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Familiar UK shops claim top spots, with an Irish surge throughout the list.
Irish agencies had a strong showing in this year's World Creative Rankings (Gregory Dalleau, Unsplash)
London shops still dominate 2026’s World Creative Rankings for agencies in the UK and Ireland, taking 76 of the top 100 spots. Most of those top spots are occupied by names that won’t surprise: a pair of Omnicom agencies take the top two positions (AMV BBDO and Adam&EveDDB, the latter now part of TBWA since Omnicom’s merger with IPG).
And amid rumors that its private equity backers may be ready to sell, storied independent shop VCCP will be pleased by a bump from 15th place last year to third in 2025.
But elsewhere on the list, one location has become a clear second place to London: Dublin, with eight Irish agencies – all fresh entries since 2025 – making the list. They’re mostly Irish hubs for major global networks: Publicis Dublin lands in fifth; Accenture’s Droga5 Dublin in 14th; another Publicis agency, BBH Dublin, joint 22nd. Other Dublin shops seeing significant increases in their rankings include TBWA\Dublin, Forsman & Bodenfors Dublin, Verve, and independent shop Core Ireland.
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The only other UK & Ireland city with multiple agencies breaking into the top 100 is Manchester, with Havas Lynx rising a few spots to 12th; and both Edison Media and Lesniak Swann placing without having done so last year. The cities of Bristol (McCann Bristol), Bath (Mud), Leeds (Split), Brighton (ILoveDust), Bournemouth (Aurora), Nottingham (Together Agency), Glasgow (Stand) and Preston (Workhouse) each have just one entry in the top 100.
Outside of the region’s major metropolitan centers, meanwhile, are just two agencies: Avatar Creative, a branding agency flying the flag for the village of Binfield in Berkshire, and Southpaw, a creative agency out of Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent.
All agencies featured in the World Creative Rankings (as well as those that come highly rated by their clients and those that have been recognized at The Drum Awards) are eligible for Recommended status in The Drum Recommends, the platform for brands to search, compare and shortlist agencies.
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