By Max Fellows, Founder, allpoints
Succession stories make great TV: from Waystar RoyCo in Succession to the brewing dynasty in Netflix’s new House of Guinness, but while those dramas play out on screen, a quieter, no-less-intense version is happening across UK agencies right now.
Since the boom of the early 2000s, around 43% of agency founders are now in their early 60s. With over 25,000 agencies in the UK across brand experience, events and creative services, the question of who takes over next isn’t a niche concern, it’s about to redefine the industry’s structure for the next decade.
The generational tipping point
The first generation of modern agency founders built their businesses in an era of growth, global expansion and post-recession resilience. Many of them are now facing their biggest challenge yet: how to exit gracefully without dismantling the culture, reputation and client trust they’ve spent 20 years building.
What happens next will depend on the choices these leaders make. Some will sell, others will merge, and a few will simply fade out. But just as often, their senior lieutenants, those account directors, strategists and creative leads who’ve grown up under them, are spinning out to start something new. It’s the natural lifecycle of our sector: succession breeds reinvention.
The tax trigger
The latest tax rise has accelerated the shift. With the first tax bill now a million pounds higher, Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs) are booming, up nearly 40% this year. Entirely tax-free and approved by HMRC, EOTs let founders sell to a trust representing their employees, using the business’s own profits to fund the buy-out.
It’s a smart, sustainable route for those who want to protect their teams and legacy, but it’s not without risk. The business has to stay profitable for years to pay the founder out, and many owners still hold up to 50% of shares, creating a complex “double-dip” dynamic. Still, compared with the volatility of private equity or trade sales, EOTs are offering a new kind of stability, and increasingly, credibility.
Slowing growth, rising pressure
The backdrop to all this is far from buoyant. Agency growth has slowed to 6–8% year on year, down from 30–40% a decade ago, and 90% of agencies reported revenue losses in the past 12 months. Against that reality, the old playbook of “grow fast, sell high” simply doesn’t hold.
The next few years will see a polarisation of the market. On one side, large networks and investor-backed groups will continue consolidating. On the other, lean, independent agencies, often led by second-generation founders, will focus on agility, specialism and purpose. The mid-market players in between will face the toughest squeeze.
Planning the handover
If House of Guinness taught us anything, it’s that chaos fills the vacuum when succession isn’t planned. The same applies here. Too many founders still treat succession as a distant problem rather than an urgent business priority.
The answer lies in early planning, financial literacy and transparent leadership. Decide your endgame before you’re forced into it. Bring your senior team into the conversation. And treat succession not as an ending, but as the start of your agency’s next chapter.
In the 1800s, Guinness heirs fought over barrels. Today, we’re fighting over clients, culture and continuity. The agencies that survive, and thrive, will be those that understand that succession isn’t a storyline. It’s strategy.