Creative And Tech Open For Business In The South West, Now Home To The UK’s No.1 Independent Agency

Bristol, Bath and the South West of England is famed for its creativity, celebrating some of Britain’s most successful exports including Aardman Animation, Dyson and Banksy. Recent government investment initiatives have put the creative sector at the heart of the regions economy, relying on more than 2,500 creative businesses to lead the way in the post recession recovery, and put the UK’s creative sector on the world stage.

Adding to the regions reputation, Bath based Planning, Creative, Technology and Media firm The Agency have been ranked as the UK’s leading independently owned agency following a nationwide census conducted by trade publisher The Drum. The census is compiled using a variety of criteria, which include past and present financial performance, client review and feedback aggregated via surveys and telephone interviews, as well as peer-to-peer opinion. The Drum’s independent agency census is one of the most comprehensive to be undertaken in the UK.

“We are absolutely delighted, and shocked to have been recognised as the number one independent agency in the UK. There are a number of individual categories within the census where we didn’t top the table, such as financial performance, but overall we were deemed the strongest agency with 25 staff or less. Being ranked number one and topping the Elite Chart is a big deal for us, particularly because we compete against a number of high calibre agencies that have been trading far longer than us. Being 6-years old we’re still considered relative newcomers” says Amy Stobie, Co-founder, AgencyUK.

Since its incorporation in January 2008 by founders Saman Mansourpour and Amy Stobie, AgencyUK has developed into one of the South West’s best-known creative and technology outfits, working with high profile brands such as BT, James Caan’s Startup Loans Company, the AA, Gooch and Housego and pharmaceutical giant Quintiles.

“We have worked hard to promote a culture where creative people can thrive, and that’s not just by attracting traditionally creative talent such as graphic designers and writers. We believe that creativity plays an equally important role in our technology teams, planning teams and media teams. The marketing industry has become increasingly focused on data and analytics, which we applaud, but in an increasingly noisy world our clients find that their competitive advantage lies in their ability to stand out from the crowd, and creativity is key to that” says Saman Mansourpour, Managing Director, AgencyUK.

Earlier this year AgencyUK enjoyed a number of new client wins which included their appointment by Meat Promotion Wales to their £3m agency roster and their largest national campaign for Welsh Lamb. The Agency fought off a number of large network agencies, which included the incumbent Golly Slater.

They also dominated the prestigious RAR Awards in London, picking up the Grand Prix after a record-breaking eight nominations.