Spring

What Spring does

Spring (legally Spring Design and Advertising Ltd) is a UK-based creative agency founded in 2006 and headquartered in a Grade II listed former printing works in Southwold, Suffolk. The agency operates across four core service lines — Insights (research, discovery, strategy), Branding (brand strategy, visual identity, tone of voice, naming), Marketing (campaign strategy, digital, out-of-home, print, PR), and Design & Art Direction (in-house design, copywriting, photography, videography, illustration, motion graphics, and bespoke website design and build). It serves a hybrid mix of ambitious private-sector businesses across food manufacturing, hospitality, logistics, agriculture, and education, alongside public-sector and regulated bodies including Suffolk County Council, Suffolk Police, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, and Sizewell C.

The agency's business model is project-based professional services, with each engagement quoted individually on scope and complexity. Standard payment terms are a 50% deposit at commencement and 50% on completion, with additional out-of-scope work billed at hourly rates. Spring operates a sales-led, direct-engagement go-to-market targeting enterprise and government clients, primarily in Suffolk, East Anglia, and the wider UK. Distribution is direct, with no intermediaries or reseller channels. Marketing is driven by an owned portfolio of case studies, a journal, LinkedIn presence, email newsletters, and entries into UK creative industry awards.

Spring is privately held following a March 2022 management buyout by three senior leaders — Creative Director George Bennett and Design Director Glen Cone (both internally promoted from junior designer roles) and Managing Director Chris Abbott (joined 2017 from senior corporate roles). The agency has 11–50 employees (~12 named 'Springers') and reports no external institutional investors, parent company, or subsidiaries. Long-tenured client relationships of a decade or more (Suffolk County Council, Sizewell C, Marriage's Flour, NMC, Paradigm Trust) provide revenue stability, while documented client outcomes — including a 64% year-on-year recruitment uplift for Suffolk Police and 2x turnover growth for Bruisyard Country Estate — anchor the agency's case for measurable creative impact. The firm holds Modern Slavery Act 2015 and GDPR compliance certifications and has secured recognition at the Drum Cream Awards, DBA Design Effectiveness Awards, Roses Creative Awards, and the European Transform Awards.

Name

Spring

Legal name

Spring Design and Advertising Ltd

Website

https://springagency.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Spring is a UK-based creative agency offering branding, marketing, and design services to private businesses and public-sector organisations across the UK, with deep regional roots in Suffolk and a 20-year operating history.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Branding and Marketing Agency Services

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (54181)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

Creative & Brand Campaign Development (BPAFAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Creative Concepting & Campaign Development (BPAFAEAD), Content Strategy & Planning (BPAFAIAG)

Keywords

• Branding agency services
• Visual identity design
• Marketing campaign services
• Brand strategy consulting
• Creative design agency

Headquarters

HQ city

Southwold

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, Others

Revenue model

1. Project-based Creative Services: Spring generates revenue through bespoke project engagements quoted on a per-project basis. Pricing follows a 50% upfront/50% upon completion model with additional charges for out-of-scope work. Services include brand strategy, visual identity, marketing campaigns, website design, and print materials.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Spring is a Suffolk-based branding and marketing agency that delivers four integrated disciplines: Insights (discovery, competitor and sector research, brand strategy), Branding (brand strategy, visual identity, tone of voice, naming and trademarks), Marketing (campaign strategy, digital marketing, out-of-home, print media, PR and media relations) and Design & Art Direction (copywriting, photography, videography, illustration, motion graphics, bespoke website design and build, print and digital design). Services are sold as bespoke projects, quoted per engagement with a 50% deposit / 50% on completion payment model, targeting ambitious private businesses, public sector organisations and established UK enterprises.

