Pitch Pressure is Crushing Adland as a Shocking 73% Consider Quitting the Industry

The number of agency professionals contemplating leaving due to the pressure of business development stands at nearly three quarters, according to The Great Pitch Poll 2026

Image credit: Adobe Stock

The results of The Great Pitch Poll 2026, the annual industry survey undertaken by international business development consultancy The Great Pitch Company, are out. The survey measures pitching and business development practices across the UK’s communications agencies and explores key topics including new business challenges, mental health, wellbeing, agency culture and pitching practices. Respondents come from agencies across the communications industry, including media, creative, digital, PR, direct, performance, design and healthcare.

This year’s findings reveal respondents reporting unprecedented levels of stress, burnout and concerns about the impact of business development on both careers and wellbeing. The Great Pitch Poll 2025 was conducted by market research agency Censuswide among a sample of 134 people who have worked in an agency in the last 12 months and specifically in the New Business or Marketing team of their agency (more detail in Notes to Editors).

Key Findings

1). 80.6% said the pressure of business development and pitching had made them seriously consider changing jobs.

2). 73.13% said they had considered leaving the advertising or communications industry altogether because of business development and pitching-related stress.

3). 70.15% said they, or someone they know, had taken sick leave or become ill due to stress caused by pitching or new business demands.

4). 73.13% agreed that clients are becoming more demanding or unreasonable in their pitch requests, while 60.45% have seen an increase in short-turnaround pitch tasks such as 48-hour briefs.

5). Weekend working remains commonplace, with 42.54% saying they are always or often expected to work weekends during pitches. Among agencies with pitch conversion rates between 33% and 66%, this rises to 50.60%.

6). 84.33% agreed that positive mental wellbeing is key to delivering a successful pitch, reinforcing the link between people, performance and commercial success.

7). Happier agency cultures appear to have healthier pitching disciplines, with agencies that decline enough opportunities to protect wellbeing reporting significantly higher levels of employee happiness and openness around mental health.

8). AI may be increasing pressure rather than reducing it. 40.3% said AI is leading to more questions in briefs, 40.3% said it is leading to more content in pitches and 33.58% believe it is contributing to shorter turnaround times.

9). Whilst agencies are making progress on prioritising wellbeing during pitch periods, more than half (51.49%) of respondents said they are self-taught when it comes to managing wellbeing during high-pressure pitching.

10). Pitch rehearsal remains inconsistent, with 67.15% reporting one or two days of rehearsal before presentations, but almost one in five still receiving half a day’s preparation or less.

Whilst many of the findings make for worrying reading, the poll also highlights how agencies are placing greater emphasis on wellbeing and increasingly recognise the link between positive mental health and successful pitch performance. However, the continued high levels of stress, illness and number of employees considering leaving both their jobs and the industry demonstrates that more must be done, with agencies, clients and procurement teams working together to create healthier, more sustainable pitching practices. As business development becomes increasingly demanding, protecting the wellbeing of the people responsible for winning new business has never been more critical.

The Great Pitch Poll was started by Marcus Brown, Founder and CEO of The Great Pitch Company. Recognising that “if you don’t measure it, you can’t change it”, Marcus launched the annual industry survey in 2021 to help drive better pitching practices across the communications industry.

Commenting on this year’s findings, Marcus Brown said: “Pitching is often described as the lifeblood of an agency, and of course new business is essential to growth. But if the pressure of business development and pitching is making 80.6% of respondents seriously consider changing jobs, and almost three quarters consider leaving the industry altogether, then we have to ask whether the current model is sustainable.

Agencies cannot continue to rely on the blood, sweat and tears of their people to fuel growth. Business development needs to be better qualified, better resourced and better led, even if that means having more honest conversations about margin, capacity and the real cost of pitching.

This is no longer just a new business issue. It is a leadership issue, a wellbeing issue and a talent retention issue. If the industry wants to keep its best people, it needs to stop romanticising pitch pressure and start designing healthier, smarter and more effective ways to win.”

Source: The Great Pitch Company

  Agency, Agency News, Design, Digital, Marketing, UK