UK company counts · Marketing and advertising
Marketing and advertising agencies in the UK with 50 or more employees
About 320 marketing and advertising agencies in the UK employ 50 or more people, according to accounts filed up to 24 October 2026 (register of 1 September 2026).
Accounts filed up to 24 October 2026 Register of 1 September 2026
The list behind the number
Which companies these are, with names, company numbers, registered addresses and each dated headcount, is what the report is for. Here they stay hidden.
| Company | Location | Incorporated | Employees |
|---|
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Growing marketing and advertising agencies in the UK, every Monday
Firmo Weekly: how many marketing and advertising agencies in the UK added staff since their last filed accounts, the searches that find them, and one click to the list. Free, at 08:00 every Monday.
By size: marketing and advertising in the UK
| Employees | Companies | Share | All sectors, UK |
|---|---|---|---|
| Micro 0 to 9 | about 46,000 | 58% | 58% |
| Small 10 to 49 | about 2,000 | 2% | 4% |
| Medium 50 to 249 | about 290 | under 1% | 1% |
| Large 250 or more | about 30 | under 1% | under 1% |
| No figure filed not known | about 32,000 | 40% | 37% |
| All active companies | about 80,000 | 100% | 100% |
| Grew by 10 or more staff any size | about 150 | under 1% | under 1% |
Shares are worked out from the rounded counts. No figure filed means the company has not filed a machine-readable headcount: it may be large or small, and it is never counted as zero. A filed 0 is a real answer and sits under micro.
What is counted
- Sector
- Advertising agencies, media buying, and market research (division 73), and public relations and communications (70.21). SIC 2007: division 73 (Advertising and market research); 70210 (Public relations and communications activities).
- Companies
- Active companies on the Companies House register. A company with several of these codes counts once.
- Headcounts
- 60% of these companies have an employee count in accounts we have read. The rest are shown as No figure filed, never as zero.
- Dates
- Each company's size is from its latest filed accounts, read up to 24 October 2026. Accounts are filed up to nine months after the year end, so a figure can describe a year that ended some time ago.
- Rounding
- Counts are rounded to two significant figures, and under 20 are shown only as fewer than 10 or fewer than 20, so no count points at a single company. The report is exact.
Questions about these figures
How many marketing and advertising agencies in the UK have 50 or more employees?
About 320 marketing and advertising agencies in the UK employ 50 or more people, according to accounts filed up to 24 October 2026 (register of 1 September 2026). Counts are rounded to two significant figures, and are for active companies only.
How is company size measured?
By the average number of employees each company states in its latest filed accounts, read from the tagged figure in accounts filed electronically. The bands count employees only: micro 0 to 9, small 10 to 49, medium 50 to 249 and large 250 or more. That is not the Companies Act size test, which also uses turnover and balance sheet. 60% of marketing and advertising agencies in the UK have filed a figure; the rest are counted as No figure filed, never as zero.
How up to date is this?
The register is the Companies House snapshot of 1 September 2026, and new accounts are read every day; these figures use accounts filed up to 24 October 2026. Each company's headcount is as of its own accounts date, which can be a year or more before the day it was filed.
Can I download the list?
Yes. The list of these companies, with names, company numbers, registered addresses, SIC codes and every headcount with the date of its accounts, is a one-off CSV for £25 (up to 1,500 companies), with no account and no sales call. Unlimited, from £159 a month, allows up to 5,000 companies a list. The free search shows the same count, not which companies.
Which SIC codes count as marketing and advertising?
Advertising agencies, media buying, and market research (division 73), and public relations and communications (70.21). Codes counted: division 73 (Advertising and market research); 70210 (Public relations and communications activities). A company counts if any of its SIC codes is in the set.