Alliance of Independent Agencies Announces Partnership with Gray Matters

Alliance of Independent Agencies has entered into a strategic partnership with Gray Matters in 2025 to amplify and grow the Alliance network, and to support its Members and partners with their new business strategies over the coming year.

As a leading industry trade body and part of the Advertising Association, the Alliance is the largest independent agency network in the UK representing a broad range of agencies and agency founder owners. Research released over the last few weeks has shown that the independent agency community makes up 99% of the agency offering in the UK with over 25,320 agencies registered, which together employ just under a quarter of a million people. It is the Alliance's aim to reach, and liaise with, that expansive group, so it can support the talented people working in them and bring great benefit to all as a collective force and strong community.

This partnership will support the Alliance with those ambitious aims whilst also addressing one of the biggest challenges that is keeping its Members up at night, which is securing new business. Gray Matters, who are an expert in this field will seek to build the learning, knowledge and support for agencies in this important area as they strive for sustainable growth. This will consist of sharing thought leadership, access to the renowned BD Matters Masterclasses and Meet-ups across the country, the opportunity to be mentored by Gray Matters business development professionals, and future invitations to bespoke events focussed on what agencies need to know about selling themselves and their services in today’s market.

Adam Graham, MD at Gray Matters said, “We are incredibly proud to partner with the Alliance and see this as a great opportunity to extend our knowledge and expertise to agencies feeling the pressure of generating new business. We’ve been working with independent agencies for over eight years and by listening to their challenges and pain points we’ve built a robust way to embed a sustainable growth engine within agencies. We are looking forward to meeting Alliance members and helping them on their new business journey”.

Helen Anderson, executive director of the Alliance of Independent Agencies said, “We very much look forward to working with Adam and his team to ensure that we reach agencies that could benefit from Alliance support as we grow our community, and we are delighted that we can offer our agencies support in the tricky area of sales and business development for our Members as part of this work”.

The Alliance of Independent Agencies (The Alliance) is the definitive home of the UK’s largest independent agency community, representing over 1,800 agencies. This includes Agencynomics, a community of 1,700 agency founders, and the Alliance of Media Independents (AMI), which represents top independent media agencies with Nielsen billings of £0.9 Billion, The Alliance provides a unified platform for independent agencies across various sectors. Its mission is to support and champion these agencies through collaboration, innovation, and the delivery of unparalleled resources and insights.

The Alliance provides a collaborative platform for members to thrive, fostering connections, insights, and opportunities that drive growth and innovation in an ever changing market. More about the Alliance of Independent Agencies here.

Gray Matters is a strategic business development partner for agencies, on a mission to change the perception of sales - and help people learn to love it. We mentor and empower agencies to attract and win new clients through structured programmes built around a proven methodology.

Its focus is on in-housing business development. Gray Matters help agencies build sustainable, repeatable new business engines they can fully own - long after it's stepped away. From defining a compelling positioning to designing smart strategies and plugging skill gaps with specialist support, the flexible ‘plug and play’ model is tailored to suit agencies of all sizes, from solo founders to 100-person independents.

Beyond consultancy, Gray Matters' BD Matters learning and community platform brings agency leaders together through national Masterclasses and Meet-ups - offering ongoing development, accountability, and connection to support your growth journey and its wider mission.