UK indies collaborating amid shift in agency model

Independent agencies can deliver holding group-scale services without the red tape by collaborating — but co-ordination, training and tech knowledge need to be tackled.
This is according to a report from SBS, a programmatic curation platform supporting indies, which released a report entitled Adapt to Thrive: How the Agency Model is Changing on Wednesday.
The study found that 90% UK indies are collaborating with others, signalling a major shift away from the traditional one-stop shop model presented by global holding groups.
At the start of the year, the Alliance of Media Independents launched to provide support to indies and promote knowledge-sharing.
The collective now has 26 members and has announced data company Experian as its first official partner, demonstrating the trend towards more collaboration among indies.
In fact, SBS suggested that collaboration between indies is not just a trend — it is driving results.
As Jason Warner, SBS’s UK and EMEA managing director, declared: “This is a make-or-break moment.”
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Collaboration is king
According to the study, 52% of respondents believe partnering other agencies lead to new business opportunities — with SBS highlighting how collaboration brings trust and credibility that could lead to referrals, recommendations and, ultimately, joint wins.
Meanwhile, 51% think collaboration expands their service capabilities.
Additionally, 36% noted they could perform better in pitches by partnering an agency that offers complementary skills and plugs knowledge gaps, resulting in end-to-end service solutions.
Notably, 24% believe they can gain access to new markets through collaborating with others.
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Structural barriers
That said, SBS identified several barriers that persist in collaboration between indies.
More than half (60%) of participants cited co-ordination across different agency structures as a major challenge. For example, a shop that bills based on performance may struggle to collaborate with a partner that relies on timesheets, as this makes the process of billing clients complex.
Meanwhile, almost half (48%) had concerns about what working with a bigger shop or network would do to their brand identity or if it would be perceived as a watering down of their values.
More than a third highlighted a lack of transparency and trust between agencies.
Separately, 39% cited legacy contracts with holding groups as blockers to brands choosing to work with independents.
Technology was identified by SBS as a great equaliser for indies, but 71% found accessing and adopting new technologies challenging, in turn limiting progress.
A lack of training or support for emerging tools was identified as a factor here by 55% of respondents, while a significant portion (45%) said they did not have the time to property assess new technology.
Asad Khan, digital media lead at Vodafone, commented in the report: “The playing field has become more level, with independents now having an opportunity to build credibility as viable alternatives.”
The study, conducted by Censuswide, surveyed 100 adults working in independent agencies in May.