The next two positions are occupied by Cardiff-based Golley Slater, whose fee income jumped by eight per cent over last year, and Leeds-based Brahm, which saw its fee income rise above £2m this year.
'It's tough, and budgets everywhere are under pressure,' says Brahm joint managing partner Phil Reed. 'You have to be canny in terms of what you go for and the fees for that work.' He adds that about 85 per cent of Brahm's work is national in nature, and points to a growth in work from public sector clients.'
'Forget the PR soundbites, 2003 was a year of hard graft trying to maintain and improve creative and service standards in the face of increasing pressure on margins,' says fourth-placed Ptarmigan MD Gordon Forbes, who's fee income also broke the £2m barrier. 'We adopted a sales growth strategy driven by a value-for-money proposition, and we're probably as pleased with the results we achieved in 2003 as we've been in any of our 14 years in business.'
Glasgow-based The BIG Consultancy is increasingly moving into the big time, with a 44 per cent growth in fee income.
Elsewhere, Green Issues, the Reading-based environmental PR specialist, opened offices in Cardiff and Manchester during the year and enjoyed impressive growth in fee income of more than 50 per cent. Managing director Tom Curtin identifies one reason for its success as being the conscious decision to work on projects alone and not seek retainer business.
West Midlands consultancy Haslimann Taylor, which was acquired by Lord Chadlington's Huntsworth last October, has benefited from good market conditions in and around Birmingham, increasing revenue from clients such as Mitchells & Butlers and house builder Taylor Woodrow and securing new client Goodyear Dunlop.
There were mixed fortunes for the technology specialist PR agencies based outside the capital. The ITPR Group saw revenues snowball by 46 per cent.
Meanwhile, Strategic Alliance has been hit by a fee income fall of nearly a third. It has responded by concentrating on finding more clients based in the UK and Europe rather than relying on US-headquartered clients as heavily as in the past. The company has also broadened its offer beyond technology to B2B, with new wins that include Continental's truck tyre division.
There are some absentees from our regional chart. Omnicom-owned Countrywide Porter Novelli is excluded owing to Sarbanes-Oxley. Rival Harrison Cowley (HC) underwent some management changes in August last year. Former CEO David Heal became chairman and was replaced by Paul Kelly, who ran corporate and B2B, with operations director Loretta Tobin stepping up to become deputy CEO.
The acquisition of Leeds agency Adamson Usher last year also added ballast to HC's regional offer. 'The market is tough but so far it's hanging together well,' says Kelly. 'We've done very well in London, Birmingham and Edinburgh.'
A handful of notable exceptions notwithstanding, it seems to have been a better year in the regions than in the capital.
REGIONAL AGENCIES 1-20
Rank Company Fee income (pounds) Turnover 03
03 02 % chge (pounds)
1 Beattie
Communications Group 6,652,722 7,058,468 -6 7,440,782
2 Golley Slater
Public Relations* 2,621,192 2,427,667 8 3,272,458
3 Brahm
Public Relations 2,218,268 1,956,038 13 4,768,670
4 Ptarmigan
Consultants* 2,177,166 1,993,901 9 3,173,055
5 The BIG Partnership 2,071,471 1,440,125 44 2,201,629
6 EHPR* 2,029,581 2,027,982 0 3,117,493
7 Insight Marketing
and Communications 1,829,000 1,880,000 -3 2,076,000
8 Medicom Group 1,667,800. 1,020,480 63 4,100,000
9 Green Issues
Communications 1,613,966 1,029,949 57 1,685,992
10 AD Communications+ 1,588,231 1,506,091 5 2,570,585
11 B2B Communications 1,563,714 1,450,013 8 4,405,840
12 Sinclair Mason 1,555,620 1,453,980 7 2,145,683
13 Atlas Media Group 1,551,020 1,318,567 18 3,245,241
14 Companycare
Communications* 1,415,924 1,421,603 0 1,628,131
15 Haslimann Taylor 1,404,431 1,127,308 25 1,858,995
16 The Whiteoaks
Consultancy* 1,356,593 1,430,682 -5 1,356,593
17 Myriad
Public Relations 1,297,431 1,187,404 9 1,892,061
18 The ITPR Group 1,284,842 881,489 46 1,589,542
19 Strategy
Communications* 1,242,446 1,008,063 23 1,480,168
20 Quay West
Communications 1,184,300 1,235,475 -4 1,315,600
21 Seal Communications* 1,135,946 1,021,539 11 2,911,713
22 Willoughby PR 1,115,804 922,251 21 1,778,247
