McConnells

What McConnells does

McConnells (legal entity: McConnells (Midlands) Ltd, company registration 13193360) is an independently owned media planning, buying, and creative agency founded in 1953 and headquartered in Derby, United Kingdom, with a secondary office in Bakewell, Derbyshire. The firm operates with a headcount of 1–10 employees and serves primarily UK public sector organizations — including local authorities (county, city, district, borough councils such as Hull, Devon, Tower Hamlets, Cornwall, North East, South Coast), NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups, and central government agencies — alongside a secondary private sector business segment. Its core offerings comprise four integrated service lines: Media Planning & Buying (spanning regional/local press, radio, TV, outdoor, cinema, digital, programmatic, and social channels), Public Notice Advertising (legally compliant placement for local authorities with sub-0.01% error rates), Digital & Social Media Advertising (PPC, Google display, paid social across Facebook, LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram), and Creative Services (in-house design studio producing outdoor, digital, radio, and social content).

The firm's underlying technology stack includes proprietary tools such as a Digital DNA targeting system that geo-targets banner ads based on handset users' recent search behavior, a Call Cloaking measurement technology that revealed a 61% drop rate in council enquiry lines, UTM tracking integrated with Google Analytics for end-to-end accountability, schedule analysis tools for multi-scenario outdoor media planning, and a bespoke online booking portal that handles public notice requests, proofs, amendments, PO numbers, invoicing, and post-publication proofs. McConnells also leverages third-party audience profiling via Mosaic and established relationships with UK media owners that provide access to industry consumption data.

Commercially, McConnells operates a B2B/B2G professional services revenue model, earning agency fees and commissions on media buying with volume-based discounts negotiated from media owners and passed partially to clients. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed, though the firm documents delivering 20% per annum savings versus major media buying agencies and up to 75% savings on public notice advertising relative to direct media owner costs. Distribution is entirely domestic (UK), executed through direct enterprise sales, formal tender/RFP processes, and the ESPO 3A-24 procurement framework on which McConnells holds the #1 ranking for Campaign Advertising (Lot 3) and joint top for Public Notices (Lot 2). The firm also has a multi-year contract cadence — including a 4-year North East Council contract and a 5-year (3+2) Central Government Agency contract — indicating relationship-driven, long-cycle enterprise selling rather than transactional volume.

Name

McConnells

Legal name

McConnells (Midlands) Ltd

Website

https://mccgp.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1953

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

McConnells is an independently owned, Derby-based media planning, buying, and creative agency founded in 1953 that primarily serves UK public sector organizations — local authorities, NHS bodies, and central government agencies — under the ESPO 3A-24 framework where it holds the #1 ranking for Campaign Advertising.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Derby

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Media Planning and Buying Services: Agency fees and commissions from media buying services. McConnells negotiates discounted rates from media owners and charges clients agency fees. Savings delivered to clients are documented (e.g., 72% cumulative saving vs rate card costs, £690k per annum after agency fees).
2. Creative Services: Design studio producing creative concepts for campaigns including outdoor posters, cinema, billboards, digital posters, social media content, and radio production.
3. Public Notice Advertising: Public notice placement services for local authorities and government agencies. McConnells charges agency fees while delivering significant cost savings vs rate card costs through volume discounts with media owners.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

McConnells is an independent media planning, buying and creative agency that plans, purchases and manages advertising across all media channels for public sector organisations (local authorities, NHS bodies, government agencies) and private sector businesses. It also operates a specialised public notice advertising service using a bespoke online booking portal, charging a 5% introduction fee on bookings.

Product overview

McConnells is a media planning, buying, and creative agency based in Derby, UK, offering an integrated suite of advertising services. The core offering comprises Media Planning & Buying, Public Notice Advertising, Digital & Social Media Advertising, and Creative Services. The agency operates under the ESPO 3A-24 framework for public sector clients. Services span traditional media (print, broadcast, outdoor, radio, cinema) and digital channels (programmatic, social media, Google display). The company primarily serves public sector organizations including local authorities, NHS bodies, and government agencies, as well as private sector businesses.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Media Planning & Buying End-to-end planning and purchase of advertising across all media channels for public and private sector clients, including schedule analysis and independently audited cost savings of 20-75% on media spend.
• Public Notice Advertising Specialist statutory public notice advertising service for local authorities and public bodies, delivered through a bespoke online booking portal with a 5% introduction fee on bookings.
• Digital & Social Media Advertising Digital and social media advertising planning, buying and optimisation across paid digital channels, supported by Digital DNA targeting, UTM tracking and Mosaic audience profiling.
• Creative Services Creative production services for advertising campaigns, supporting both public sector and private sector clients across all media channels.

Quantifiable outcome

• 72% cumulative savings vs rate card costs, equating to £690k per annum after agency fees
• +11 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• ESPO (Educational Strategic Procurement Organisation)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorESPO is a public sector procurement organisation. McConnells is appointed as a ranked agency on the ESPO 3A-24 framework for Campaign Advertising (Lot 3) and Public Notice (Lot 2) services. This enables public sector bodies to procure McConnells' services through direct award without full tender processes. McConnells holds #1 ranking for Campaign Advertising and joint top for Public Notices with a perfect pricing score.

Scale indicators17 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Zenith UK: UK operation of Publicis-owned global media agency network. Competes with McConnells for UK media-planning and buying briefs but offers a much wider portfolio of services and operates at holding-company scale.
• Wavemaker UK: WPP-owned media, content, and technology agency with a significant UK presence. Comparable media-planning and buying capability, but materially broader portfolio and global backing vs McConnells' independent, public-sector-focused proposition.
• PHD Media UK: Omnicom-owned global media planning and buying network with UK operations. Directly comparable on media planning and buying services, but operates as part of a global holding company rather than as an independent specialist like McConnells.
• OMD UK: Omnicom's flagship global media planning and buying network with substantial UK operations. Competes with McConnells across the same media-buying and planning RFP pool but with global scale, proprietary adtech, and holding-company resources.
• Havas Media UK: UK arm of Havas's global media network, providing media planning and buying services. Comparable core offering but competes as a larger incumbent holding-company network, frequently on the same UK public-sector and commercial tenders as McConnells.
• Carat UK: UK arm of Dentsu's global media network, providing media planning and buying at scale. Comparable as a direct competitor on UK public-sector and commercial media-buying tenders, but materially larger and part of a global holding company rather than independent.

Direct peers

• Manning Gottlieb OMD: UK-based media planning and buying agency (part of OMG/Omnicom). Comparable to McConnells on the core activity — multi-channel media planning and buying for UK clients — but operates with holding-company backing and scale rather than as an independent.
• Medialab: UK-based independent media planning and buying agency serving a similar client mix of public-sector and commercial advertisers. Closely comparable business model — agency-fee media buying on multi-channel campaigns, independent ownership, and a focus on outcomes-driven planning.
• The7stars: Independent UK media agency offering media planning and buying across paid channels. Comparable to McConnells as a UK independent challenger to the major holding-company networks, with a similar full-funnel media-buying proposition for advertisers seeking agency-of-record style engagements.
• Goodstuff Media: UK independent media planning and buying agency. Comparable to McConnells as a mid-sized independent offering media strategy, planning, and buying across digital and traditional channels, competing against the major holding-company networks.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mcconnells-group

Compliance1 record

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 McConnells