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Dubai, UAE: The Alliance of Independent Agencies Middle East has officially launched in the region as a membership‑based professional body representing and advocating for the region’s independent marketing, communications and advertising agencies. The Alliance Middle East launches with 25 founding member agencies reflecting the growing scale, maturity, and influence of the independent agency sector across the region.
The Alliance Middle East is brought to the region through the partnership of Migrate, the specialist consultancy designed to help global independent agencies expand and thrive in the Middle East, led by Nick Walsh, a regional agency veteran and The Alliance of Independent Agencies in the UK, led by Clive Mishon who brings together over 100 UK members.
Nick Walsh, Founder of Migrate said: “The Middle East is one of the most dynamic and fast evolving marketing markets in the world, yet independent agencies have historically lacked a formal platform to represent their collective interests. This Alliance Middle East exists to change that. Our role is to champion the independent sector, support its growth, and ensure it has a strong, credible voice in the industry.
“Brands across the region are reevaluating agency relationships, looking for partners that can move fast, bring senior expertise, and adapt to increasingly complex challenges. Independent agencies are already delivering this value. The Alliance Middle East provides the structure, visibility, and advocacy to support that shift whilst growing the middle agency mix that is missing from the region but we see in other markets,” Walsh added.
Clive Mishon, Founder of The Alliance of Independent Agencies UK said: “The success of The Alliance in the UK has shown just how powerful a united independent sector can be. Over the past seven years, we’ve built a thriving community of more than 100 agencies who learn together, elevate standards together, and win together. Bringing The Alliance to the Middle East is a natural next step. The region’s independent agencies are ambitious, innovative, and ready for a collective platform that champions their value and accelerates their growth. We’re proud to help bring that to life.”
The Alliance Middle East has appointed Emily Foreman as Director, who is an experienced agency growth specialist focused previously setting up and expanding an independent experiential agency in Saudi Arabia, and deep experience working in the Kingdom and the UAE. She will lead regional operations, cultivate the member community, and drive collaboration and connectivity across the network, as well as driving the training opportunities for its members to help drive capability in the region.
The launch arrives at a pivotal moment for the industry. The Middle East marketing and advertising agency market reached USD 8.18 billion in 2025, with forecasts projecting growth to USD 10.76 billion by 2031 at a CAGR of 4.7%. Digital‑only agencies now account for an estimated 46% of agency revenues across the region, while the wider MENA advertising ecosystem reached USD 47.8 billion in 2023, with GCC markets contributing around 68% of total spend.
Initially launching in the UAE, The Alliance Middle East plans a full regional expansion across key GCC and wider Middle East markets, with a curated, invite-only membership model designed to ensure quality, cultural alignment, and complementary expertise among members-only membership model designed to ensure quality, cultural alignment, and complementary expertise among members.
The regional Board of Advisors have already been appointed and are Elisabeth Anne, Regional Managing Director, Imagination Middle East; Mike Khouri, CEO, Tactical; Dan Taylor, Regional Director, Bellwether Brands; Lisa Welsh, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, North Seventy Five; and Roy Aftimos, Managing Director, C2 Comms. The Boards role is to help ensure the Alliance Middle East continues to be relevant, credible and member-focused, while assisting in shaping its long-term impact across the region.
Beyond advocacy, the Alliance Middle East will focus on talent development, capability building, industry standards, research, events, and fostering collaboration between agencies, clients, media partners, and technology innovators supporting the evolution of a more modern, sustainable, and high‑performing independent agency landscape.
For more information, or to join, please visit https://allindependentagenciesme.org or email hello@allindependentagenciesme.org
MEDIA CONTACT
Lisa Welsh
Co-Founder & Managing Partner
North Seventy Five
+971 50 478 0116
Lisa.Welsh@NorthSeventyFive.com
ABOUT THE ALLIANCE OF THE INDEPENDENT AGENCIES MIDDLE EAST
The Alliance of Independent Agencies Middle East is a membership‑based professional body representing independent marketing, communications, and advertising agencies across the region. Brought to the region by Migrate in partnership with The Alliance of Independent Agencies UK which was founded in 2018, The Alliance Middle East provides a collective voice for the independent sector, supporting best practice, professional standards, collaboration, and industry advocacy across disciplines including strategy, creative, digital, media, data, PR, and experience design-led trade association representing independent marketing, communications, and advertising agencies across the region.
The Alliance works to promote a more modern, collaborative, and sustainable agency ecosystem in the Middle East through research, events, talent development, and thought leadership.
ABOUT THE ALLIANCE OF INDEPENDENT AGENCIES UK
The Alliance of Independent Agencies is the definitive home of the UK’s largest community of independent agencies. It provides a collaborative platform designed to support and empower its members through insight, events, training, strategic partnerships and industry advocacy.
Through its communities and initiatives, including the Alliance of Media Independents (AMI), the Alliance of Independent Founders and The Independent Agency Awards, the Alliance champions the creativity, agility and commercial impact of independent agencies across the marketing and communications industry.
By harnessing the collective strength of its network and securing meaningful partnerships on behalf of its members, the Alliance enables agencies to unlock greater value, achieve stronger commercial outcomes and build more resilient, future-ready businesses.
ABOUT MIGRATE
Migrate is a UAE-based growth and advisory platform building the ecosystem for independent agencies in the Middle East.
We help international independents enter and scale, support regional agencies to grow and partner, and enable brands to discover and work with high-quality, market-ready talent.
Through a combination of market intelligence, commercial execution, and strategic connections, Migrate strengthens trust, expands choice, and drives performance across the region’s agency landscape.