23 Ashley Communications 1,071,806 859,775 25 2,299,082
24 Berkeley PR
International 1,007,283 1,118,068 -10 1,037,018
25 Barrett Dixon Bell* 1,003,000 867,000 16 2,400,000
26 Wyatt International 976,342 951,694 3 4,463,426
27 Kavanagh
Communications* 950,458 775,001 23 1,145,789
28 Prowse & Company 944,482 725,782 30 1,009,102
29 DTW 940,061 885,476 6 1,787,470
30 Brazen 939,426 438,173 114 1,379,179
31 Pegasus
Public Relations+ 859,788 790,187 9 988,961
32 Barkers Scotland 848,185 326,588 160 22,008,324
33 PFPR Communications 847,312 589,659 44 2,253,541
34 Roger
Staton Associates* 824,408 973,580 -15 901,794
35 EML 812,433 966,382 -16 1,019,496
36 Pinnacle Marketing
Communications 805,358 762,250 6 1,400,000
37 William Murray PR 792,295 859,571 -8 1,032,431
38 The Bright
Consultancy* 774,709 464,000 67 1,023,342
39 Cohesive
Communications 769,611 754,082 2 1,188,087
40 Strategic
Alliance Int'l 755,555 1,123,153 -33 795,320
41 City press PR 745,084 632,681 18 879,203
42 JBP Public Relations* 733,121 710,162 3 870,727
43 BCLO Public Relations 701,549 547,900 28 858,855
44 Corixa Communications 685,060 689,859 -1 992,407
45 Howell Petersen 645,000 426,000 51 1,270,000
46 Market Engineering 585,000 472,500 24 624,000
47 Target
Public Relations* 540,584 371,710 45 2,597,645
48 Spin Media 531,307 498,355 7 531,307
49 Leader
Communications* 526,000 560,991 -6 646,395
50 Pagoda
Public Relations 512,808 504,230 2 534,894
Rank Company Staff Clients Location
03 02 03 02
1 Beattie Communications Group 111 126 178 190 Falkirk
2 Golley Slater Public Relations* 43 41 150 112 Cardiff
3 Brahm Public Relations 22 19 47 39 Leeds
4 Ptarmigan Consultants* 46 44 36 39 Leeds
5 The BIG Partnership 36 27 55 46 Glasgow
6 EHPR* 34 36 18 16 Berks
7 Insight Marketing
and Communications 36 34 36 38 Cheshire
8 Medicom Group 20 20 21 17 Surrey
9 Green Issues Communications 19 12 96 71 Berks
10 AD Communications+ 16 20 41 32 Surrey
11 B2B Communications 20 16 12 10 Surrey
12 Sinclair Mason 15 17 55 50 Leeds
13 Atlas Media Group 29 24 89 51 Leeds
14 Companycare Communications* 22 25 52 42 Reading
15 Haslimann Taylor 25 24 31 35 West Mids
16 The Whiteoaks Consultancy* 32 34 42 27 Surrey
17 Myriad Public Relations 22 21 51 N/A Cambs
18 The ITPR Group 20 15 33 19 Surrey
19 Strategy Communications* 22 21 41 34 Bristol
20 Quay West Communications 17 19 21 21 Essex
21 Seal Communications* 30 24 34 32 B'ham
22 Willoughby PR 25 22 42 31 B'ham
23 Ashley Communications 10 7 9 7 Middlesex
24 Berkeley PR International 20 24 28 17 Berks
25 Barrett Dixon Bell* 23 22 19 17 Altrincham
26 Wyatt International 10 10 81 78 B'ham
27 Kavanagh Communications* 12 11 5 8 Surrey
28 Prowse & Company 17 14 30 31 Surrey
29 DTW 26 26 42 51 Cleveland
30 Brazen 25 15 28 11 M'chester
31 Pegasus Public Relations+ 17 15 32 24 W.Sussex
32 Barkers Scotland 7 7 42 29 Edinburgh
33 PFPR Communications 15 10 11 7 Kent
34 Roger Staton Associates* 13 15 24 30 Bucks
35 EML 13 19 22 24 Surrey
36 Pinnacle
Marketing Communications 8 7 25 19 Middlesex
37 William Murray PR 21 19 25 21 Surrey
38 The Bright Consultancy* 13 9 19 11 Midlands
39 Cohesive Communications 13 14 38 28 Chepstow
40 Strategic
Alliance International 13 15 24 25 Bucks
41 City press PR 16 15 32 32 M'chester
42 JBP Public Relations* 14 16 30 36 Bristol
43 BCLO Public Relations 14 13 17 23 Bristol
44 Corixa Communications 12 16 15 21 Bristol
45 Howell Petersen 12 10 38 29 Cardiff
46 Market Engineering 9 8 14 11 Oxon
47 Target Public Relations* 12 9 14 14 Glos
48 Spin Media 13 14 55 70 M'chester
49 Leader Communications* 12 15 23 23 Warks
50 Pagoda Public Relations 11 10 41 31 Edinburgh
All figures relate to year ended December 2003. Fee income = PR fees
plus mark up. *Denotes PRCA member. + Turnover given is global figure,
owing to overseas accounts billed in the UK
- Three of this year's top five regional agencies broke the £2m
barrier for the first time
- Medicom Group saw the biggest leap in fee income out of the top 20,
with a 63 per cent increase
- Leeds-based Atlas Media Group added 38 new clients to its portfolio in
2003
- Barkers Scotland increased fee income by 160 per cent over the
previous year
- More than a third of the Top 50 regional agencies are based in the
south east
- Bristol-based BCLO PR has six fewer clients than last year, but still
increased fee income by 28 per cent
