Mindshare named top UK new-business performer in 2024

Mindshare was the top agency in the UK in new-business terms last year, according to the latest UK New Business Barometer report from COMvergence.

COMvergence tracked 185 media account moves in the UK in 2024 worth a total of $3.5bn. This represented a significant increase on 2023, when total UK new business was valued at $2.1bn.

Retentions worth $418m pushed Mindshare to the top of the league, attributed to Unilever reappointing the WPP agency in September 2024 — an account worth $418m.

Mindshare also won $29m in pure new business.

Omnicom’s PHD was the second-biggest agency in the ranking. Notably, it is number one if only net new business is considered.

PHD won $167m of new business, including the consolidated Sainsbury’s brief. It was the only agency last year to have surpassed the $100m mark in net new business in COMvergence’s analysis.

The shop, meanwhile, had retentions worth $251m.

Sibling shop OMD was third in total new business, with retentions valued at $141m, including Lidl (a $120m business), and new business worth $55m.

Net new business

Ranked by net new business (i.e., excluding retentions) in 2024, PHD was followed by Havas Media, which picked up briefs worth a combined $94m.

Publicis’ Zenith was close behind, winning $89m of new business.

Losses mount at GroupM

Notably, several agencies have shown an overall negative result, meaning they have lost more business than wins and retentions combined.

This includes IPG Mediabrands’ Initiative, following Amazon’s move to WPP, and EssenceMediacom, which lost Sky and L’Oréal. Both of those briefs, valued at $262m and $258m respectively, went to Publicis Media.

EssenceMediacom’s result was also apparent when looking at holding group-level performance.

GroupM was the third-biggest holding company in new-business terms in 2024, winning $337m of new business and $672m of retentions. However, it lost $727m in billings — the most among the top three by some way.

In comparison, Publicis Media, the top holding group in new business terms, recorded only $6m in losses, while second-placed Omnicom Media Group lost $77m.

Independent performance

For the first time, COMvergence also analysed the new-business performance of UK independent shops.

Assembly, considered independent in this report but part of challenger agency group Stagwell, won new business worth $86m to top the table. Wins included Pipedrive ($51m) and Fossil Group ($14.3m).

It was followed by the7stars, which won more at $114m, but also lost $39m worth of business.

Brainlabs was third, with $49m of new business and $13m of losses.