Small Axe

What Small Axe does

Small Axe Communications is a London-based, not-for-profit workers' co-operative founded in 2011 that provides integrated campaign services to UK and international progressive organisations. The firm operates through three service lines — Brand and Creative, Campaigning to Win, and Building Movements — delivered across five work categories: Elections, Campaigns, Fundraising and Membership, Storytelling, and Branding. It serves political parties and candidates (the Green Party, the Labour Party and its Community Organising Unit, the Progressive Alliance), trade unions (the TUC, Labour Unions representing 12 affiliated unions), education and humanitarian organisations (the National Education Union, the International Rescue Committee, Save the Children UK), and civil-society and advocacy groups (Citizens UK, Compass, CPRE, ReLondon, EveryDoctor, the Commonwealth Foundation).

Core delivery capabilities span campaign strategy, digital mobilisation, advertising and press relations, brand and visual identity design, film and photography production, membership and fundraising programme design, and event and community organising. The firm does not build proprietary technology platforms; digital infrastructure for campaign tools (e.g., CanIVote, schoolcuts.org.uk) is delivered through long-standing technology partners including Outlandish, DXDY (originally incubated in-house in Sri Lanka in 2014) and Clear Honest Design.

The revenue model is professional services: project-based engagements and longer-term campaign retainers billed directly to client organisations, with rates flexed for resource-constrained causes. Go-to-market is sales-led and community-led, with direct client engagement by phone (020 8064 0170) and email ([email protected]), supplemented by referrals through the UK progressive movement, party and union conference presence, and earned media. The firm operates from a Central London headquarters with a distributed freelancer network and is registered as a company limited by guarantee (Companies House #07877552), with no external shareholders, no venture funding, and an explicit policy of not working with corporations or on CSR briefs. Reported commercial headcount is in the 10–50 range, and the firm shows no publicly disclosed revenue.

Name

Small Axe

Legal name

Small Axe Communications

Website

https://thesmallaxe.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Small Axe Communications is a London-based, not-for-profit workers' co-operative founded in 2011 that delivers integrated campaign services — strategy, creative, digital mobilisation and movement building — to UK and international progressive political parties, trade unions, NGOs and advocacy organisations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Whitechapel

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Campaign Services: Small Axe provides end-to-end integrated campaign services including strategy, creative design, digital organizing, branding, and campaign management for progressive organizations and causes. They work on project basis with various clients.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Small Axe is a not-for-profit campaigning organisation that delivers integrated end-to-end campaign services for progressive causes, combining strategic communications, creative design, digital mobilisation, and community organising. Their work spans three service disciplines (Brand and Creative, Campaigning to Win, Building Movements) and five work categories (Elections, Campaigns, Fundraising & Membership, Storytelling, Branding), delivered exclusively to unions, political parties, NGOs, and civil society organisations.

Product overview

Small Axe is a non-profit campaigning organisation offering integrated campaign services through three core disciplines: Brand and Creative, Campaigning to Win, and Building Movements. These services span five work categories: Elections, Campaigns, Fundraising & Membership, Storytelling, and Branding. The organisation combines bold creative, communications, and organising to run end-to-end campaigns for progressive causes, working with clients and partners across electoral, issue-based, and movement-building campaigns.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Brand and Creative Strategic brand development, visual identity design, and creative content production including film, photography, print materials, event branding, web and social content, and out-of-home advertising for progressive organisations.
• Campaigning to Win Integrated campaign management covering campaign strategy, digital mobilisation, network and organising, advertising, and press relations to win policy changes and electoral outcomes for progressive clients.
• Building Movements Movement-building services including donor engagement, events, membership and fundraising programmes, and training and capacity building for partner organisations.
• Elections Voter mobilisation and fundraising support for local and national elections, including campaign collaboration, capacity building, and Get Out The Vote (GOTV) efforts.
• Campaigns Issue-based campaigns on topics including education funding, free school meals, and labour movement organising.
• Fundraising & Membership Fundraising campaigns for humanitarian crises and membership growth programmes for civil society organisations.
• Storytelling Personal narrative-driven campaigns using film, photography, and written content to move people to act on social and political issues.
• Branding Brand development and rebranding services including visual identity creation, brand strategy, and brand guidelines for progressive organisations.

Quantifiable outcome

• Won £20bn+ for schools through Stop School Cuts campaign
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers24 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

23 partnerships are on record, tiered significant, core, major and trusted.

