The last 12 months have been a hard year for marketing agencies. Budgets have been cut while staff have been marooned at home. But it’s also been a time of opportunity, as companies across the country began their own digital transformation campaigns. And the UK’s digital agencies have risen to the challenge.

At The Drum, we publish the voices and stories of digital marketers every day. But we wanted to grasp the impact of this year on the digital agency sector as a whole – and understand the state of the digital marketing nation. So, over the last few months, we’ve undertaken a new sector-wide research project: The Drum UK Digital Census. Our expert research team has polled digital agencies, clients and staff, in a comprehensive survey of the UK’s digital agency sector.

Over the coming weeks, we’ll be revealing our findings – revealing which of the UK’s digital agencies have the best client relationships, the best reputation among rivals and the best creative performance, as well as a best-of-the-best reflecting performance across all three categories – and investigating how the UK’s digital agencies have adapted during this last year in a series of special reports.

cameron clarke – editor

Top 50 digital agencies by peers UK 2021
Top 50 best award winning digital agencies UK 2021
Top 50 best client rated digital agencies UK 2021

Elite List

Our Elite List ranks the best digital agencies in the UK, combining the scores from our Awards, Client and Peer polls.

1000heads

Greater London

Greater London logo
1000heads is a digital marketing agency with outposts in London, Berlin, Dubai, LA, New York and Sydney. It was the 42nd best agency in the country for client satisfaction, 12th for creative output and 109th for peer recommendations.
383

West Midlands

West Midlands logo
383 is a digital product studio based in Birmingham. It was ranked the 47th best agency in the country for client satisfaction, 38th for creative output and 26th for peer recommendations.
Altair Media

Greater London

Greater London logo
Altair Media specializes in SEO, PPC and display media. It ranked 41st for client satisfaction, 25th for creative output and joint 157th for peer recommendations.
AnalogFolk

Greater London

Greater London logo
A global creative agency with bases in London, Amsterdam, New York, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore and Sydey. AnalogFolk ranked 11th for peer recommendations, 2nd for creative output and 75th for client satisfaction.
Artefact

Greater London

Greater London logo
Artefact is an international data services company. It ranked 61st for client satisfaction, joint 64th for creative output and 134th for peer recommendations.
1000heads

Greater London

Greater London logo
1000heads is a digital marketing agency with outposts in London, Berlin, Dubai, LA, New York and Sydney. It was the 42nd best agency in the country for client satisfaction, 12th for creative output and 109th for peer recommendations.
383

West Midlands

West Midlands logo
383 is a digital product studio based in Birmingham. It was ranked the 47th best agency in the country for client satisfaction, 38th for creative output and 26th for peer recommendations.
Altair Media

Greater London

Greater London logo
Altair Media specializes in SEO, PPC and display media. It ranked 41st for client satisfaction, 25th for creative output and joint 157th for peer recommendations.
AnalogFolk

Greater London

Greater London logo
A global creative agency with bases in London, Amsterdam, New York, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore and Sydey. AnalogFolk ranked 11th for peer recommendations, 2nd for creative output and 75th for client satisfaction.
Artefact

Greater London

Greater London logo
Artefact is an international data services company. It ranked 61st for client satisfaction, joint 64th for creative output and 134th for peer recommendations.
Brave Bison

Greater London

Greater London logo
Brave Bison is a social agency based between London and Singapore. Joint second in the Elite List, it ranked 34th for client satisfaction, 28th for creative output and 24th for peer recommendations.
Brilliant Noise

South East

South East logo
Brilliant Noise is a strategic marketing agency. It ranked 78th for client satisfaction, 43rd for creative output and 109th for peer recognition.
ClickThrough Marketing

West Midlands

West Midlands logo
ClickThrough specializes in SEO, PPC, online PR and web design. It ranked 8th for client satisfaction, 31st for creative output and 134th in the peer recommendation poll.
Crafted

East of England

East of England logo
Crafted is a full service digital marketing agency. It ranked 9th for client satisfaction, 64th for creative output and 68th for peer recommendation.
Croud

