What Engaging Education does

Engaging Education is a Wakefield, UK-based B2B creative agency founded in 2011 by brothers Ross Bennett (Commercial Director) and Greg Bennett (Media Director), operating exclusively in the UK education sector. The firm delivers in-house across the full creative stack — graphic design, video and photography production, animation, copywriting, PR, digital marketing, website development, and project management — using Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft 365, Shorthand, and WordPress. It serves a defined client base spanning Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) from three-school trusts to large 25+ academy organisations, individual primary, secondary and sixth-form schools, local authorities and Local Enterprise Partnerships, national education organisations (most notably as sole creative director of National Careers Week since 2016), and enterprise clients in adjacent sectors (KCOM, Quickline, NatWest).

The company's core differentiator is sector specialism combined with a strategic advisory layer branded as EE Advisory, which uses proprietary frameworks — the EE Growth Compass™, EE Integration Framework™, and EE Impact System™ — to support MAT growth, merger integration, and impact reporting at board level, alongside an Insight Action Impact consultancy methodology. Engagement models are bespoke and project-based, with retainer arrangements common for long-term MAT partnerships; pricing is not publicly disclosed. All work is delivered through a direct, enterprise field-sales motion built on sector referrals, with no reliance on paid advertising, resellers, or marketplace channels. The company is bootstrapped, founder-controlled, and has grown organically to a team of 31-35+ specialists, with active hiring continuing into 2025 and recognition via the 2025 Breakthrough Culture Award.

Name

Engaging Education

Legal name

Engaging Education

Website

https://engaginge.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Engaging Education is a Wakefield, UK-based creative agency founded in 2011 that delivers in-house branding, video, design, digital marketing, PR, and strategic advisory services exclusively to the UK education sector, serving Multi-Academy Trusts, schools, local authorities, national bodies, and selected enterprise clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Wakefield

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

Revenue model

1. Creative Agency Services: Engaging Education generates revenue through project-based creative service engagements and ongoing retained partnerships with educational institutions. Services span brand strategy, graphic design, video/photography production, animation, digital marketing, PR, copywriting, website development, and interior signage. Clients include individual schools, Multi Academy Trusts, local authorities, and national organisations. Pricing is tailored to scope, scale, and duration, with retainer arrangements common for long-term MAT partnerships.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Engaging Education is a creative agency delivering in-house design, video, photography, digital marketing, PR, copywriting, and website development services to schools, Multi Academy Trusts, local authorities, and national education organisations. Through its EE Advisory division, it additionally provides strategic consultancy covering growth, merger integration, and impact measurement for MAT leadership.

Product overview

Engaging Education is a creative agency serving the education sector, offering a comprehensive portfolio of services rather than a unified software product. The core offerings include Design & Media Services (brand creation, websites, marketing collateral, digital campaigns, teaching resources, signage), Video & Photography Production, and Marketing/PR & Digital Communications. The EE Advisory service provides strategic consultancy for Multi-Academy Trusts. Key campaign products include FutureGoals digital learning resources for Leeds City Region, National Careers Week (NCW) resources, and Quickline Digital Skills interactive programmes. Service offerings span image and identity refresh, staff recruitment campaigns, student enrollment growth, virtual recruitment platforms, website development, attendance campaigns, and school improvement communications. The company operates as a project-based service provider rather than a SaaS platform, delivering bespoke creative campaigns and strategic advisory services to schools, academies, trusts, local authorities, and national education organisations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Design & Media Services Comprehensive design and media services including brand creation and growth, website and mobile app build, marketing collateral, innovative digital campaigns, teaching resources, and interior/exterior signage/transformations for schools, MATs, local authorities and national education organisations.
• Video & Photography Production Production of engaging video and photographic materials capturing key events, showcasing unique selling points and communicating core messages for educational clients, including in-house drone capture and qualified Media Director oversight.
• Marketing, PR & Digital Communications Traditional, online and innovative PR, marketing, and digital communication services at both Trust and school levels, including strategy development, profile-raising campaigns, staff recruitment, crisis PR, and stakeholder engagement for education-sector clients.
• EE Advisory Strategic consultancy service for Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) providing leadership, change management, rapid improvement experience, commercial discipline, educational credibility, and communication excellence to support strategic direction, sustainable growth, and organisational aims.
• Quickline Digital Skills Interactive digital skills programme for broadband provider Quickline, delivering engaging educational content for Primary, Secondary, and Post-16 learners using Adobe InDesign interactive features covering cybersecurity, digital literacy and AI-awareness.
• FutureGoals Digital Learning Resources Career inspiration and support programme delivered for Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP), providing virtual work experience, careers fairs, employer festivals, CEIAG toolkits, and parental engagement resources across the region.
• National Careers Week (NCW) UK-wide celebration of careers guidance providing free resources for students and educators from KS1 to KS5, industry engagement campaigns, and promotional materials. Engaging Education serves as sole creative directors, producing all educational resources, marketing campaigns, video, photography, digital content, media and web/online concepts.

