eight&four
London (HQ), Miami
Website: eight&four
Type of agency: Creative and social
Founders: Amy McCollough and Kate Ross
Year founded: 2008
Headcount: 110
Offices: London (HQ), Miami
Opening Facebook pages for businesses was once our bread and butter.
Profile
Creative and social agency eight&four has come a very long way since it was founded by Amy McCollough and Kate Ross and back in 2008. They had met on a graduate scheme at publishing house, just as digital marketing was really taking off. This is when they launched the precursor to Eight & Four, SEO Marketing Workshop, to help businesses create websites and set up Facebook business pages.
Still young, with no black book of contacts and limited experience of agency life, it was a tough gig. “Our first day in the office, we were just cold calling, trying to sell content.”
But they persevered and grew organically every year from then. Social took off and eight&four took off with it, with Spanish hotel chain Melia kickstarting a portfolio that would grow globally.
Having been acquired by Cubo Communications in 2014, Amy and Kate decided to go for a management buy-out in 2017, rebranding to eight&four and shifting the focus to creative and social communications.
It was a good decision, with the agency growing to more than 110 employees and securing global retainers with the likes of DHL Express and Hitachi. These clients have full access to the agency’s ‘Innovation Lab,’ which is a cross-departmental team focused purely on innovation and “staying one step ahead”. Exclusive information about internal developments is shared via a WhatsApp group and at a host of events throughout the year.
Targeting that next stage of growth, eight&four merged with sister agency Inkling in 2025 and has just expanded into Miami to be closer to its US clients. It is also building customised Gen AI tools for clients, essentially setting itself up to become a Gen AI studio for brands.
Having moved back to a new office in Soho and in the midst of some confidential acquisitions, 2026 looks set to be a fruitful year for this evolving agency.
And, going full circle, the publishing house Amy and Kate were on a grad scheme back in the early noughties just so happens to be a client now too.