What The Union does

The Union (legal entity: The Union Advertising Agency Ltd) is an employee-owned, integrated marketing and communications agency headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded circa 2001 and operating through an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT), the firm is structured as a group of wholly-owned specialist subsidiaries covering the full marketing stack: Union (creative and integrated campaigns), Union Connect (experiential and brand activation), Union Direct (CRM and direct marketing, via Only U Ltd), Union Data (data analytics and 'Data Sharpening' methodology, via Union Data Strategy Ltd), Union Digital (digital strategy, web design, SEO, PPC, social media, with 30+ specialists), and Union Insight (quantitative and qualitative research). Additional sub-brands include ZAG, an annual industry conference, and Big Church Productions.

The company serves a Scottish-anchored but UK-reaching client base across 19 sectors, with the public sector as the primary vertical (Scottish Government, VisitScotland, Police Scotland, Traffic Scotland, SNBTS, Food Standards Scotland, Zero Waste Scotland). Enterprise clients include ScottishPower, Scottish Widows, Bank of Scotland, schuh, The Dalmore and STV. Service delivery is professional services-based, billed via project fees, retainers, and campaign budgets; pricing is custom and not publicly disclosed. Distribution is sales-led, driven by account directors, a 40+ case study library, the Thunk thought-leadership newsletter, and Worldwide Partners network membership. Reported outcomes include Traffic Scotland +65% website visits, Dalmore +250% profit margins, and STV Taggart +35% viewership. The firm is privately held with no external funding, holds Living Wage Employer and IPA People First Promise certifications, and operates with 101–250 employees from its Edinburgh headquarters.

Name

The Union

Legal name

The Union Advertising Agency Ltd

Website

https://union.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

The Union is an employee-owned, Edinburgh-headquartered integrated marketing agency operating five specialist units (Union, Union Connect, Union Direct, Union Data, Union Digital, Union Insight) that delivers creative, digital, data, direct, and experiential campaigns primarily to Scottish government and UK enterprise clients including ScottishPower, Scottish Widows, and VisitScotland.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Edinburgh

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Integrated Marketing Services: Full-service agency providing integrated marketing communications including advertising, digital marketing, brand identity, experiential marketing, PR, research and insight services. Revenue generated through project fees, retainer agreements, and campaign-based billing for government, financial, retail, food & drink, and tourism clients across Scotland.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Union is an employee-owned, integrated marketing and communications agency delivering full-service marketing through five specialist units: Union (integrated marketing and creative), Union Connect (brand activations and experiential marketing), Union Direct (direct marketing and CRM), Union Data (data analytics and strategy), and Union Digital (digital strategy, web design, SEO, PPC, social media). The agency serves clients across Scotland and the UK in sectors such as government, financial services, tourism, food and drink, retail, energy, and charity.

Product overview

The Union is an employee-owned integrated marketing agency that operates through five specialist units: Union (core integrated marketing and creative services), Union Connect (immersive brand activations and experiential marketing), Union Direct (direct marketing and CRM), Union Data (data analytics and customer data management), Union Digital (digital strategy, web design/development, SEO, PPC, and social media), and Union Insight (quantitative and qualitative research services). The agency offers a comprehensive range of 42 marketing services spanning advertising, data analytics, digital marketing, brand design, experiential marketing, research, PR, and sector-specific solutions across 19 industry sectors including automotive, financial, retail, public sector, food, health, and tourism.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ZAG: Annual conference hosted by The Union held every February.
• Big Church Productions
• Thunk

Products and services

• Union Core integrated marketing offering delivering creative advertising, brand strategy and communications services that turn client challenges into powerful and memorable communication ideas.
• Union Connect Brand activation and experiential marketing service designing, managing and delivering local and international immersive brand activations that surprise, delight and engage audiences.
• Union Direct Direct marketing and CRM services enabling meaningful, relevant and timely communication with customers through permission-based, personalised channels.
• Union Data Data analytics and strategy services helping clients harness the power of data to improve marketing effectiveness through Data Sharpening methodologies.
• Union Digital Digital strategy, consultancy, web design and build, SEO, PPC and social media marketing services delivered by a team of over 30 digital specialists.
• Union Insight Dedicated research and insight function offering quantitative and qualitative research disciplines to deliver audience-led, data-driven understanding for informed strategic decisions.
• ZAG Annual conference hosted by The Union every February, bringing together marketing professionals for industry insights and networking.
• Big Church Productions Specialised services for church communications and productions.

Quantifiable outcome

• Traffic Scotland website: 65% increase in website visits (1 in 3 road users), 19% increase in average engagement time, 2023 Marketing Society Star Award Silver
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers19 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Worldwide PartnerscoreGTM or Marketing PartnerGlobal advertising network providing The Union with international capabilities, cross-agency collaboration opportunities, and connection to worldwide marketing expertise. The Union operates as the Scottish member of this network.
• Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA)minorOthersUK trade body for advertising and marketing communications. The Union maintains membership and participates in IPA initiatives and awards.
• Direct Marketing Association (DMA)minorOthersUK trade association for direct and data-driven marketing. The Union maintains membership for industry best practices and networking.
• Institute of Promotional Marketing (IPM)minorOthersUK trade body for promotional and experiential marketing. The Union maintains membership reflecting their Union Connect experiential marketing capabilities.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves2 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Publicis Groupe (UK):

Broad incumbents

• WPP (Scotland operations): Global advertising holding company whose Scottish agencies compete for the same public-sector and enterprise briefs as The Union, but with vastly greater scale and cross-network resources.

Direct peers

• Joint London: Independent London creative agency with integrated campaigns spanning advertising, digital content and brand experience, comparable in independent positioning and service breadth.
• HMN (now Dentsu Creative Edinburgh): Edinburgh-based integrated creative agency historically competing head-to-head with The Union for Scottish public-sector and consumer accounts, now part of Dentsu but still locally positioned.
• Mother London: Independent, creatively-led integrated agency of similar independent ethos and integrated model, serving major UK and global brands with creative, digital and brand strategy work.
• Tayburn: Scottish brand, digital and design agency serving public-sector and commercial clients with a comparable integrated service offering across branding, web and marketing communications.
• Leith Agency: Edinburgh-headquartered integrated creative agency with a similar mix of advertising, digital and brand activation work for Scottish and UK clients. Closest direct geographic and capability peer to The Union.
• Multiply (formerly MediaCom Edinburgh): Edinburgh-based integrated marketing agency offering brand, digital, content and media services to Scottish and UK clients, overlapping with The Union's full-service integrated model.
• Whitespace (Edinburgh): Edinburgh-headquartered creative agency offering branding, design and digital services to UK clients, comparable in scale and integrated capabilities to The Union.
• Story Group: Edinburgh creative and communications agency working across brand, digital and PR for Scottish brands and public-sector bodies, directly comparable in scale and service mix.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/unionagency
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/TheUnionAgency
• Facebookfacebook.com/theunionagency
• LinkedInuk.linkedin.com/company/the-union
• Instagraminstagram.com/union_agency

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Union