Top 150 PR consultancies

Many agencies saw double-digit growth, giving cause for optimism in 2011

T

he PR industry bounced back in 2010. The average growth rate of PRWeek’s Top 150 agencies in 2010 was 9.24 per cent, but a glance down the table reveals several agencies have comfortably surpassed this figure.

Once again, the Bell Pottinger Group scooped the top spot, adding £7.9m to its fee income in 2010, a growth of 13 per cent. The UK’s largest independent agency Edelman secured a similar growth rate of 12 per cent, while the Engine Group shot up the table, growing by over a third with an extra £6m in fee income.

Further down, PHA Media has grown by nearly half with 47 per cent growth, newer agency PrettyGreen rose by 145 per cent and Mischief PR, which won Agency of the Year at last year’s PRWeek Awards, increased fees by 39 per cent.

Of course, some agencies suffered in the tough economic climate. Agencies affected by the public sector saw declines. Kindred, for example, dropped by 50 per cent and Munro & Forster by 18.

9.24% Average growth rate of Top 150 agencies in 2010

METHODOLOGY

All the figures supplied by agencies have been signed off by the agencies’ auditors or external accountants
Some agencies declined to enter figures for the league tables, citing the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We have estimated some of the larger agencies’ fee income. We use a formula agreed with the PRCA and accountants Kingston Smith W1, which has checked all the figures
We multiply the agency’s estimated number of fee-earning PR staff by an estimated per-head productivity figure for their sector, as follows:
City – £280,000
City and corporate – £165,000
Healthcare – £110,000
Generalist – £100,000

