Prolific North
Prolific North is a Manchester-based B2B media platform that publishes news, runs awards programs and events, and produces agency rankings serving the creative, digital, marketing, and tech sectors across Northern England.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersManchester, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What Prolific North does
Prolific North is a regional B2B media and information services platform serving the creative, digital, marketing, and technology sectors across Northern England. Founded in 2012-2013 and headquartered in Manchester, the company operates a multi-format publishing ecosystem anchored by prolificnorth.co.uk, which delivers daily news, features, and editorial content across categories including Agency, Brand, Tech, Ecommerce, Audio, Gaming, Publishing, and TV/Film/Streaming. The platform also runs a daily email newsletter, company profile pages, and a jobs board targeting creative professionals.
The company's commercial proposition layers on a portfolio of recurring revenue-generating properties: four annual awards programs (Champions Awards, Creative Awards, Marketing Awards, Tech Awards), live events including the multi-city Northern Marketing Festival (Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester), Growth to Gold, GRAFT, CTO Debrief, Prolific North Live, and Prolific Agency Labs. It also produces benchmark research products — notably the Top 150 Agencies ranking (which consolidated the prior Top 50 PR, Digital, and Integrated lists), Tech Companies to Watch (Scale-up Edition), Tech Start-ups to Watch, and the Northern Agency Guide distributed to 3,000+ senior decision-makers.
The business monetizes primarily through B2B sponsorships, event partnerships, and awards entry fees. Sponsorship clients span marketing agencies, tech companies, law firms (Glaisyers), consultancies (KPMG, MHA), insurance brokers (Vista Insurance Brokers), and regional PR firms. Audience scale reached 1.5 million unique users and 2.5 million page views in 2025, representing 66% year-on-year growth. The company has 11-50 employees and was acquired by RM Communications Ltd in January 2026, which took a majority stake. Post-acquisition, managing director Alexandra Balazs and commercial director Ben Waterhouse retain significant stakes, founder Nick Jaspan moved to an advisory role, and Rob McLoughlin OBE succeeded Mark Dickinson as chairman after Dickinson's 13-year founding tenure.
Prolific North firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Prolific North
- Legal name
- Prolific North Limited
- Website
- https://prolificnorth.co.uk
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Prolific North is a Manchester-based B2B media platform that publishes news, runs awards programs and events, and produces agency rankings serving the creative, digital, marketing, and tech sectors across Northern England.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Prolific North industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Trade Media & Industry Events
- NAICS
- Newspaper Publishers (51311), Directory and Mailing List Publishers (51314), All Other Publishers (513199)
- SIC
- Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Local & Regional Newspapers (Print & Digital) (MPAJADAB)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Newsletters & Email-Based News Publishers (B2B/B2C) (MPAJADAJ)
Keywords
Where Prolific North is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Manchester
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Prolific North business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels8 records
Prolific North product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Prolific North is a B2B media publishing platform covering news, features, and industry insights for the Northern UK creative economy across agency, brand, tech, ecommerce, audio, gaming, publishing, and TV/film sectors. It operates a unified offering that combines a daily news website, a daily email newsletter, multiple annual awards programs, live industry events across multiple Northern cities, authoritative agency rankings, a jobs board, company profiles, and a printed Northern Agency Guide distributed to senior decision-makers.
Product overview
Prolific North is a media publishing platform covering the Northern UK creative economy. The company operates a unified platform comprising a news website (prolificnorth.co.uk), multiple awards programs (Champions Awards, Creative Awards, Marketing Awards, Tech Awards), live events (Northern Marketing Festival, Growth to Gold, GRAFT, CTO Debrief, Prolific North Live, Agency Labs), research rankings (Top 150 Agencies unifying Top 50 PR/Digital/Integrated lists, Tech Companies to Watch, Tech Start-ups to Watch), the Northern Agency Guide resource, company profiles platform, jobs board, and daily newsletter. The platform serves agency, brand, tech, ecommerce, audio, gaming, publishing, and TV/film sectors across the North of England.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Northern Marketing Festival: A three-day marketing festival spanning Liverpool, Leeds, and Manchester with talks, workshops, and interactive sessions focused on marketing trends and strategies.
