The Most Admired List
Meet the agencies admired by their peers for redefining creativity, leadership, culture, purpose, and specialist expertise in 2025.

Every year, we carry out BenchPress - the landmark survey of UK agency leaders. It’s one of the most influential surveys of its kind and reveals how agencies run, grow, and perform, providing benchmarks and insights for the whole industry.
As part of the survey, we ask agency leaders which peers they most admire, and why. Their answers highlight the businesses setting the pace; the ones that others look to for inspiration, innovation, and integrity.
The result? This year’s Most Admired Agencies list: 24 exceptional teams recognised for their culture, creativity, leadership, purpose, and specialist expertise.
If you’re leading a £1m+ agency, you’ll also get the chance to meet many of them in person at our BenchPress 2026 live launch event. Click here to secure early-bird tickets.
Take a look at the full list below.
Culture
The agencies in this category prove that culture isn’t just about perks or ping-pong; it’s about purpose, people, and the environment you create for them to thrive. These teams have reimagined what it means to work well, showing that empathy, autonomy, and shared ambition can be the foundation of extraordinary performance.
Mr B & Friends
The team at Mr B & Friends are admired for cultivating a people-first culture where collaboration, clarity and personal growth are woven into the fabric of the business. The agency makes a point of hiring for attitude, not ego, which creates a grounded, high-trust environment that clients and team members alike want to be part of.
Founder Simon Barbato discussed innovative models on the Beautiful Business Podcast - you can listen here.
Reflect Digital
Reflect Digital stands out for its deeply human culture, centred around curiosity, kindness and mental fitness. They’re vocal advocates for inclusivity, wellbeing and putting people before profit, creating a genuinely supportive space where individuals can thrive both personally and professionally.
Founder and CEO Becky Simms joined the Beautiful Business Podcast to discuss cultivating a people-first business environment - you can listen here.
Smoking Gun
Smoking Gun’s culture is all about trust, autonomy and high performance without pressure. They've ditched outdated agency tropes in favour of a grown-up environment where people are empowered, backed by a “no-blame” culture that fosters openness, innovation and loyalty.
Rise at Seven
Rise at Seven has built a bold, transparent, and empowering environment that celebrates individuality and innovation. Championing a mindset of creativity and accountability, they nurture career growth across global offices and have earned recognition as one of the industry’s most inclusive, high-energy workplaces.
With a reputation for rewriting agency norms, they’ve also won over 70 awards.
Journey Further
Journey Further has earned admiration for transparency, evidence-based thinking and genuine investment in both wellbeing and performance. Their culture is purpose-built to help people do their best work, underpinned by openness, structured progression and a belief that work should enrich your life, not drain it.
Creative
These are the agencies pushing the boundaries of imagination and impact - the ones turning brave ideas into cultural moments. Whether through brand, design, digital or storytelling, their work challenges convention and proves that creativity, done right, drives both emotion and results.
Uncommon
Widely regarded as one of the most creatively ambitious agencies in the UK, Uncommon consistently pushes boundaries with provocative, culture-shaping work that wins awards and gets talked about, proving that brand creativity can be both brave and commercially effective.
We were lucky enough to sit down for a masterclass in branding with co-founder Nils Leonard when he joined us on the Beautiful Business Podcast. You can listen here.
Ragged Edge
Having carved out a reputation for building bold, belief-led brands, the team at Ragged Edge aren’t afraid to challenge the norms. Their work stands out for its visual craft and for the strategic clarity and creative confidence that runs through every project.
Taxi Studio
Known for its “fearlessly effective” creative, Taxi Studio combines deep strategic insight with high-impact design to produce work that resonates across borders. Their portfolio demonstrates a rare ability to deliver both brand transformation and commercial results at a global scale.
Born Social
Having redefined social-first thinking, blending cultural insight, platform-native craft, and brand storytelling, Born Social creates campaigns that feel human and boldly original. This has earned them a reputation for shaping the creative standards of modern social media while staying purpose-driven and collaborative as part of the Croud network.
ustwo
Consistently turning design thinking into human impact, ustwo creates beautifully crafted digital products and experiences that shape everyday life, from games like Monument Valley to transformative partnerships with Google, L’Oréal, and Peloton.
As a proudly employee-owned B Corp, ustwo’s creativity isn’t just about innovation for innovation’s sake; it’s driven by curiosity, collaboration, and a genuine belief that great design can make the world work better for everyone.
Co-founder Sinx, joined the Beautiful Business Podcast to talk about Employee Owned Trust - you can listen here.
Leadership
True leadership is about more than vision - it’s about how that vision inspires others. The agencies recognised here are led by people who empower rather than dictate and who build businesses grounded in trust, clarity, and courage.
StrategiQ
StrategiQ stands out for its deep investment in leadership development at every level of the business with structured programmes in place.
They have a clear belief in growing talent from within; they’ve created a culture where future leaders are nurtured, not just appointed.
DixonBaxi
DixonBaxi is led by a visionary leadership team that balances creative excellence with emotional intelligence. Their open, design-led philosophy and commitment to “being brave” inspires both clients and teams, setting a tone of clarity, courage and creative integrity across the business.