Product overview

Spring is a branding and marketing agency offering a unified set of professional services centred on four core disciplines: Insights (discovery, research, and strategy), Branding (brand strategy, visual identity, tone of voice, and naming), Marketing (campaign strategy, digital marketing, out-of-home, print media, and PR), and Design & Art Direction (website design, print and digital design, copywriting, photography, videography, illustration, and motion graphics). Spring operates as a service agency rather than a software product company; it has no public API, no SaaS platform, and no AI-powered product features. The agency demonstrates the breadth of its work through a portfolio of client case studies spanning food and hospitality (VEG TABLE, Fenmarc, Marriage's Flour, The Unruly Pig), public sector (Suffolk County Council, Suffolk Police, Sizewell C), education (Woodbridge School, Paradigm Trust, DanceEast), and B2B industries (Rhino Greenhouses, Jordon Freight, Sovereign Turf, MH Goals, Bruisyard Country Estate, Mulberry Kitchens, NMC). The Modern Slavery Act 2015 statement is published under the company's policies. Spring is headquartered in Southwold, Suffolk, and is owned by its senior leadership team.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Insights Research and discovery services forming the foundational phase of all Spring projects: Discovery, Clarity, Competitor Research, Sector Research and Strategy. Used to understand clients, audiences and market context before creative work begins.
• Branding Brand strategy, visual identity, brand personality, tone of voice, and naming/trademark development. Ensures the way a business looks, sounds and behaves is aligned to inspire its target audience and internal team.
• Marketing Campaign strategy, campaign identities, digital marketing, out-of-home, print media, and PR and media relations services focused on placing the right message in the right places for maximum impact.
• Design & Art Direction In-house design, copywriting, photography, videography, illustration, motion graphics, bespoke website design and build, print and digital design, and event stands and collateral production.

Named customers17 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Groundwork EastminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Groundwork East supports companies in achieving Carbon Charter accreditation. Spring partnered with Groundwork East to assess and improve their own sustainability practices, leading to Carbon Charter recognition. Spring also works alongside Groundwork East on environmental client projects.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Studio Output: Independent UK design and branding studio of comparable size delivering brand strategy, identity, and campaign work across consumer and public-sector clients. Closely matches Spring's full-service, insight-led, multi-disciplinary model.
• Magpie Studio: Boutique London branding and design agency focused on brand strategy, identity, and packaging for ambitious consumer and cultural brands. Comparable in scale, positioning, and creative-led, mid-market client mix to Spring.
• Pearlfisher: London-based creative branding agency with particular strength in food, drink, and FMCG packaging. Direct competitor for Spring's Fenmarc, Marriage's Flour and Rhino Greenhouses-style briefs.
• Together Design: Independent UK design agency offering brand, packaging, and communications work for ambitious consumer and cultural organisations. Closely comparable in scope, team size, and client type to Spring.
• Springetts Brand Design: UK branding and packaging design agency serving food, drink, and consumer-goods clients. Comparable to Spring in offering, size, and focus on insight-driven brand and packaging work for established mid-market brands.
• Carter Wong Design: Independent London design consultancy providing brand identity, graphic design, and digital services. Comparable independent mid-sized UK agency with overlapping services and client mix to Spring.

Regional players

• Bray Leino: Regional UK creative and communications agency with strong presence in the South West and broader UK. Comparable as a full-service creative agency of significantly larger scale operating outside London — a credible competitor for Spring's regional and public-sector clients.

Broad incumbents

• Pentagram: Global, partner-led design consultancy operating in brand identity, strategy, and design. Overlaps with Spring on brand strategy and visual identity work but operates at a much larger scale and with broader reach.
• Design Bridge and Partners (Superunion): Large global brand and design consultancy, now part of Superunion/WPP. Overlaps with Spring across brand strategy, identity, and packaging for FMCG and public-sector clients, but at significantly greater scale and geographic footprint.
• Mother London: Major independent UK creative advertising agency delivering brand strategy, campaign, and communications work. Comparable in independent ownership and creative ambition to Spring, but operates at far greater scale on larger brand and campaign briefs.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/tweetsbyspring

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 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 Spring