• Together AlliancesignificantStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Launched Together Alliance - new coalition uniting against the Far Right in UK politics.
• International Rescue Committee (IRC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Partnership since 2021 for humanitarian fundraising campaigns. Created 350+ creative pieces across 25+ markets including UK, USA, Canada, Australia, Sweden, Germany. Raised £1M+ for crises in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan.
• CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England)significantStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021#WeAreTheCountryside brand awareness campaign centring diverse voices of countryside people.
• ReLondonsignificantStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Repair Week campaigns since 2020. Storytelling with local repair heroes. 30+ workshops led by community repair advocates.
• Labour Party UK - Community Organising UnitcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Partnership on Green Industrial Revolution branding and By The Many visual identity. Branding used in 2019 General Election. Event in Blackpool to trial branding.
• Labour Unions (12 affiliated trade unions)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Rebranded from 'Unions Together' to Labour Unions, representing 4 million workers. 2019 election campaign reached 500k+ voters, 350% social media growth.
• CompasscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 20194-year membership programme partnership. Grew Compass from 1,500 to 3,000 members, 2.3X increase in average monthly donation. Includes brand refresh, website, podcast, and member engagement.
• EveryDoctormajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Political home for progressive doctors. Growing movement through digital mobilization, press campaigns, and member engagement.
• Labour TogethercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Helped launch Labour Together as network for Labour movement activists. Published Labour Election Review edited by Ed Miliband, Lucy Powell. Later partnership ended due to shift in group's direction.
• Progressive AlliancemajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Created visual identity and tactical voting tool in 3 days. Raised £200k, won 22 of 31 target seats, ended Conservative parliamentary majority.
• Refugees Welcome / Citizens UKmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016Dubs Amendment campaign to save refugee child resettlement scheme. 55k+ petition signatures in 72 hours, £60k raised, 350k organic social reach.
• We Can WinmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016Incubated We Can Win movement in 2016. Trained 100+ people from Doncaster to London. Historic City of London victories with first Labour councillors elected.
• Caroline Lucas MP / Green PartycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Led development of Green Party's strategic and digital communications for 2015 election. Best-ever Green result with £400k raised, 100k supporters recruited, 1.1m votes secured.
• DXDY (formerly dxdy.tech)significantTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2014Incubated technologist team in Sri Lanka in 2014. Three years later became independent. Specializes in websites, mobile apps, data. Continue collaboration.
• National Education Union (NEU)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partnership with UK's largest education union. Running Stop School Cuts campaign since 2016, winning £20bn+ for schools. Partnership on Free School Meals For All coalition, achieving policy wins and media coverage.
• Citizens UKcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing partnership on voter registration (CanIVote tool), refugee welcome campaigns, and community organizing. Supported Just Register 2024 campaign registering 10k+ voters.
• Commonwealth FoundationmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCritical Conversations digital event series. 7,000+ attendees, 70,000 mailing list, 120+ countries represented, 200+ video stories.
• Cross Check International / First DraftmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLaunched CrossCheck brand in 2018 - global network for journalists to collaborate on emerging news stories and combat misinformation.
• Pembroke House / Walworth Living RoomsignificantStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity organizing in South London. Virtual Head of Comms role. Food hub storytelling. Network and organizing support.
• OutlandishtrustedTechnology or IntegrationWeb development partner for schoolcuts.org.uk and Labour Unions website. Collaboration on multiple digital campaign tools.
• Clear Honest DesigntrustedTechnology or IntegrationPartnership on Save the Children virtual reality tool for urban warfare awareness campaign.
• Migrant Democracy ProjectsignificantStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership on Just Register voter registration tool (CanIVote). Supported 2024 election voter registration for Commonwealth citizens.
• Campaign LabsignificantStrategic or Co-development PartnerNewsletter, podcast, and social media management for progressive campaign tech community. Hack nights and tool development.

Scale indicators22 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• BerlinRosen: Large US progressive public relations and strategic communications firm with strong Democratic and nonprofit client base. Comparable in serving progressive causes with integrated communications, though broader in scope and significantly larger in headcount.
• Purpose: Global campaign and creative agency that builds movements and brands for social causes, foundations and progressive institutions. Overlapping capability set across campaigning, brand and movement-building at larger scale and global footprint.

Direct peers

• 270 Strategies: US progressive campaign firm specializing in organizing, digital, and communications for Democratic candidates and causes. Directly comparable integrated organizing + creative + digital delivery model for progressive electoral work.
• Blue State: US-based digital strategy, fundraising and campaigns agency working with Democratic campaigns, nonprofits and brands. Closest international analogue in terms of integrated creative + digital + organizing model for progressive causes.
• Mobilisation Lab: Global movement-building support organization working with progressive civil society campaigns. Closely comparable in its focus on movement-building, member engagement and capacity support for progressive causes.
• Ekō (formerly SumOfUs): Global progressive consumer campaigns organization running advocacy and fundraising campaigns on social and environmental issues. Comparable in running cross-border progressive campaigns with a focus on member mobilization and brand impact.
• 38 Degrees: UK-based progressive campaigning organization mobilizing members on social and political issues. Closest UK analogue to Small Axe in serving progressive causes through digital mobilization and advocacy, though structured as a member-led campaign platform rather than an agency.
• M&R Strategic Services: US-based political and public affairs campaign firm working with progressive causes, unions and Democratic campaigns. Comparable in combining strategic communications with direct campaign execution for left-leaning causes.
• Seven Hills Public Affairs: US progressive public affairs and campaign firm serving Democratic candidates, progressive causes and nonprofits. Overlapping integrated communications, campaign and coalition capabilities for progressive clients.
• The New Foundry: UK progressive creative agency providing branding, campaigns and digital strategy for left-leaning causes, parties and NGOs. Highly comparable service mix (brand, campaign, digital) and similar UK progressive client base to Small Axe.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

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• Instagraminstagram.com/thesmallaxeorg
• Xx.com/thesmallaxeorg

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Small Axe