Greater London

Greater London logo
Croud is a global performance marketing agency. It placed 76th for client satisfaction, 25th for creative output and 16th for peer recommendations.
Cyber Duck

East of England

East of England logo
Cyber Duck is a digital transformation agency. It placed 68th in our client satisfaction poll, 52nd for award wins and 36th for peer recognition.
Delineo

North West

North West logo
A digital marketing agency based in Manchester, Delineo was the 27th best agency in the UK for client satisfaction, 64th for creative output and 246th for peer recommendations.
Hedgehog Lab

North East

North East logo
Hedgehog Lab is a digital product consultancy. It ranked 64th for client satisfaction, 62nd for award wins and 81st for peer recommendations.
Impression

East Midlands

East Midlands logo
Impression is a digital marketing agency. It ranked 33rd for client satisfaction, 64th for creative output and 16th for peer recommendation.
Jellyfish

Greater London

Greater London logo
Jellyfish is the biggest independent digital agency in the UK. It was the second-best agency in the country in our peer poll, ranked 64th for client satisfaction and 64th for creative output.
Merkle

Greater London

Greater London logo
Merkle is a global performance marketing agency. Its UK arm ranked 69th for client satisfaction, 9th for creative output and 30th for peer recommendations.
Qumin

Greater London

Greater London logo
Qumin is a China-focused digital marketing agency based in London and Shanghai. Qumin ranked 13th for client satisfaction, 13th for creative output and 157th for peer recommendations.
Reload Digital

Greater London

Greater London logo
Reload Digital is an e-commerce agency based in London. It placed 40th for client satisfaction, joint 64th for creative output and 191st for peer recommendation.
Rise at Seven

Yorkshire & The Humber

Yorkshire & The Humber logo
Rise at Seven is an SEO agency based in Sheffield. It ranked 84th for client satisfaction, 22nd for creative output and 51st for peer recommendations.
Somo

Greater London

Greater London logo
Somo is a digital product agency. It was the 53rd best agency for client satisfaction, 25th for award wins and 36th for peer recommendations.
Studio24

East of England

East of England logo
Studio24 is a digital design agency. It placed 18th for client satisfaction, 64th for creative output and 134th for peer recommendations.
Supercharge

Greater London

Greater London logo
Supercharge is a digital innovation agency based in London and Budapest. It ranked 28th for client satisfaction, 64th for award wins and 68th for peer recommendations.
Tangerine Comms

North West

North West logo
Tangerine Communications is a creative communications agency based in Manchester. It placed 32nd for client satisfaction, 22nd for creative output and 157th for peer recommendations.
The Kite Factory

Greater London

Greater London logo
An independent media agency based in London, The Kite Factory placed 62nd in our client poll, 41st for creative output and 134th for peer recognition.
The Tree

Greater London

Greater London logo
A digital content marketing agency, The Tree placed joint 9th for client satisfaction, 64th for creative output and 109th for peer recommendations.
Torpedo

South East

South East logo
Torpedo is a B2B marketing agency. It ranked 25th for client satisfaction, 17th for creative output and 191st for peer recommendations.
TwentySix

Yorkshire & The Humber

Yorkshire & The Humber logo
TwentySix is a UX, development and digital agency. It ranked 16th in client satisfaction, 56th in creative performance and 20th in the peer recommendation poll. Of the agencies listed in all three polls, it ranked the best across the board.
Wilderness Agency

Greater London

Greater London logo
Wilderness is a specialist social media agency. It ranked 49th for client satisfaction, 43rd for creative output and 109th for peer recommendations.
Yoyo Design

South East

South East logo
Yoyo Design specializes in web design. It placed 26th for client satisfaction, 43rd for creative output and 26th for peer recommendations.
Zone

Greater London

Greater London logo
Zone is a CX agency with offices in London and Bristol. Across the entire Census, it ranked 39th in client satisfaction, 16th for creative output and 60th for peer recommendations.