190% Rise in fee income at We Are Social

144% Growth in fee income at 90TEN Healthcare

Top 150

Rank	Company	Fee income (£k)		Turnover (£k)	PR Staff	Clients	Location

in Top 150		10	09	% change		2010

1	1	Bell Pottinger Group*	67,818	59,937	13	137,715	440	907	London
2	–	Brunswick**	53,200	–	–	–	190	–	London
3	–	Weber Shandwick	31,800	–	–	–	318	–	London
4	–	FD	31,000	–	–	–	188	–	London
5	5	Edelman	28,777	25,734	12	44,776	298	–	London
6	–	Finsbury	25,000	–	–	–	89	–	London
7	–	Hill & Knowlton	24,000	–	–	–	240	–	London
8	8	Freud Communications	23,800	22,454	6	37,022	188	–	London
9	11	Engine Group	22,252	16,138	38	106,662	195	337	London
10	–	MS&L Group	20,000	–	–	–	200	-	London
11	–	Ketchum Pleon	18,000	–	–	–	180	–	London
12	13	Grayling†	17,421	15,370	13	22,482	228	1,041	London
13	9	Citigate Dewe Rogerson	17,207	18,967	-9	21,237	111	341	London
14	16	College Hill	16,730	14,421	16	27,272	178	542	London
15	–	Fleishman-Hillard	14,000	–	–	–	140	–	London
16	–	Fishburn Hedges	13,000	–	–	–	130	–	London
17	18	The Red Consultancy	11,930	11,722	2	16,126	152	195	London
18	19	Chandler Chicco Companies	10,602	10,642	0	15,340	93	111	London
19	–	Ogilvy Health PR	10,000	–	–	–	91	–	London
20	–	Cohn & Wolfe	9,600	–	–	–	96	–	London
21	–	Maitland	9,200	–	–	–	33	–	London
22	23	Tonic Life Communications††	9,105	8,503	7	18,985	84	130	London
23	–	Burson-Marsteller	9,000	–	–	–	90	–	London
24	25	Exposure	8,632	7,517	15	11,250	100	109	London
25	22	Lansons Communications	8,283	8,651	-4	9,138	83	180	London
26	–	Porter Novelli	7,900	–	–	–	79	–	London
27	28	Lexis Public Relations	7,126	7,034	1	11,028	84	77	London
28	35	Four Communications Group	7,037	5,846	20	16,720	124	366	London
29	32	Frank Public Relations	6,829	6,460	6	12,658	60	176	London
30	43	Portland	6,693	5,152	30	6,693	56	114	London
31	–	Buchanan	6,600	–	–	–	40	–	London
32	37	Hotwire Group	6,501	5,740	13	8,830	70	170	London
33	39	Brands2Life	6,386	5,587	14	7,934	67	90	London
34	30	The Big Partnership	6,266	6,890	-9	6,443	89	289	Glasgow
35	NE	The Communications Store	6,228	4,508	38	5,310	58	109	London
36	–	Band & Brown	6,000	–	–	–	60	–	London
37	–	GolinHarris	5,700	–	–	–	57	–	London
38	45	Nelson Bostock Group†††	5,600	4,779	17	7,302	64	75	London
39	53	TVC Group	5,431	3,842	41	5,747	42	84	London
40	–	Euro RSCG Biss Lancaster	5,300	–	–	–	53	–	London
41	49	3 Monkeys Communications	5,187	4,227	23	7,149	54	54	London
42	41	Freshwater	4,945	5,447	-9	6,486	71	259	Cardiff
43	46	Red Door Communications	4,856	4,573	6	5,560	41	41	London
44	NE	Bite Communications	4,732	3,439	38	5,453	53	54	London
45	50	Virgo Health	4,718	4,100	15	6,520	49	57	Surrey
46	–	Kreab Gavin Anderson	4,600	–	–	–	28	–	London
47	44	Camargue Group	4,553	4,882	-7	5,600	55	167	London
48	47	Consolidated PR	4,081	4,460	-8	5,776	55	60	London
49	52	Golley Slater Public Relations	4,054	3,930	3	4,533	49	150	Cardiff
50	–	Ogilvy PR	4,000	–	–	–	40	–	London
51	60	Octopus Communications Group	3,837	3,408	13	4,527	38	55	Windsor
52	57	Eulogy	3,815	3,622	5	3,815	37	60	London
53	61	PPS Group	3,717	3,373	10	4,192	45	140	London
54	58	Galliard Healthcare Communications	3,622	3,608	0	4,057	23	30	London
55	55	Smarts	3,535	3,778	-6	6,934	56	119	Edinburgh
56	48	Shine Communications	3,523	4,268	-17	6,123	50	34	London
57	29	Kindred Agency	3,496	7,047	-50	8,339	40	49	London
58	–	Clarion Communications	3,400	–	–	–	34	–	London
59	64	Hanover	3,388	3,129	8	3,848	38	71	London
60	66	Just::Health PR	3,357	3,005	12	4,878	25	12	London
61	72	Waggener Edstrom Worldwide	3,247	2,769	17	3,247	40	39	London
62	75	The Whiteoaks Consultancy	3,184	2,640	21	3,794	36	55	Surrey
63	84	PHA Media	3,131	2,126	47	3,227	30	126	London
64	63	Speed	3,108	3,157	-2	3,845	36	57	London
65	65	Publicasity	2,992	3,031	-1	4,362	32	72	London
66	81	Salt	2,897	2,296	26	3,324	33	37	London
67	54	The Communication Group	2,851	3,791	-25	2,422	30	55	London
68	67	Colman Getty	2,837	2,934	-3	2,987	35	117	London
69	74	London Communications Agency	2,807	2,664	5	2,864	20	64	London
70	69	Kazoo	2,774	2,876	-4	6,867	36	29	London
71	79	Pegasus Public Relations	2,751	2,421	14	3,610	37	50	Worthing
72	77	Citypress	2,751	2,531	9	2,909	35	50	Manchester
73	62	Munro & Forster Communications	2,717	3,334	-18	4,296	30	44	London
74	76	MC2	2,633	2,608	1	2,636	35	129	Manchester
75	73	Axon Communications	2,617	2,684	-2	3,609	25	47	Surrey
76	NE	Purple Public Relations	2,605	2,198	19	3,273	41	92	London
77	88	Cirkle Communications	2,284	1,901	20	3,179	27	29	Beaconsfield
78	NE	Interel Consulting UK	2,281	1,959	16	2,316	12	80	London
79	100	Mischief PR	2,269	1,631	39	4,526	34	33	London
80	94	Brazen	2,180	1,780	22	2,658	27	58	Manchester
81	78	The Outside Organisation	2,146	2,467	-13	2,146	28	162	London
82	130	PrettyGreen	2,096	857	145	5,458	32	14	London
83	86	Splendid Communications	2,071	2,052	1	3,302	18	20	London
84	NE	Pitch	2,048	1,418	44	2,386	30	43	London
85	91	Lucre	2,021	1,847	9	2,221	32	50	Leeds
86	NE	We Are Social	2,001	691	190	2,003	30	30	London
87	90	The Wriglesworth Consultancy	1,908	1,849	3	2,053	24	77	London
88	93	Mi liberty	1,856	1,782	4	2,146	16	37	London
89	82	Communications Management	1,851	2,221	-17	1,980	24	86	St Albans
90	85	Kaizo	1,833	2,076	-12	2,007	18	64	London
91	95	Richmond Towers Communications	1,831	1,761	4	2,675	23	26	London
92	71	Focus PR	1,823	1,991	-8	2,492	29	53	London
93	105	Wild Card	1,812	1,463	24	2,292	23	38	London
94	NE	Broadgate Mainland	1,807	1,509	20	1,768	18	40	London
95	–	Staniforth	1,800	–	–	–	18	–	Manchester
96	98	Camron Public Relations	1,772	1,678	6	2,295	22	62	London
97	96	The Bright Consultancy	1,726	1,686	2	1,903	26	32	Birmingham
98	NE	JBP PR & Parliamentary Affairs	1,718	1,347	28	1,724	26	37	Bristol
99	101	Pinnacle Marketing Communications	1,710	1,610	6	1,999	15	22	Middlesex
100	NE	Remarkable Group	1,676	1,303	29	2,134	33	133	Winchester
101	NE	Johnson King	1,638	1,441	14	1,638	25	41	London
102	NE	The Open Road Consultancy	1,619	1,281	26	1,718	17	32	London
103	114	Bottle PR	1,610	1,252	29	1,732	23	29	Oxford
104	107	Insight Public Affairs	1,609	1,400	15	1,831	13	27	London
105	102	Tangerine PR	1,600	1,552	3	1,942	30	33	Manchester
106	99	The PR Office	1,546	1,663	-7	1,546	20	116	London
107	NE	Berkeley Public Relations International	1,520	1,467	4	1,537	22	38	Berkshire
108	104	Reynolds-MacKenzie	1,492	1,488	0	1,551	18	30	London
109	106	Willoughby Public Relations	1,489	1,430	4	1,940	27	60	Birmingham
110	109	Launch Group	1,481	1,339	11	2,084	26	66	London
111	NE	Peregrine Communications	1,400	1,000	40	1,400	12	25	London
112	NE	The ITPR Group	1,378	1,207	14	1,653	18	28	Surrey
113	119	The Reptile Group‡	1,365	1,174	16	1,492	18	35	London
114	108	Luchford APM	1,320	1,348	-2	1,405	22	36	London
115	113	Tetra Strategy	1,318	1,290	2	1,318	14	23	London
116	111	Paratus Communications	1,310	1,303	1	1,513	11	27	London
117	115	Barrett Dixon Bell	1,305	1,250	4	4,006	18	24	Cheshire
118	126	Threepipe Communications	1,288	961	34	1,482	18	28	London
119	110	Say Communications	1,276	1,322	-3	1,385	16	28	London
120	NE	CitySavvy	1,262	741	70	1,404	14	15	London
121	123	House PR‡‡	1,258	1,086	16	1,726	15	34	London
122	NE	90TEN Healthcare	1,240	508	144	1,766	14	35	London
123	125	Davies Tanner	1,236	1,063	16	1,258	21	29	Kent
124	116	Iris PR	1,217	1,210	1	1,689	19	17	London
125	112	Amaze PR	1,201	1,300	-8	11,079	15	30	Manchester
126	NE	Wyatt	1,181	1,154	2	3,492	13	102	Birmingham
127	NE	Limelight	1,180	1,023	15	1,180	16	26	London
128	124	Phipps PR	1,167	1,077	8	2,086	14	11	London
129	136	Bellenden	1,167	750	56	1,167	18	52	London
130	135	Unity	1,122	769	46	1,183	16	25	London
131	121	Primal PR	1,063	1,165	-9	938	12	36	Maidenhead
132	120	Midas Public Relations	1,060	1,166	-9	870	18	38	London
133	122	GyroHSR / Woolley Pau PR	1,054	1,106	-5	23,482	12	23	London
134	118	3x1 Public Relations	1,014	1,174	-14	1,309	12	42	Glasgow
135	128	Spark Communications	976	952	2	1,061	10	34	London
136	NE	Rostrum Communications	969	635	53	983	8	42	London
137	NE	Automotive PR	968	910	6	1,024	13	30	London
138	143	Radio Relations	954	633	51	958	19	216	London
139	134	The Ideas Network Public Relations	932	783	19	1,017	12	26	London
140	137	Siren PR	926	749	24	971	11	13	London
141	NE	Linstock Communications	912	851	7	1,070	10	32	London
142	NE	Platform PR	906	582	56	971	8	14	London
143	133	Admiral PR	895	934	-4	895	10	34	Newcastle
144	NE	Stripe Communications	895	777	15	1,561	16	39	Edinburgh
145	NE	JTA (Jon Tibbs Associates)	882	1,045	-16	882	7	15	Kent
146	140	FWD	876	675	30	2,800	6	29	London
147	142	Red Lorry Yellow Lorry	835	643	30	859	11	11	London
148	NE	Aurora Healthcare Communications	831	621	34	1,187	10	16	London
149	NE	Political Lobbying & Media Relations	820	559	47	844	13	34	London
150	NE	Eskenzi PR	812	630	29	883	7	20	London

