Specialist Marketing & Creative Recruitment
Agency Salary Survey for 2014 • Account Handling Salaries • Creative Salaries
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blueskiescareers.co.uk Blue Skies North
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A message from our Consultants If 2012 was the year of national pride following the Olympics and the Diamond Jubilee, 2013 was the year that British business began to strut its stuff once more as the economy returned to growth. Blue Skies agency team has also grown during 2013 with the addition of a specialist Creative team to support our existing Account Handling, Digital and PR teams. This additional division allows to us offer agencies access to the best candidates across all of their departments and offers the same high level of service for which Blue Skies is renowned. As we move into 2014 confidence in the economy is at its highest point for several years and in the last six months this has meant agencies across the region have been more confident in investing for growth, whether this be through headcount growth, the addition of new services or in some cases acquisition. Opportunities for experienced agency candidates are numerous and competition for talent is increasing, therefore those agencies that are quickest off the mark and who have a clearly defined employer offering will be those that attract the best talent. We are also seeing an increase in Freelance opportunities across the North both for support during peak periods, and smaller agencies utilising experienced Freelancers to provide additional services such as PR or Insight to their clients. This is a very cost effective method of enhancing your services and something Blue Skies are well placed to consult and advise on. Ian Lenehan - Managing Consultant PR as it stands is still going through a transitional period. Does the old ‘get on the phone, media relations, selling in’ style work still hold weight in today’s social and digital marketplace or would the reach be better by speaking to prominent industry bloggers? As I’m sure we’d all agree, there’s appropriate times and places for both. Today there are a range of skills, tools and abilities that PR professionals have at their disposal. This is reflected in salary – especially on agency side where there is heavy competition for prime candidates. The large international agencies are finding it just as difficult to recruit top talent as the smaller, niche agencies. Those great candidates that do manage to get their feet on to the PR career ladder then find themselves with a lot of responsibility quickly and promotion and salary increases after only a year are not uncommon as agencies work harder to retain their best people.
Looking at the industry as a whole, the North West has the best salaries in PR and Comms outside of London and the quality of life to go along with it. I don’t think we will see any dramatic rises or drops in salary over the next year but it is always good to benchmark where your own agency is against others. Marc Allen – PR Recruitment Consultant As 2013 comes to a close there is a growing air of positivity around the creative industries with agencies more and more willing to reinvest in creative talent that will take them forward and allow them to deliver great work for their clients. With this in mind Blue Skies North have launched our dedicated creative recruitment function to help our clients find the people they need from Creative Directors to Artworkers and Developers. Digital continues to grow and become an ever more important part of the marketing mix for clients, there are very few projects that agencies now take on that won’t have some element of digital within them. This has meant that there is an increasing demand for candidates who have knowledge of the digital space and how ideas can work across both off-line and on-line media to engage consumers at every touch point and drive greater brand engagement. There are now more agencies than ever that classify themselves as working purely within digital media and those that have traditionally outsourced web development are increasingly looking to bring developers into their creative teams. Competition for the best creative candidates is increasing and the best are definitely finding that there is more than one opportunity available to them. This has meant that agencies who are focused on the skill set they require and are decisive when they find it are securing the people they need and those that are not acting as quickly are losing out. As confidence grows still further throughout 2014 we are only expecting competition for exceptional candidates to increase. Contract and freelance work has continued to be a good option for a lot of creatives during 2013 but many now recognise that there are the opportunities available for them to secure a permanent role once more and this has become their focus moving into 2014. We are looking forward to a bright and successful future for the creative industries the North and relish the opportunity to help some of the best creative business’ and individuals take advantage of the opportunities which lie ahead. Matt Devall - Senior Creative Consultant
Account Handling Salaries Position
Salaries
Salaries
Day
Account Handling
Average
Maximum
Average
Client Services Director Group Account Director Senior Account Director Account Director Senior Account Manager
62k 55k 48k 40k 33k
65k 60k 55k 45k 38k
500+ 400+ 300+ 200-250 160-180
Account Manager Senior Account Executive Account Executive Junior Account Executive
26k 21k 18k 17k
30k 24k 20k 18k
140-150 120-140 100 N/A
Business Development Director Business Development Manager
40k 30k
60k 40k
250+ 100-250
Business Development Executive
25k
30k
N/A
60k 55k 50k 40k 34k 25k 22k 18k 17k
80k 70k 55k 49k 40k 30k 24k 20k 18k
500+ 400+ 300+ 200-250 160-180 140-150 120-140 100 N/A
60k
80k
500+
46k 39k 37k 30k 26k 20k 18k
50k 45k 40k 35k 30k 23k 20k
400+ 300+ 200-250 160-180 140-150 120-140 100
15k
16k
N/A
Digital Digital Client Services Director Digital Group Account Director Digital Senior Account Director Digital Account Director Digital Senior Account Manager Digital Account Manager Digital Senior Account Executive Digital Account Executive Digital Junior Account Executive PR PR Client Services Director PR Group Account Director PR Senior Account Director PR Account Director PR Senior Account Manager PR Account Manager PR Senior Account Executive PR Account Executive PR Junior Account Executive
All figures are shown in ÂŁ sterling. Source: Blue Skies Marketing Recruitment
10k
20k
30k
40k
50k
60k
70k
80k
90k
100k
Creative Salaries Position
Salaries
Salaries
Day
Creative
Average
Maximum
Average
Executive Creative Director Creative Director Deputy Creative Director Senior Art Director Midweight Art Director
55k 45k 35k 25k
Junior Art Director Senior Copywriter Midweight Copywriter Junior Copywriter
16k 25k 18k
80k 140k 90k 60k 50k 30k
500+ 350-400 300-350 250-300 200-250
22k 40k 30k 24k
N/A 300 240 N/A
40k 35k 22k 16k
50k 42k 28k 22k
350-400 300 200-250 N/A
38k 35k 30k 30k 22k 20k 28k
45k 42k 35k 35k 25k 25k 38k
300+ 300+ 250 250 200 200 200+
40k 28k
300 250
22k
180
45k 35k 28k 22k 40k
250+ 200-220 170-200 N/A 250
35k
Design Design Director Senior Designer Midweight Designer Junior Designer Web Senior Web Developer - Back End Senior Web Developer - Front End Midweight Web Developer - Back End Midweight Web Developer - Front End Junior Developer - Back End Junior Deveoper - Front End Digital Project Manager Digital Designers Senior Designer Midweight Designer Junior Designer
35k 25k 18k
Studio Studio Manager Senior Creative Artworker Midweight Creative Artworker Junior Creative Artworker
30k 28k 24k 18k 30k
Retoucher/Illustrator
All figures are shown in ÂŁ sterling. Source: Blue Skies Marketing Recruitment
10k
20k
30k
40k
50k
60k
70k
80k
90k
100k
Creative Salaries Position
Salaries
Salaries
Day
Creative Services
Average
Maximum
Average
Creative Services Director Creative Services Manager Production Manager Project Manager Proofreader
45k 35k 28k 28k 20k
55k 45k 45k 45k 25k
300+ 200+ 200+ 200+ 150-200
Traffic Manager
35k
200+
All figures are shown in ÂŁ sterling. Source: Blue Skies Marketing Recruitment
10k
28k
20k
30k
40k
50k
60k
70k
80k
90k
100k
Agency insight Salary Increases & Decreases
7%
Decrease
68%
Neither
Benefits received
41%
Increase
Car
Gym
Mobile
Data obtained from 500 completed surveys of Blue Skies live candidates
Laptop
Bonus
Pension
Health care