- GRAFT
- Prolific North Tech Awards
- Champions Awards
- Creative Awards
- Marketing Awards
- Growth to Gold
- Northern Agency Guide
- CTO Debrief
- Prolific Agency Labs
- Prolific North Live
Products and services
- Prolific North News Website
Companies that use Prolific North
Customer profileSegments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Prolific North technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Prolific North partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
14 partnerships are on record, tiered core, supporting and flagship.
- GRAFTcoreGRAFT is Prolific North's tech initiative that celebrates and recognizes tech pioneers driving economic growth across Northern England. The programme features editorial deep dives and invite-only roundtables. GRAFT Regional Champions has covered Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, and is expanding to North East. Backed by Vista Insurance Brokers and accountancy firm MHA.
- Beyond Echo PRsupportingExclusive sponsor of Prolific North's 2026 Tech Companies to Watch: Scale-up Edition list. Beyond Echo PR specialises in helping tech businesses gain visibility and positions the partnership as a platform to champion the strength and ambition of the Northern tech ecosystem.
- Amy NewtonsupportingFormer founder and director of Manchester Tech Festival collaborating with Prolific North on The CTO Debrief event - an invite-only summit for more than 150 seasoned tech leaders and in-house CTOs.
- Ginger FurysupportingStrategic marketing agency Ginger Fury has been confirmed as a sponsor for the Leeds event at Prolific North's Northern Marketing Festival 2026. The agency looks forward to sharing insights on customer-first approaches and marketing technology.
- EmbryoflagshipManchester digital agency Embryo has returned as strategic partner for Prolific North's Northern Marketing Festival 2026. Embryo's Chief Commercial Officer James Guerin said the partnership aligns with the agency's goal of providing fresh, actionable insights to clients. Embryo works with Prolific North to shape sessions focused on performance, innovation, and sustainable growth.
- BuymediasupportingIreland-based AI-powered advertising specialist, ranked Ireland's fourth fastest-growing company, has been confirmed as a Prolific North Partner for 2026. The adtech firm launched its UK headquarters in Manchester in 2025 with £1.5m investment and plans to create 30 jobs. Partnership provides opportunities to feature at industry events and awards.
- Print.comsupportingPrint platform based in Sale, Greater Manchester, has renewed its partnership with Prolific North for 2026. The company focuses on B2B model for graphics professionals and has experienced significant growth in the UK in 2025.
- GlaisyersflagshipLaw firm specializing in legal services for creative and tech sectors has been announced as headline partner for Growth to Gold 2026 conference and Headline Sponsor for Northern Agency Guide 2026. This marks the firm's second consecutive year of sponsoring Prolific North events.
- MHAcoreAccountancy firm backing the GRAFT Regional Champions programme. The initiative celebrates and recognizes tech pioneers driving economic growth across Northern England.
- Vista Insurance BrokerscoreInsurance broker backing the GRAFT Regional Champions programme focused on celebrating and recognizing tech pioneers driving economic growth across Northern England.
- KPMGflagshipKPMG has been named as headline partner for Prolific North's Growth to Gold 2026 event scheduled for March 25 in Manchester. The event is targeted at agency owners and senior digital or tech leaders seeking to scale their businesses.
- Beyond Echo PRsupportingWigan-based B2B and tech PR agency founded in 2023 by Sara Donnelly has signed up as a Prolific North Partner for 2026. Partnership extends existing collaboration that included sponsorship of Scale-ups edition of Tech Companies to Watch at Digital City Festival and Female Tech Entrepreneur of Year award at Prolific North Tech Awards.
- BIG PartnershipsupportingIndependent agency with over 25 years of experience operating in four UK locations has announced a formal partnership with Prolific North for 2026, highlighting its growth focus in the North of England. Works with over 350 clients including Aldi and Booking.com.
