The Prolific North Top 50 PR Agencies 2020

News, Top 50 PR Agencies, Top 50s

by Charlie Spargo
October 7, 2020

Back for 2020, the Prolific North Top 50 PR Agencies is the highly-anticipated independent ranking of all the region’s leading lights in the world of public relations.

Leading research company Mustard has once again conducted the research, compiling the final list using publicly available data and that sourced from the agencies themselves. The ranking of companies is based upon financial information sourced from Companies House, as well as financial reporting company Bureau van Dijk.

The details which the agencies shared privately with the researchers included additional financials, headcount, client information and any relevant private background information – to ensure the most accurate final Top 50 could be created.

This year has not been easy for agencies around the country, so reaching the Top 50 is a massive achievement for any organisation in the region. Congratulations to those who’ve made it onto the list in 2020.

Citypress take the top spot in the Top 50 list once again – making it a remarkable sixth year that the agency has been named the region’s number-one PR agency. However there has been a shuffle in second and third place, with Barrett Dixon Bell trading third place for second with Weber Shandwick.

It has been a year of changing positions, although many of the top 10 have stayed stable. Tangerine, Finn, Brazen and Democracy hold onto their positions from 2019, with Carousel and Influential remaining in the top 10 despite slipping a couple of spots.

Special mention first of all should go to Leeds’ Hatch – jumping six places into the top 10, having dropped two to 12th in 2019. Well done in particular to new entrant Counter Context – the Sheffield-based agency who are not just in the Top 50 for the first time but have shot to number 17 in the list.

Two more agencies deserve recognition for their success this year. In 2019, Scriba PR entered the Top 50 for the first time – and this year, they’ve climbed a further 10 places to make it to number 38. But even more impressive is the 28-place climb from We Are Indigo, who reach number 43 in 2020.

Integrated or digital agencies with significant PR operations are not included in our list because its is dictated by the agencies’ prime offering being PR and communications. Well done once again to everyone who made it – and thanks to all the agencies who have supplied us with information and data where requested.