Simon Dixon and Aporva Baxi, the creative masterminds behind DixonBaxi, joined us on the Beautiful Business Podcast and shared their journey of nearly three decades navigating the world of design. You can listen here.
Fox Agency
Well-positioned at the intersection of global B2B tech and creative strategy, Fox Agency is backed by strong, people-focused leadership that has built a collaborative culture recognised as one of the industry’s Best Places to Work.
They’ve demonstrated their vision through their US expansion and cemented their reputation as a confident, fast-scaling independent with a clear mission and united team.
Numiko
With a clear growth strategy, strong vision, and commitment to continuous improvement, the leadership team at Numiko have created a business that balances innovation with integrity - embracing AI, automation, and experimentation to stay ahead of the curve.
Their focus on working with organisations that create social value (from universities to museums and charities) reflects leadership that’s both commercially smart and purposefully human.
Purpose
For these agencies, success isn’t just commercial, it’s meaningful. They’ve woven purpose into the core of their business, balancing profit with positive impact. Whether through sustainability, social change, or values-led growth, they show how doing good and doing well can go hand in hand.
Hue & Cry
B Corp-certified Hue & Cry brings purpose to life through powerful visual storytelling. Their projects often explore meaningful themes like environmental awareness, mental health and social justice, showing how craft and conscience can come together to create work that resonates well beyond the screen.
William Joseph
With purpose at its core, B Corp William Joseph specialises in creating work for organisations driving positive change. They’re driven by the belief that great design should be accessible and impactful, helping mission-led organisations do more good through clear strategy and brilliant digital delivery.
Engage Interactive
Engage Interactive stands out as a purpose-led agency that lives its values inside and out. Proudly employee-owned and B Corp certified, they blend commercial success with genuine care for their people, clients and community, making a measurable difference without compromising creativity or culture.
How&How
How&How builds brands that enrich lives, support nature, and empower founders, partnering with clients who share their commitment to positive impact. Guided by their B Corp values, the team champions transparency, equality, and sustainability, using design as a force for environmental and social good.
Specialist
Expertise is powerful, and these agencies prove it. They’ve carved out clear niches, becoming go-to partners in their respective sectors by combining deep domain knowledge with creative and strategic excellence. Their focus gives them an edge, and their results speak for themselves. So much so that we had to include six agencies in this section, as we just couldn’t whittle them down.
Thirst
Operating as a global creative partner dedicated solely to the beverage world, the team at Thirst unite deep insight, cultural curiosity, and brand innovation to craft standout identities and campaigns for clients. They’ve earned international recognition as experts who shape how drinks look, feel, and connect with audiences worldwide.
Creode
Creode has positioned itself as an integrated digital marketing agency deeply embedded in the financial services and fintech space - helping brands stay ahead in a fast-changing sector. Their expertise in compliance-heavy environments, data-led strategy, and performance-driven creativity makes them a trusted partner for clients who need precision, agility, and measurable results in a regulated world.
Medico Digital
A true healthcare marketing specialist, the team at Medico Digital combines sector-specific strategy with a deep understanding of medical regulation, patient behaviour, and clinical engagement. Their work with NHS Trusts and life sciences brands proves that they don’t just work in the sector; they speak its language fluently.
Levo
Helping automotive brands navigate change, Levo uses insight-led strategy to identify opportunities, reach the right audiences, and create seamless customer experiences. Their specialist understanding of the automotive industry, combined with a data-driven, results-oriented mindset, makes Levo a standout partner for brands ready to rethink how they drive growth.
Red-Fern
Red-Fern stands out as a B2B digital growth specialist, particularly in the manufacturing space. With strong commercial thinking, technical depth and a strategic approach to inbound and commercial outcomes, they consistently deliver for ambitious mid-sized and enterprise manufacturers looking for scalable results.
Wonderworks
Combining deep category expertise with strategic clarity and creative flair, Wonderworks help global beverage brands thrive. Their insight-driven, design-led approach and initiatives show how they’ve turned niche focus into a global force, shaping how drinks connect with culture and consumers.
The agencies on this list remind us that admiration isn’t earned through size or scale - it’s built through consistency, clarity, and care. Whether they’re leading with purpose, nurturing people-first cultures, or mastering their craft in specialist spaces, these teams set the standard for what a modern agency can be. They prove that when creativity, leadership, and integrity align, admiration follows naturally, and the whole industry moves forward together.
Thank you to everyone who submitted their nominations through our annual BenchPress survey. It’s always such a joy seeing agencies celebrating each other in this way.
For more insights from the BenchPress 2025 survey, download the full set of reports by clicking here.
If you’re leading a £1m+ agency, you can also secure early bird tickets to BenchPress Live 2026 by clicking here.
Join us at BenchPress Live 2026
Super early bird tickets are now on sale for BenchPress Live 2026, for leaders of £1m+ agencies!
We're excited to bring BenchPress Live back to London in March, full of excellent speakers, great networking opportunities and of course, the latest BenchPress survey results from Peter Czapp.
Be quick though, these tickets won't be around for long!
