This year's UK Top 50 in brand video and corporate film has been revealed. In an increasingly competitive and dynamic sector however, those at the top have been cautioned that there is no room for complacency.

The final ranking of the UK Top 50 in brand film and corporate video was announced at Close-Up film centre in Shoreditch this morning. Despite the cosiness of the morning's dark-hued and moody venue, attendees from across the industry were alert and eager to learn the long-awaited insights from the research. Securing the number one spot was Casual Films, followed by DRPG and The Edge respectively.

Steve Garvey, CEO of Moving Image and self-described "numbers geek", led the research and handled the data behind the ranking. Presenting the findings from the front of the cinema room, he quipped: “You guys tell stories with video, we tell stories with data.”

On the video production company at the top of the ranking, Casual Films, Garvey observed that it had first broken into the list’s top three back in 2016. Casual Films has since seen recent rapid international expansion. Referring to a 'peer poll' which comprises 20% of each company's final score, Garvey put bluntly: "People like them." 

In deciding the final ranking, the peer pole is combined with the volume of projects delivered (5%), trophies won at major awards schemes (10%) and revenue from corporate and brand video (65%). The Edge, which came third place, has sat in the top three consistently since 2009. Big Button, winning 19^th place this year, has been in every ranking since 2009. 

Garvey cautioned the list's higher-ranking candidates, however, to avoid complacency. Pointing to those sitting on the lower half of the list, such as Kinura (at 39^th place), Vox Pops International (40^th) and JB Productions (50^th), he said: “In five years, at least one of these companies will be in the top 20.”

Now in its second year under the direction of EVCOM and Moving Image, the UK Top 50 hopes to attract more production companies from beyond London. Garvey pointed to Ark Media Productions (32^nd), based in Birmingham, as one example of entries from outside of South East England deserving recognition. 

Claire Fennelow, EVCOM executive director, commented that the UK Top 50 was planned to be a “permanent fixture between EVCOM and Moving Image going forward”. On ambitions for the programme, Fennelow referred to conversations with the Institute of Internal Communication (IoIC) when suggesting the possibility of an internal communications-specific subset in future.

The final ranking was facilitated by an advisory panel of Claire Fennelow (EVCOM), James Bennett (Televisual), Jennifer Sproul (IoIC), Marc Wright (Simply Communicate) and Rebecca Pardon (Communicate magazine).