Quantifiable outcome

• Pupil roll increased by an average of 19% across client base (2018–2020) for schools with available capacity
• +8 more outcomes

Named customers16 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

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• National Careers Week (NCW)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016Engaging Education has served as the sole creative directors of National Careers Week since 2016, producing all educational resources, marketing campaigns, video, photography, digital content, media and web/online concepts for the annual UK-wide careers guidance celebration. This is a long-term, flagship partnership that positions EE at the centre of a national education event impacting millions of learners and hundreds of thousands of educators annually.

Scale indicators26 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• WPP (Ogilvy UK): Global advertising and communications network with an established education-sector practice and significant UK presence. Ogilvy competes with Engaging Education for large MAT and corporate education mandates that require brand, content, and integrated campaign capability at scale.
• Havas London: Global advertising and communications network with purpose-led and education-sector work. Havas is a comparable broad incumbent that competes for large-scale education communications and brand mandates, though without Engaging Education's UK MAT specialism.
• Superunion (formerly The Partners): Global brand consultancy with significant education-sector work, including university and MAT brand identity and strategy. Superunion overlaps with Engaging Education on education brand strategy but operates as a broader incumbent across multiple sectors.
• SEC Newgate: Global communications and research group with a public affairs, education, and purpose-led communications practice. SEC Newgate is a broader incumbent that overlaps with Engaging Education on PR, stakeholder communications, and education sector narrative work for MATs and national bodies.
• Wunderman Thompson (VML): Global creative, technology, and media agency with education-sector clients in the UK. As a broad incumbent, it offers overlapping brand, digital, and CRM capabilities for education organisations, but does not specialise in the UK MAT/school market the way Engaging Education does.

Direct peers

• Schudio: UK-based specialist provider of school websites, branding, and digital marketing for primary, secondary, and MAT clients. Schudio competes directly with Engaging Education for MAT and school communications budgets, particularly on web design, digital campaigns, and brand identity work.
• Marlon Creative: UK creative agency with a heritage in education-sector branding, websites, and marketing for schools, colleges, and MATs. Marlon is one of the closest direct competitors to Engaging Education in the UK MAT and school creative services market.
• BJL Group: UK integrated marketing agency with a strong education-sector practice, including MAT, higher education, and charity clients. BJL offers comparable brand, content, and digital services and is a relevant peer for mid-market and enterprise education engagements.

Emerging players

• Pobble: UK EdTech platform that combines publishing tools with a content-sharing community used by thousands of primary and secondary schools. Pobble is an emerging player that intersects Engaging Education's audience (UK schools) but competes more on EdTech product than on creative agency services.
• Hopscotch Education Consulting: UK-based specialist consultancy supporting MATs, schools, and education charities with marketing, communications, and stakeholder engagement strategy. Hopscotch overlaps with the EE Advisory division on strategic communications work for UK MATs and education organisations.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/engaging-education

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 Engaging Education