85% Micro
12% Small
2% Mid
1% Large
0% Mega
INSIGHTS - APRIL 2025
UK Advertising & Marketing Industry
UK Advertising & Marketing Industry Information
The advertising industry involves the creation and realisation of advertising campaigns and their placement in newspapers, radio and television, or other media. The sector also includes market research and polling activities.
Active Businesses
35,312
Annual Sales
£33bn +
Employees
180,464
Economic Contribution
£17bn
Tags
Location of Advertising & Marketing Companies
Advertising & Marketing Companies by Size
Largest Advertising & Marketing Companies
Turnover
Facebook Uk Ltd
£2.8bn
Mediabrands Limited
£651.1m
Jcdecaux Uk Limited
£405.6m
Advertising & Marketing Companies by Age
34% Young
32% Startup
24% Established
10% Mature
1% New
Oldest Advertising & Marketing Companies
Established
Fastest Growing Advertising & Marketing Companies
35% Declining
23% Healthy
20% Rapid
14% High
8% Low
Fastest Growing Advertising & Marketing Companies
3yr CAGR
Aka Nyc Limited
124%
Advertising & Marketing Industry Competitive Environment - New Entrants vs Leavers
Advertising & Marketing Industry Valuation
EBITDA Multiple
Advertising & Marketing Industry Valuation
Turnover Multiple
Advertising & Marketing Industry Valuation
Net Asset Multiple
Note - from March 2020 multiples are calculated monthly, prior to this they were calculated on an annual basis.
UK Advertising and market research Industry Insights
There are 35,312 active Businesses in the UK with combined annual sales of £33 billion .
The Industry employs around 180,464 people and contributes £17 billion to the economy.
The most popular location for Advertising & Marketing companies is London with 14,115 and the fewest are located in Northern Ireland with 311.
The largest Advertising & Marketing company is Facebook Uk Ltd with a turnover of £2.8bn. 85% of the industry is comprised of Micro companies with only 2% Mid companies.
10% of the Advertising & Marketing Industry is made up of 10% Mature but the majority are Young businesses (34%) the oldest company is Aberdeen And Grampian Chamber Of Commerce founded in 1877.
Advertising & Marketing industry has a number of high growth companies (14%), the fastest growing company is Ocean Bidco Limited with a 3 year growth rate of 244%. Other fast growing companies include Brand Fuel Limited (161%), Aka Nyc Limited (124%) and Ascential Events (Europe) Limited (120%).
The UK Advertising & Marketing Industry’s valuation has been improving over the past 3 years with a current EBITDA multiple of 6.59x, Turnover multiple of 1.06x and a Net Asset multiple of 1.85x.
