Promo sales in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland grew more than 8% in 2025 to top £1.3 billion, a new record for the region, according to a new report from U.K.-based promo association Sourcing City.

But much like the United States’ record sales year, the increase comes with a catch.

Just as tariffs rocked the U.S. market and jolted up costs for stateside promo companies, challenges across the pond led to price increases. Jason Grenham, sales director at Sourcing City, says it’s a continuation of a trend the country saw begin in 2024, when the U.K. promo market finally surpassed pre-COVID sales levels.

“I think a lot of that was down to increased costs, whether it be in product or transportation fees,” says Grenham, “rather than an actual increase in business activity.”

£1.334 billion
The 2025 market size for promo sales in the U.K. and Ireland

U.K.-based supplier Juniper Trading Products, for example, has noted a nearly 40% increase in payroll expenses over the past few years because of new U.K. laws around minimum wage and labor tax, which has put major strain on the company’s margins, says Managing Director Andrew Langley.

Still, the market size’s jump up by more than 8% is at least an indicator of stability in the face of economic and political uncertainties. The Republic of Ireland, too, notched a more modest gain of 3.8% after falling in 2024.

Industry Concentration

The U.K. and Ireland promo market has just over 3,000 active distributors, but the past few years have seen the region’s overall sales concentrated among fewer companies.

That was illustrated through a modest increase in the number of distributors reporting at least $1 million in annual sales. More significantly, just 7% of distributors represented more than 60% of the U.K. and Ireland’s £1.332 billion total for 2025.

A likely cause of the increased concentration of business, Grenham says, is the higher prevalence of acquisitions within the market. He says it’s particularly understandable that in a flatter year, companies tend to wonder if it’s worth it to stay independent – or if they should just try to sell while their business is still marketable.

TC Branding Group, for example, based in West Sussex, England, had a banner year largely fueled by advances in the apparel category – thanks to a 2025 acquisition of a competitor specializing in apparel, says Sales Director Mick Humphries.

But the international promo marketplace has also noted more conversations and interest between U.S. and U.K.-based distributors. Sourcing City is a strategic partner of ASI, along with Germany-based PSI, through PromoAlliance, and that type of connection has persisted among many large distributors hoping to grow their presence around the world. The U.K., says Grenham, is a natural fit.

“There are certain U.S. distributors needing some sort of platform in Europe,” Grenham says. “And I think, even though we’re not in the EU anymore, there’s more of a synergy – not just culturally or language-wise – between the U.S. and the U.K.”

Counselor Top 40 supplier Goldstar (asi/73295), for example, which has a significant presence in the European market, noted that it saw a greater share of business flowing through more established distributors in the U.K. sector, says Vice President of European Sales Luis Calado.

3,008
The number of active distributors in the U.K. and Ireland promo market(Sourcing City)

This trend is even visible among what Juniper’s Langley describes as the two sides of the modern promo marketplace: companies that operate on a traditional relationship-based sales model, and those who take the high volume, low cost, more transactional approach. He sees the divide between both types of companies only growing in years to come, particularly as e-commerce becomes even more prominent in promo, but the consolidation is easily visible on both sides.

“From that perspective, both sides of the distributor model are getting bigger,” Langley says, “and the smaller guys are getting squeezed.”

Budget Pressures

U.K.-based companies faced a lot of uncertainty in 2025 from the U.K. government, particularly during the lead up to a very delayed autumn budget released in November. The U.K. economy grew just 0.1% in the last quarter of 2025, government reports found.

Many companies – particularly large corporate clients – adopted a “wait and see” approach to their marketing spend during 2025 as a result, much like many U.S. firms did during the spring and summer tariff challenges.

“There’s a certain amount of nervousness with certain end-user clients to spend those budgets, because they simply didn’t know what was going to be coming out,” Grenham says. “And, naturally, companies are going to want to keep staff on rather than keeping marketing budgets.”

For both promo suppliers and distributors, factors like inflation, shipping and increased labor costs led to price hikes, though they were often category by category rather than a blanket percentage increase, says Calado at Goldstar.

Despite economic pressures, though, shrinking budgets overall didn’t necessarily equate to shrinking per-item budgets. In fact, for many clients, it was the opposite.

8.2%
Year-over-year sales growth for the promo industry in the U.K. and Ireland(Sourcing City)

Vicky Kinasz, president of the international branch of Counselor Top 40 distributor Geiger (asi/202900), reported the same. As competition increases, particularly for large-scale corporate accounts, Geiger has prioritized emphasizing its capabilities as a global service solution – and focused more attention on its premium branded ranges as interest in the category has grown.

Langley reported the same. In particular, he added, it’s the retail-inspired aesthetic that people want, even if they have to order fewer quantities than they might have otherwise.

“We’re seeing people demanding better quality and higher priced items – but fewer of them,” Langley says. “Everything has to look like it’s a retail range rather than a commodity item where you’ve stuck a logo on it.”

An “Information-Led” Market

Sourcing City estimates the top promo product categories in the region based on the number of click-thrus on their site for product listings from supplier members. Overall, these inquiries increased nearly 80% year-over-year in 2025 – obviously a much larger increase than the overall sales number, but Grenham says the increase is one indicator of stability in the marketplace as distributors seek out new items.

Bags took the top spot for most-searched product, representing an approximate $91.3 million in sales, followed by pens, travel mugs, sports drink bottles and jotters.

It’s become more of a differentiator on both the supplier and distributor fronts to have as much information as possible accessible to clients as soon as possible, Grenham says. Constant back-and-forth about product details, inventory or certifications, for example, is seen as a hindrance. (And, as Langley put it, product offerings are “sustainable, or you don’t sell” – one key shift from the U.S. market, where eco-friendly items are becoming more of a staple, but still often a bonus point.)

“They need that information at their fingertips,” Grenham says. “They don’t have the time to wait – they need to know everything about that product immediately so they can make a decision.”

Easier access to that information is likely one factor that has led to promo buying balancing out across the year, rather than such a heavy reliance on fourth-quarter gifting. At Goldstar, Calado reported a greater emphasis on planning ahead and recurring promotional activity, rather than last-minute buying.

“Demand was strongest where promotional products were tied to broader brand and marketing initiatives rather than purely transactional spend,” he added.

Grenham expects the trend toward an information-led marketplace to continue moving into 2026. The year seems to have generally kicked off positively, he says, with both suppliers and distributors reporting tentative optimism and strong sales during the first few months of the year. However, the ongoing conflict between the U.S. and Iran threatens to return some instability to the marketplace, particularly if increased gas prices impact freight costs that already climbed last year.

Coupled with labor pressures at some companies, like Juniper, there’s a chance that margins will continue to be tight, even with a strong start to the year.

“We just accepted the fact that we’re going to be working hard for not a lot this year,” Langley says.

Still, promo is an industry of optimists. Kinasz, of Geiger International, says she feels encouraged by her team’s progress and energy so far in 2026.

“There’s still plenty of uncertainty – who knows what the coming weeks and months will bring?” she says. “We remain cognizant of the challenges that could lie ahead of us, but there will be opportunities too, and we’re excited to see where the rest of the year takes us.”