPUKI Power Stations, Saint-Gobain Glass, JMG Insurance Group, Switalskis Solicitors, Silvery Tweed Cereals |
| 42 (23) | Scott Partnership | Cheshire | Private | 13 | BrightSpec, SGD Pharma, Ascelia Pharma, Linkam Scientific Instrument |
| 43 (-) | TWA marketing | Chorley | Private | 9 | Morson Group, Equator Design, HSBC, Leyland Trucks, Tag Systems UK |
| 44 (22) | Harris Creative | Leeds | Private | 14 | CCF, Senior Architectural Systems, Novus Property Splutions, CMO Group plc, Collard Group |
| 45 (37) | GOLD79 | Leeds | Private | 23 | TOMY, Holland’s Pies, Kodak, MEPC |
| 46 (48) | Fourth Day PR | Manchester | Fourth Day Group | 10 | Lytx, Partful, Edenhouse, Uber, Autocab |
| 47 (40) | Smith Goodfellow | Stockport | Private | 9 | Kingspan, Guardian Building Systems, EPIC, SIDERISE |
| 48 (45) | Mason Williams | Manchester | Private | 7 | Mersey Ferries, Q Hotels, Loctite, Strand Palace Hotel |
| 49 (new) | Unhooked Communications | Stockport | Private | 6 | Jewson, Häfele UK, Flooring Superstore, City Plumbing, Oxford Innovation |
| 50 (-) | Harvey and Hugo | Darlington | Private | 6 | Polar NE, Kinnery, Optimum Skills, Novo Consultants, Homes by Carlton |