- MustardcoreIndependent research partner collaborating with Prolific North to compile agency rankings including Top 50 PR, Integrated, and Digital Agencies. Mustard provides data verification and research methodology for rankings using information from agencies and Companies House data.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights7 records
Prolific North competitors and assessment
Company assessmentOthers
- Prolific North (Tech side): Own platform. Listed only for completeness as the tech/news half of Prolific North's content mix overlaps with specialist UK tech trade titles such as UKTN and TechCrunch UK.
Direct peers
- Campaign: Leading UK marketing trade publication covering agencies, brands and the advertising industry with news, awards (Campaign Awards) and events. Directly comparable to Prolific North as a B2B marketing/agency media brand targeting the same audience of CMOs and agency leaders.
- The Drum: Global B2B media brand covering the marketing, advertising and creative industries with news, events and awards. Most direct comparable to Prolific North in terms of editorial coverage of agencies, brands and digital creativity, though operating at significantly larger national/international scale.
- BusinessCloud: UK B2B technology and digital media platform with news, events, rankings and awards focused on the regional tech ecosystem, particularly the North. Closest comparable to Prolific North's GRAFT and Tech Awards verticals and its Northern England tech audience.
- Marketing Week: Major UK B2B marketing publication with news, analysis, events and awards serving marketing directors and brand leaders. Direct competitor for Prolific North's core CMO and brand-leader audience, though it operates nationally rather than regionally.
- Creative Review: Long-standing UK B2B title covering the creative industries including advertising, branding, design and production. Comparable to Prolific North's Creative Awards and Champion Awards content categories and to its agency/brand readership.
Broad incumbents
- TechCrunch: Global tech media brand covering start-ups, venture capital and the technology industry. Comparable to Prolific North's Tech and Tech Companies to Watch rankings at the broader tech-media layer, though operating at a very different scale and geography.
Emerging players
- UKTN (UK Tech News): Independent UK tech news outlet covering funding, start-ups and the regional tech ecosystem with a strong North of England focus. Comparable to Prolific North's Tech and GRAFT content verticals and overlapping agency/start-up audience.
Regional players
- Mancunion: University of Manchester student newspaper with strong Manchester-focused coverage of culture, business and creative industries. Regional peer in the sense that it covers the same Manchester creative ecosystem, but operates as a student publication rather than a B2B media platform.
- Manchester Evening News: Largest regional news outlet covering Greater Manchester and the North West. Regional comparable for Prolific North's local-news coverage of Northern England creative and tech sectors, though it serves a general consumer audience rather than B2B marketing/agency readers.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Prolific North social profiles
Digital presenceProlific North financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Prolific North leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Prolific North funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Prolific North M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Prolific North
What does Prolific North do?
Prolific North is a B2B media publishing platform covering news, features, and industry insights for the Northern UK creative economy across agency, brand, tech, ecommerce, audio, gaming, publishing, and TV/film sectors. It operates a unified offering that combines a daily news website, a daily email newsletter, multiple annual awards programs, live industry events across multiple Northern cities, authoritative agency rankings, a jobs board, company profiles, and a printed Northern Agency Guide distributed to senior decision-makers.
Is Prolific North a public or private company?
Prolific North is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Prolific North founded?
Prolific North was founded in 2012. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Prolific North based?
Prolific North is headquartered in Manchester, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
Who are Prolific North's main competitors?
Prolific North (Tech side) is listed as an others. Direct peers are Campaign, The Drum, BusinessCloud, Marketing Week and Creative Review. TechCrunch is listed as a broad incumbent. UKTN (UK Tech News) is listed as an emerging player. Regional players are Mancunion and Manchester Evening News.
Does Prolific North have an API?
No public API is recorded for Prolific North.
What industry is Prolific North in?
Prolific North's product category is Trade Media & Industry Events. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAJADAB, Local & Regional Newspapers (Print & Digital), with a secondary code of MPAJADAJ, Newsletters & Email-Based News Publishers (B2B/B2C). Its NAICS code is 51311 and its SIC code is 2711.