PR agencies no longer need to be based in London to access talent and clients, but most still make the capital their headquarters. Sophie Smith investigates drivers for change.
There is a common view in the communications industry that agencies are primarily based in London. Indeed a study of more than 50 agencies that launched in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic supports this assertion. The Wadds Inc. COVID-19 UK PR Agency Startup report found that two-thirds were started in London reflecting the location of their previous employers or personal circumstances.
However, according to data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), London is not the centre of the UK public relations industry. Its analysis of the market in October 2017 found that three in five of PR and communications agencies were based outside of London.
Having worked for big agencies in London and Scotland, as well as in-house, Amanda Lowe, founder of Story Comms, chose Birmingham as the place to start her agency.
“Understanding how regional differences - from economics to inward investment, sector specialisms to politics - should dramatically impact how organisations communicate, Story focused wholly on regionally HQ-ed businesses with national and global footprints. There is PR life outside the M25 - and always has been,” said Amanda.
Amanda is a passionate advocate for the regions, noting their increasing inward investment, political devolution and talent relocation as the fuel for growth. While traditionally the bigger briefs, budgets and industry focus have centered on the capital, she’s confident clients will continue to vote with their feet and seek out the agencies outside London.
The case for regional PR agencies
When we started the COVID-19 startup agency project, we expected to find that the pandemic had contributed to a wave of new agency startups outside of London. With a switch to video chat, online meetings and remote-working, the pandemic has shown us that there is no need for creative or professional services to be based in London in Soho or Southbank.
However, we found that only 27.4% were outside of the capital, with 17.6% of these agencies being based in the South. According to PR Week’s Top 150 for 2021, the location of most agencies (76%) is London. There is limited evidence to support the idea that COVID-19 might level up the distribution of agencies across the UK or result in a boom in regional businesses.
Nicky Regazzoni, co-founder of The PR Network, a global virtual PR agency, said: “Our decision to work virtually from our launch in 2005 was based on our shared experience running teams in large traditional agencies and facing the perpetual war for talent.
“We believed we could create a bigger and better team - and therefore build the agency faster - by using expert freelancers, instead of employing staff who had to be located close enough to come daily to a central office. This meant we could hire people based on their experience and fit for the brief, not location. Our low overheads allow us to pass cost savings to clients in terms of fees, and to invest in smart technologies to create a strong virtual agency infrastructure.
“Today we work in more than 40 countries for brands such as Purplebricks, Snapchat, SoundCloud, Toyota and Lexus. Our clients have never cared that we don’t have an office, and Covid has finally proven the business case for the model.”
Government levelling up agenda
The package includes ongoing support from Innovative UK EDGE and funding of up to £25,000 for innovation projects. The funding comes from the £750m COVID-19 support fund which is to help businesses bounce back from the pandemic.
Agencies featured in the COVID-19 UK agency startup report meet the eligibility criteria. The aim is to provide a package of targeted support for growth so ambitious, creative businesses can reach their potential.
The COVID-19 UK agency startup report finds that COVID-19 has leveled-up competition for startup agencies. Founders have been able to create content and meet people in a way that wasn’t previously possible.
The government’s creative industries fund for small businesses is aiding in this levelling within the industry by providing funds for those smaller businesses/startups that have either struggled throughout the pandemic or haven’t received large funding since they started.
Agency profiles from the COVID-19 report
Three of the agencies we interviewed for the Wadds Inc. PR agency startup report were based outside of London. Ben Veal, the founder of Second Mountain Communications, spoke of his work/life priorities and how he used to spend hours a week travelling back and forth from Bath to London. Second Mountain Comms is based in Bath where he lives and provides the opportunity to build meaningful work around his family. His vision includes some sort of office space in Bath working collaboratively with clients and like-minded businesses in the South-West.
As for Tom Scott, his inspiration for Little Mesters originated from Sheffield’s history after visiting the Kelham Island Museum. The city’s industrial heritage is built on micro businesses or as they’re called in the city “Little Mesters”. A respect for Sheffield’s local history provided the inspiration for Tom to create Little Mesters for the digital age. The agency has now expanded its office space to support their growing team and client roster, the office is based in the Kelham Island area of the city, where his idea for the agency stemmed from.
Advita Patel, founder of Comms Rebel, has worked in Manchester for most of her career, so it is no surprise that her agency is based in the city. Comms Rebel supports organisations in taking a strategic approach to internal communications, Advita has a passion for supporting frontline workers and loves to help those ‘salt of the earth individuals”. Alongside Comms Rebel, she also started A Leader Like Me, a programme designed to support underrepresented women and non-binary people of colour in the industry.
Launch of regional agencies expected to be a second order effect
There is no rational reason for London to be the focus of an agency or for startups. The COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t reached its end yet and it may be that we start to see a shift in location as a second order effect of the pandemic. It will be interesting to see the development of the agencies included in the report and of agencies that start in the coming years to see whether there are new hotspots or a move away from London.
Sophie Smith is a MA Media and PR student at Newcastle University. She has worked as a junior consultant at Wadds Inc. during 2021 and supported research on the COVID-19 UK PR Agency Startup project. She hopes to pursue a career with an organisation in the North of England after graduation.