Prolific North top 150 Agencies 2026
Celebrating the North’s top agencies driving growth, creativity and innovation across the marketing, digital and creative sectors.
The wait is over – introducing the Prolific North Top 150 Northern Agencies.
Expanding on our Top 50 rankings, the Top 150 celebrates the North’s most innovative and fast-growing agencies across marketing, creative, digital, and communications. Agencies can also appear in specialist lists, showcasing their core expertise.
Submit your details and make sure your agency is recognised among the region’s leaders.
#ProlificNorthTop150 #AgencyRankings
Prolific North Top 150 Northern Agencies: FAQs
How do the rankings work?
- We use all of the information submitted to rank each agency. Whilst some information holds more weight than others, it’s typically the better you do as an agency (for example, the higher your turnover or % growth) the higher you’ll appear in the rankings.
Can I appear in more than one list?
- Yes. From 2026 onwards, agencies can appear in multiple lists. All agencies will be considered for the Top 150 Northern Agencies list, and may also appear in specialist lists depending on the specialisms selected during submission.
Can I pick any 3 specialisms?
- Agencies can select up to three specialisms, but these should represent the areas that account for the largest share of your agency’s revenue.
Which lists will I be considered for?
- All agencies are considered for the Top 150 Northern Agencies list. You will also be considered for specialist lists that relate to your agency’s selected specialisms. During the submission process, we will ask you to identify up to three specialisms that best reflect the areas that account for the largest share of your agency’s revenue.
If I don’t submit an application, can my agency still appear in the list?
We maintain a database of northern agencies that we are continually building and reviewing. While we strongly encourage agencies to submit an application to ensure we have the most accurate and up-to-date information, agencies that do not self-submit may still be considered for the rankings using publicly available data.
We do this so that the rankings reflect the full northern agency landscape, not just the agencies that choose to submit.
How do the rankings work?
- We use all of the information submitted to rank each agency. Whilst some information holds more weight than others, it’s typically the better you do as an agency (for example, the higher your turnover or % growth) the higher you’ll appear in the rankings.
Prolific North Top 150 Northern Agencies: Participation Guidelines
Participant Guidelines
At Prolific North, we are committed to showcasing the exceptional talent, growth and innovation of agencies across the North of England. The Prolific North Top 150 Northern Agencies ranking recognises the region’s leading agencies across the marketing, communications and creative sectors.
Agencies submit a single entry to be considered for the Top 150 Northern Agencies list and may also be considered for other rankings by specialist discipline based on the services they provide.
To ensure a fair and accurate ranking, we have established the following guidelines for participation.
1. Eligibility Criteria
Geographic Location
Your agency’s primary operational headquarters must be located within the North of England, including (but not limited to):
- North West
- North East
- Yorkshire & the Humber
Please provide a verifiable address for your main office.
Agencies may operate additional offices elsewhere in the UK or internationally, but the main headquarters must be located in the North of England.
Core Business Definition: What Constitutes an “Agency”?
For the purposes of this research, an agency is defined as a business that provides professional services in marketing, communications, media, creative, digital or related strategic disciplines.
Eligible agencies may include (but are not limited to):
- PR agencies
- Digital agencies
- Integrated agencies
- Creative agencies
- Media agencies
- Marketing agencies
- Branding agencies
- Content and production agencies
Services may include areas such as:
- Brand strategy
- Creative and advertising
- Content production
- Data and analytics
- Customer experience
- Development and technology
- Public relations
- Social media
- Paid search
- Organic strategy (including SEO)
- Media planning and buying
- Events
- Integrated marketing
- B2B marketing
Agencies that are a department of a larger non-agency company may not be eligible. The agency must operate as a standalone business unit with its own identifiable operations.
Lead generation and sales agencies are not eligible.
Business Structure
- The agency must be a registered business entity.
- Freelancers or individual consultants are not eligible.
Financial Reporting
Agencies must be able to provide verifiable financial data, including:
- Revenue/ turnover
- Profit figures
- Growth data
This data should reflect the most recently published financial reporting period.
Prolific North will use public sources such as Companies House in order to verify information given or collect information not shared.
All financial information will be treated with strict confidentiality.
Employee Count
Agencies must provide accurate employee headcount figures, reflecting the number of employees within the business.
2. Data Submission Requirements
Agencies must complete the official Prolific North Top 150 Northern Agencies submission form.
The form will require detailed information about:
- Agency services and capabilities
- Revenue and profit figures
- Employee numbers
- Growth data
- Agency ownership structure
- Areas of specialism
Supporting documentation may be requested to verify the submitted data.
All data must be submitted before the stated deadline.
3. Agency Specialisms and Specialist Rankings
As part of the submission process, agencies will be asked to identify up to three core specialisms.
These specialisms should reflect the areas that generate the largest share of the agency’s revenue.
Agencies may select from the following specialisms:
- Brand Strategy
- Creative
- Content Production
- Data
- Customer Experience
- Development
- PR
- Social Media
- Paid Search
- Organic Strategy
- Media
- Integrated
- B2B
- Events
Submissions to the Top 150 Northern Agencies list will automatically be considered for other Top rankings within the selected specialist categories.
Examples of specialist rankings may include:
- Top 50 PR Agencies
- Top 50 Media Agencies
- Top 50 Social Media Agencies
- Top 50 Development Agencies
- Top 50 Creative Agencies
- Top 50 Integrated Agencies
Prolific North may also publish additional rankings based on agency characteristics, such as:
Top 50 Independent Agencies
Please note that Prolific North may not publish a ranking for every specialist category and the number of agencies in a list may vary (e.g. Top 30 or Top 50). The publication of specialist lists will depend on the number and suitability of agencies submitting under each specialism.
4. Confidentiality
- All submitted financial data will be treated with the utmost confidentiality.
- Prolific North will use this data solely for the purpose of compiling the rankings.
- Only aggregated and anonymised data will be published.
5. Ranking Methodology
The rankings will be based on a combination of factors, including:
- Revenue
- Profit
- Growth percentage
- Employee numbers
- Other factors that Prolific North deems relevant to the agency industry.
Prolific North reserves the right to adjust the weighting of these factors as deemed necessary.
6. Prolific North’s Discretion
- Prolific North reserves the right to make final decisions regarding eligibility and ranking.
- Prolific North may request additional information or clarification from participating agencies.
- Prolific North reserves the right to exclude any agency from the ranking, if the provided information is deemed to be false, misleading or incomplete.
7. Contact Information
For any questions or clarifications, please contact:
We encourage all eligible agencies in the North to participate and showcase their achievements!
