We’re RiseUp, an AI-first performance marketing agency with four offices across the UK, in Birmingham, Worcester, London and Manchester. We were founded in 2013, originally as Global Search Marketing and rebranded as RiseUp in 2025 to reflect a broader, senior-led approach across performance, creative, web and data.

Our team works across four main areas. On the performance side, that includes paid search, paid social, SEO/AEO, email automation and emerging channels such as ChatGPT and Amazon ads. On the creative side, we handle branding, content, digital PR and organic social. Our web team covers web design, Shopify builds, conversion rate optimisation and AI integration. Data and attribution work then ties all three areas together, measuring what’s working.

Since 2013, we’ve driven more than £750 million in revenue for our clients, delivered average growth of 340%, and worked with over 100 brands, earning a 4.9 out of 5 client rating along the way. We describe our approach as selling the growth we create rather than billable hours, with senior staff leading every account rather than handing work off to junior teams. That approach earned us 11 award wins in 2025 alone and this year’s UK Agency Awards shortlisting builds directly on that momentum.

Three categories, one shared approach

We’ve been shortlisted as a finalist in three categories at the 2026 UK Agency Awards: Best SEO Campaign, Best PPC Campaign, and eCommerce Agency of the Year.

Two of the three entries come from the same body of work we delivered for our client Masters of Mystery, an online mystery and escape room game retailer. Our SEO entry, Scaling Global Growth Through SEO, and our PPC entry, The Global PPC Growth Engine, both represent a coordinated approach to growing Masters of Mystery’s presence across multiple international markets.

Our work combined technical SEO, content development and schema implementation on the organic side with profit-focused paid search activity, run so that the two channels supported each other rather than competing for the same ground. As we said when the shortlisting was first announced, great search isn’t about rankings or ad positions in isolation. It’s about building visibility that turns into revenue.

The third category, eCommerce Agency of the Year, recognises us as a whole rather than a single campaign, reflecting our wider team’s work across our full client base rather than one specific piece of activity.

What the shortlisting means to us

For those of us who worked on it, being shortlisted carries real weight.

“Being shortlisted across three categories is a brilliant reflection of the standard our team holds itself to every single day,” says Luke Hodgkins, Founder and CEO of RiseUp. “This isn’t recognition for one campaign or one person. It’s recognition for the way the whole agency works together across search, so I couldn’t be prouder of the team.”

“Search only works properly when SEO and PPC are pulling in the same direction and that’s exactly what this shortlisting recognises,” says Josh, Head of Growth at RiseUp. “Seeing that approach shortlisted alongside the agency itself for eCommerce Agency of the Year means a great deal to everyone who worked on it.”

Looking ahead to the ceremony

The winners of the 2026 UK Agency Awards will be announced at the ceremony later this year and we’re looking forward to seeing how our work compares against some of the best agencies in the UK.

Whatever the outcome, reaching the shortlist in three categories, including one for the agency, is a moment worth pausing on before we get back to the next campaign. It’s also a useful marker of how far we’ve come since our 2013 beginnings and a sign of the direction we intend to keep growing in.

You can find out more about us and the work behind this shortlisting on our website https://riseup.agency/ and follow along via our social channels