The Prolific North Top 50 PR Agencies 2020

2019 ranking in brackets

Rank	Company	Location	Ownership	Staff	Clients
1 (1)	Citypress	Manchester	Private	82	Aldi, British Gas, Lloyds Bank, Coca Cola European Partners, Molson Coors
2 (3)	Barrett Dixon Bell	Altrincham	Private	45	DSM, IMCD, Grace, ADM, Roquette
3 (2)	Weber Shandwick	Manchester	Interpublic Group of Companies	41	Iceland, Nespresso, Abbott, On The Beach
4 (4)	Tangerine	Manchester	Private	57	Pizza Hut, Specsavers, Johnstone’s Paint, Ideal Standard, Jewson
5 (5)	Finn Communications	Leeds	Private	39	Essity UK, Froneri, GHD, IPN, Taylors of Harrogate
6 (12)	Hatch Communications	Leeds	Private	27	Boost Drinks, Russell Hobbs, Remington, Villa Maria Wines, The 2021 Rugby League World Cup
7 (7)	Brazen	Manchester	Private	26	Wilko, Dr Oetker, Showcase Cinemas, Magnet Kitchens, Optical Express
8 (6)	Carousel	Manchester	Private	28	Selfridges, MGA Entertainment, Accurist, Cotton Traders, Moda
9 (9)	Democracy	Manchester	Private	27	Dulux, Heycar, Cartridge Save, Love Energy Savings, Baxters Food Group
10 (8)	Influential	Liverpool	Private	30	Morgan Sindall, Grant Thornton, Merlin Entertainments, Camelot, U+I
11 (14)	iseepr	Leeds	Private	21	EMVCo, GlobalPlatform, Trusted Connectivity Alliance, GLEIF
12 (19)	Social	Manchester	Private	34	Extra MSA, Business Growth Hub, NP11, Caddick Developments, Stephensons Solicitors
13 (11)	Ramarketing	Newcastle-upon-Tyne	Private	27	Sharp, Xellia Pharmaceuticals, Recipharm AB, Tracelink
14 (18)	Intelligent Conversation	Manchester	Private	14	Brother International Europe, EMIS Group, Materialise NV, Norican Group, United Utilities
15 (10)	Red Havas	Manchester	Havas Group	20	Greggs, Kellogg’s, Studio.co.uk, HM Government, United Utilities
16 (15)	Prohibition PR	Leeds	Private	16	Yorkshire Water, Watches of Switzerland Group, CEWE, ENGIE, Interflora
17	Counter Context	Sheffield		20	Ørsted, National Grid, Far East Consortium, British Land, Sheffield City Council
18 (13)	Lucre	Leeds	Private	22	Jet2.com, Stonegate, Holiday Extras, Pizza Express, Meadowhall
19 (16)	Corporate Culture	Liverpool	Private	20	Southern Water, Riverside Group, Scottish Hydro Electric, Redrow Homes, NHS England
20 (21)	Roland Dransfield	Manchester	Private	14	Ask, D&D, Legal & General, St Modwen
21 (17)	PR Agency One	Manchester	Private	20	Decathlon, Auto Trader, Serenata Flowers, Allied London, Slater Heelis
22 (24)	Peppermint Soda	Manchester	Private	22	Admiral, Bolton Council, Home Bargains, muse
23 (26)	DTW	Guisborough	Private	15	The Law Society, Merseyflow, Solicitors Regulation Authority, Road Safety GB
24 (37)	Harris Associates	Leeds	Private	13	Senior Architectural Systems, CD Ltd, Crown, Arbor Forest Products, Washroom Washroom
25 (22)	SkyParlour	Manchester	Private	17	Ingenico ePayments, Pitney Bowes, Interactive Media Retail Group, Modulr
26 (25)	RMS	Altrincham	Private	19	Warburtons, Swizzels, Arvia, Manchester Drinks, Duerr’s
27 (33)	MCG	Leeds	Private	12	Northern, Pink Lady and Tenderstem, Costcutter Supermarkets Group, Nexus (University of Leeds)
28 (27)	Definition	Leeds	Acceleris acquired Limelight PR in January 2018	20	Utilita, Benenden Health, Nautilus International, JF Hillebrand, FibreNation
29 (42)	Kenyons	Liverpool	Private	17	LIPA, Everton, British Council, USS, Peel
30 (32)	Umpf	Leeds	Private	11	ENGIE, Glen Dimplex Home Appliances, Harrison Spinks, Landsec, NHS
31 (28)	Active Profile	Manchester	Private	12	Muse Developments, Avison Young, igloo Regeneration, UK Energy Innovation Centre, LivingLens
32 (31)	Context Public Relations	Macclesfield	Private	10	Check Point Software Technologies, Wellbeing Software, Algosec, Keysight Technologies, NowComm
33 (23)	Smoking Gun	Manchester	Private	11	Silentnight Beds, Willerby Holiday Homes, Interflora, Support Adoption for Pets, Testcard
34 (30)	Truth Creative	Manchester	Private	10	Countryside, Ego Pharmaceuticals, FI Real Estate Management, Furness Building Society, Rosewood Pet Products
35 (20)	Scott Partnership	Holmes Chapel	Private	9	Roche Sequencing, Paradigm4, Aigenpulse, Promega, SGD Pharma
36 (35)	No Brainer	Cheshire	Private	9	Appreciate Group, Cash Converters, HomeServe, Optionis Group, Sale Sharks
37 (36)	Brand8 PR	Leeds	Private	9	Avant Homes, Chancerygate, Sewtec Automation, TOMRA, Gordons
38 (48)	Scriba PR	Huddersfield	Private	10	UNTHA shredding technology, Solutionize Global, Vapour Cloud, Tidy Planet, Smith Brothers Contracting
39 (29)	Fig Creative	Glossop	Private	14	Northwood Hygiene Products, SRL Traffic Systems, Armacell, Ace Centre, TEL
40 (41)	Mason Williams	Manchester	Private	14	Weber, Harrods, Loctite, Compass Group
41 (58)	AlphaRmaxim Healthcare Communications	Altrincham		9
42 (46)	HRM	Sheffield	Private	17	BHP, Braun, STEL, NHS
43 (71)	We Are Indigo	Manchester		9	Mercedes-Benz, Kimpton & Dakota Hotels, Escape To Freight Island, The Warehouse Project
44 (38)	Skout PR	Macclesfield	Private	10	Miele, Wax Digital, GazProm Energy, 100%, SANA
45 (39)	MANC FRANK	Manchester	Enero Group	8	Vype, Vorwerk, Kiwi.com, Staysure, Tomatin
46 (61)	de Winter	Chester		11	mbna, EA Technology, Royal Crown, Grosvenor Shopping Centre
47 (40)	The Partners Group	York	Private	8	Morley Glass & Glazing, JM Glendinning, ROCOL, Silvery Tweed Cereals, EPH UK
48 (44)	Fourth Day	Manchester	Fourth Day Group	8	Autocab, ResponseTap, Lytx, APS Group, Mobica
49 (49)	Refresh PR	Manchester	Private	9	Glass and Glazing Federation, BBF, Culture Shift, The Dining Club Group, Glow-worm
50 (45)	Allott & Associates	Knaresborough	Private	9	SmartFreight, OxAir, GEA, Force24, Onward Holdings