The story of PR agency start-ups in the UK market is an uplifting one of innovation and new business models.

The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred a wave of innovation in the PR industry. It is easy to focus on the challenges that the pandemic has created in the industry but there have been more than 15 new PR agency launches in the UK alone in the past six months.

I caught up with 12 founders this week in the PR Class of 2020 community on Guild and invited them to share their stories. It’s a group created by Hard Numbers’ founder Daryl Sparey. Members range from one person organisations to founder teams, and agencies already scaling to subsidiaries of international firms.

COVID-19 opportunity for entrepreneurs

“This period of enforced change is also a period of great opportunity. To my mind, it resembles closely what we saw during the financial crash. For many individuals, it’s the moment to strike out on their own, and to create their own offerings,” said Francis Ingham, Director General, PRCA.

The combination of turmoil in the agency market and availability of talent means that new agencies have been able to cut through in a way that might not have otherwise been possible. Clients are predominantly working from home and are open to fresh ideas and perspectives.

“The agencies they’re creating are free to embrace new opportunities from day one, free of any of the baggage that inevitably builds up over time, and free to embrace the possibilities of rapid growth. Many of the companies in this analysis are the agency titans of the coming decade,” added Ingham.

The main challenge for agency founders is onboarding new team members when it is not possible to meet in person. The isolation of home working was the most frequently cited issue. Creating an agency culture from a standing start is difficult enough but even more so when it’s not possible to work together in person.

“In an odd way, there’s never a better time than now to start a new agency. Whilst it can be a test of nerve and grit, all of your graphs point upwards, whilst for most of your more established competitors they point down - that has an impact on morale and management,” said Daryl Sparey, co-founder, Hard Numbers.

Innovative propositions

This group of entrepreneurs have all spotted opportunities either to create a new agency proposition or work smarter. They benefit from the freedom of being able to start from a blank sheet of paper without legacy structures or workflow.

Innovation includes account-based marketing, behavioural insights, integrated marketing, measurement, and SEO PR. There’s also innovation in business models. Traditional agencies have always sold time. But new models include a bespoke data platform, community as a service and performance driven public relations.

“There’s more great talent available now than at probably any point in the last eight to ten years. And there’s still a huge under-utilisation of technology and lack of innovation in servicing and reporting models that is there for smaller, more nimble start-ups to exploit,” said Sparey.

New delivery models

The combination of talent and delivery models are the most exciting aspect of the new agencies. It is bringing a wave of energy and innovation into the PR market at an incredibly challenging time.

• Daryl Sparey, co-founder, Hard Numbers has built a team of ten who are delivering a data led approach to driving leads and sales pipeline for clients.

• Tom Scott, founder, Little Mesters has built a network of freelance SEO content and PR specialists across the UK to plug gaps in agency and client teams. He’s about to make his first hire.

• Shayoni Lynn, founder, Lynn PR expects to grow to a team of ten over the next two months. The agency provides a robust application of behavioural science and data-driven strategic communications.

• Grace Keeling and James Beveridge, co-founders, Made By Giants have built a proposition around tech growth cycles, bringing brand and communications together.

Sales and staff

The group of agency entrepreneurs have serious ambition. Five of the 12 said they are aiming for a turnover of £100,000 to £300,000 in 2020 and four are on target for £500,000.

Headcount reflects the scale. The 12 agencies currently have a combined headcount of around 60 with hiring plans to exceed 75 by the end of the year.

Most start-up agencies are self-funded from founder savings or bootstrapped from client income. Four have raised debt or external investment.

Class of 2020 PR agency start-ups

New PR agencies launched in the UK this year among those that participated in this conversation include: Authentic, Boldspace, BOLDT, Coldr, Eureka Box, Feral, Fight or Flight, Hard Numbers, Little Mesters, Lynn PR, Made by Giants, Mixology, Priestley, Second Mountain, SHOOK, Simmons x Schmid, and Where Eagles Dare.