Notes

Fee income is defined as PR fees plus any mark-up. Figures from 1 January to 31 December 2010, rounded to nearest £1,000

Some agencies declined to give figures, citing restrictions imposed by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002). Fees and staff numbers are estimated. These agencies have been highlighted in grey.

The agencies featured in blue, with expanded profiles and entries, are sponsors of the Top 150 micro site.

* Corporate entities included: Bell Pottinger Business & Brand, Bell Pottinger North, Bell Pottinger Public Affairs, Bell Pottinger Public Relations, Bell Pottinger Sans Frontières, Corporate Citizenship, De Facto, Fast Track, Good Relations, Good Relations Wales, Harvard, Insight, Pelham Bell Pottinger, Ptarmigan Bell Pottinger, Resonate, Stuart Higgins Communications, Teamspirit Corporate & Business, TTA

** Brunswick declines to participate in our league tables. Fees and staff numbers are estimated

† Incorporating Haslimann Taylor and Stephanie Churchill PR

†† Incorporating Huntsworth Health

††† Incorporating Fever PR, Things With Wings and Nelson Bostock Communications

‡ Incorporates Chameleon and Komodo

‡‡ Formerly Henry’s House

NE – New entry

Haymarket 1957 - 2011
|
About us
|
Contact us
|
Terms & Conditions

web design kent