Glasgow PR agency employing 200 people named largest outside of London

“At a time when the industry, as a whole, is showing real growth as flat, we grew by 16 per cent from an already significant base.”

A Glasgow-based public relations and creative consultancy employing 200 people across five offices has been named the largest agency outside of London.

Smarts, which operates across offices in Glasgow, Belfast, London, Amsterdam and New York, has also been ranked as the 30th largest agency in the UK overall and the fourth largest consumer agency in PR Week’s Top 150 rankings. Bosses said the “significant milestones” were reflective of a decade of growth for the firm, which generated revenues of £16 million in the past year.

Recent highlights include working with US writer, comedian and actress Tina Fey on Booking.com’s 2024 Super Bowl ad, creating “immersive experiences” for global media and influencers to explore whisky giant Diageo’s Brand Homes in Scotland, and expanding into mainland Europe with a new office in Amsterdam. European campaigns in the past year have included an “experiential engagement programme” to showcase Booking.com’s new Amsterdam HQ to more than 6,000 employees.

Smarts global chief executive Pippa Arlow: 'To be recognised in three categories in PR Week’s annual agency rankings is a fantastic achievement.'

Smarts said it had made substantial investments exceeding £2m in content production, digital infrastructure and “influencer capabilities” since 2020.

Global chief executive Pippa Arlow said: “To be recognised in three categories in PR Week’s annual agency rankings is a fantastic achievement. Over our 30-year history, we’ve always challenged ourselves to consider, ‘what’s next?’ and these achievements reflect our ambitions to deliver exceptional work locally and drive our business globally. At a time when the industry, as a whole, is showing real growth as flat, we grew by 16 per cent from an already significant base.”

In Scotland, Lesley Alexander, head of corporate and public sector (Scotland), has been joined by Emma Falvey as head of consumer (Scotland) to run operations locally. Falvey said: “It’s brilliant to be recognised for our offering outside of London, showing the wealth of great talent and skills we have locally. As we continue to develop our consumer offering here in Scotland, hitting number four in the UK is an accolade we’re all extremely proud of.”

Meanwhile, Glasgow-based communications consultancy Perceptive Communicators has been appointed to provide strategic communications services for property firm Muir Group and expanded its specialist team with the addition of a senior account executive.