The size of the gap
Ask for the same brief in Norwich and in central London and you will usually see a two to three times difference on the monthly fee. A multi-channel programme that costs £4,545 a month plus VAT here is commonly £10,000 to £14,000 a month in London, for the same channels and comparable output volumes.
40% to 60%
Typical Norwich saving on the same monthly scope
2 to 3x
How much a London quote usually multiplies the same brief
£50/hour
Cost of senior UK specialist time, wherever the desk is
Why the gap exists
It is arithmetic, not quality. A central London office costs multiples of a Norwich one per desk. London salaries carry a location premium of roughly 20% to 30% for the same role. New business, account management layers and pitch theatre add overhead that has to be recovered across accounts. All of that sits in the monthly fee before a single hour is spent on your SEO.
The specialist doing your keyword research is on the same platforms, reading the same documentation, at roughly the same seniority. What changes is how much of your fee reaches them.
Rather we just did this for you?
Message us with your site and sector. We will tell you which parts of this actually matter for you, and which plan covers it.
Monthly + VAT. Six month proving period, then rolling monthly. No 12-month lock-in.
The same scope, priced twice
Local and national SEO
- Norwich (ours, published)
- £1,500 to £4,200/mo + VAT
- Typical London
- £3,000 to £8,000/mo + VAT
Google Ads management
- Norwich (ours, published)
- £850 to £1,800/mo + VAT
- Typical London
- £2,000 to £4,000/mo + VAT or 15% of spend
Email and SMS lifecycle
- Norwich (ours, published)
- £800 to £1,750/mo + VAT
- Typical London
- £2,000 to £4,500/mo + VAT
Monthly creative batch
- Norwich (ours, published)
- £1,150 to £2,850/mo + VAT
- Typical London
- £3,000 to £8,000/mo + VAT
Three channels bundled
- Norwich (ours, published)
- £2,835 to £6,975/mo + VAT
- Typical London
- £8,000 to £20,000/mo + VAT
Minimum term
- Norwich (ours, published)
- 6 months, then rolling
- Typical London
- Commonly 12 months signed up front
The last row matters as much as the price rows. A six or twelve-month London commitment signed before anyone has delivered a month is a bigger risk than the fee itself. Our plans run an initial six-month proving period, then rolling monthly, with two pauses available in any rolling twelve months after month six.
You are not paying London for better marketing. You are paying London for London.
When London is genuinely worth it
- You need a large team on one account: multiple strategists, producers and analysts working in parallel.
- Brand and PR work that depends on London media relationships and in-person press access.
- Media buying at a scale, roughly £30,000 a month and above, where platform and publisher relationships move rates.
- Board or investor requirements that specify a named London agency.
- Your leadership team is in London and wants weekly in-person working sessions.
Outside those cases, the premium buys postcode. For a growth-stage brand between £250k and £5M turnover, the same money spent in Norwich buys more senior hours and more output.
How to compare fairly
- Normalise both quotes to countable monthly deliverables, then divide the fee by them.
- Count senior hours on your account, not headcount at the pitch.
- Add set-up and onboarding fees into year one before you compare monthly numbers.
- Include the minimum term: a cheaper monthly fee on a twelve-month lock-in can cost more than a dearer rolling one.
- Check whether AI visibility, reporting and tools are included or billed separately.
Our full ladder is published on the pricing page, and the Norwich market benchmarks are in what marketing costs in Norwich.
Questions we get asked
Yes. For the same monthly scope, a Norwich agency is typically 40% to 60% cheaper than a comparable London agency. The gap comes from salaries, office costs and business rates, not from less senior people or fewer deliverables.
In-person availability in central London, larger teams for very large accounts, and in some cases specialist media buying relationships at high spend levels. Below roughly £30,000 a month in media spend, the premium rarely buys extra output.
No. Delivery is remote either way, senior specialists work from all over the UK, and the platforms are identical. What differs is overhead, and how much of your fee is spent on it.
When you need very large team capacity, heavy brand and PR work with London media, or media buying at a scale where platform relationships genuinely move rates. Also when your board simply requires a London name.
Normalise both to countable monthly deliverables, then divide the fee by them. Compare senior hours on your account, not headcount on the pitch. Include set-up fees and minimum terms in the annual figure.
No. We work with brands across the UK remotely, and see Norwich and Norfolk clients in person when it helps. Location decides how easily you can meet, not who can be served.
Written by
Sam, co-founder, growth and paid media
Runs growth and paid media at Mesmerise Marketing. Ten years of paid and organic campaigns for challenger brands across DTC, B2B services and hospitality.
Meet the team
