Manchester media agencies ‘losing £250m’ to London
The Future of Media Manchester
Media agencies in Manchester have lost an estimated £250m over the last three years to London-based rivals, regional leaders have warned.
In a frank debate among media owners and Manchester-based agencies at the climax of The Future of Media Manchester last week, executives suggested there are still major structural problems that impede advertising and media growth in northern regions.
Simon Crunden, managing director of independent agency The Freethinking Group, warned that the north west’s agency sector has shrunk in recent years, meaning there is a shortage of jobs for talented local people.
He estimated that £250m in billings had been lost to London agencies, based on calculating the disclosed sizes of media accounts that have moved in the last few years from Manchester-based agencies to London-based ones.
This figure was corroborated by a sales executive at a major UK media owner. This person told The Media Leader that there is a “perception issue” from brands that agencies outside London don’t have the requisite capabilities, expertise or buying power to help them further grow their business.
“That [perception] is just wrong,” the executive said.
Major account moves appear to show brands moving from regional network shops to London-based independent agency the7stars. These moves in the last two years include Oak Furnitureland and People’s Postcode Lottery.
Below is an edited transcript of panellists’ comments in response to a question about whether it’s possible to have a great media career outside London (published in order of when they spoke on stage). They were asked whether they agree with ITV’s Manchester-based business development director Jason Spencer, who advises talented people to “be curious, be brave and get out of London”.
The panel “Who Wants to be a Media Leader?” (loosely based on the ITV game show) was hosted by Adwanted Events managing director Steve Scaffardi and is a regular feature at The Future of Media, which made its debut in Manchester on 26 September.
‘It’s on all of us to fix this problem’
Geoff Marsh, chief digital officer, GB News
“I passionately agree with this.
“It is a huge, huge problem and I don’t think the industry has addressed it sufficiently. I think what the BBC did when moving to Salford was a really good start. It set the tone. I don’t think it’s been followed particularly.
“All of us in the media industry have a job to turn that around, because it makes us weaker. It makes our output weaker.
“One of the things I am very proud about with GB News is that it invests in regional journalists and is actually adding regional journalists, like Sophie Reaper in Manchester — a local girl who went to the University of Salford.
“We are hiring locally around the country at a time when, unfortunately, lots of publishers, even digital publishers, are laying people off.
“I think it’s on all of us — London or not — to try and fix this problem.”
‘You have to reflect your readership’
Imogen Fox, chief advertising officer, The Guardian
“I’m from Bolton, but there wasn’t so much up here when I started my career. So I went to London, did it the other way around, and eventually joined The Guardian, which, of course, is the Manchester Guardian and was founded here in 1821; there’s a plaque in the city.
“We still have a northern office up here and we invest in regional journalism. Helen Pitt, who does Today in Focus, which is our flagship podcast, she lives and works up here. If you listen to it, you can hear her badgering local MPs — she’s brilliant.
“As The Guardian, most of our audience is not in London — it’s really a global audience. In the UK, it’s fully nationwide. So you have to reflect your readership and their world in your journalism. And also from an advertising point of view, you’ve got to reflect that in the advertising ideas that you have as well.”
‘Real infrastructure problems’
Julie Chadwick, managing director, Dentsu Creative
“Manchester is growing faster than London, but if you then build in the rest of the north west, we’re not.
“I don’t want to see lots of people get on the train from London and coming up here; what I want to see is that the north’s growing and always creating jobs for people across the north west and across the northern cities.
“Unfortunately, at the moment, we just don’t have the infrastructure to be able to do that.
“It is easier to get to London than it is everywhere else. So for me in Manchester, to get to Newcastle, it’s a nightmare. It’s quicker for me to go to London then Edinburgh than it is to go direct to Edinburgh.
“So there are some real infrastructure problems that we need to solve so that people can do their best work and prosper and grow across the UK.”
‘Agencies have lost a slew of major clients’
Simon Crunden, managing director, The Freethinking Group
“It would be all well and good having people want to start their career in Manchester, but there needs to be brilliant brands for them to work on. And there is a genuine crisis of brands leaving Manchester, specifically to [work with] London agencies.
“At the moment, in the media industry, I reckon over the last three years about a quarter of a £1bn in media billings has left Manchester. I don’t know why and we need to figure it out.
“We need to figure out how we, collectively, as media owners, as media agencies and as anyone else who values a career in Manchester, convince clients that not only is the talent here, but the agencies are here that can deliver that talent.
“[Brands] are paying a premium to take their brands to London and some of them have been on this stage today.
“There are agencies that have lost a slew of major clients over the last few years and we need to collectively figure out how we better sell what the north offers to clients, because if it doesn’t rest, there won’t be an industry for that talent.”
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