9. Social Chain

Founders: Steve Bartlett and Dominic McGregor
Founded: November 2014
Website: www.socialchain.com

Since its inclusion at number 12 on last year’s index, social media marketing agency Social Chain has gone from strength to strength with the launch of a Berlin office and its incredibly successful “Manchester: Welcome to Zlatan’ viral marketing campaign, which reached 46 million people worldwide.

Founded by Young Guns Steve Bartlett and Dominic McGregor, the Manchester-based “internet-breaking” social media agency claims to be able to reach a global audience of more than 305 million people across 400 online communities, using deep research and analysis to create powerful and engaging campaigns.

As well as owning a range of internationally-known media brands such as Sporf, Student Problems and Love Food, in just two and half years, Social Chain has amassed a truly enviable list of major global clients including the likes of 20th Century Fox, ASOS, the BBC, McDonald’s, Spotify, Deliveroo, Puma, Disney and Universal to name a few.

In September last year it embarked on the first step of its expansion into North America with the launch of a New York office.

With a team with an average age of 22, it’s clear that Social Chain knows how to connect with the younger generation in a way that more established media companies could only dream of. Just one of the reasons it’s on target to generate a staggering £8m for 2017…