Member Spotlight: Alexandra Balazs, Prolific North

23 June 2025

We sat down with Alexandra Balazs, Managing Director at Prolific North, during the media platform’s busiest season for events.

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Hi Alexandra. Please could you tell us about Prolific North and your role as Managing Director?

Hi! Of course. Prolific North is a media platform that champions the creative, marketing, and tech sectors in the North of England and Scotland.

We started back in 2013 with the advent of digital and have been publishing the news on our sectors every day ever since - definitely worth subscribing to if you aren’t already! We also run events and some very coveted awards gala dinners for our sectors and publish our only print product - the Northern Agency Guide - a collection of marketing agencies doing amazing work across the region.

As Managing Director, I work across the editorial, commercial, and events teams. I’ve been here for six years now - you'll often spot me out and about in Manchester, Leeds or Newcastle, either running or hosting events and, of course, always planning what's next!

We recently attended GRAFT, the one-day event that brought together tech founders, investors, and industry leaders. It was a great opportunity to meet some really interesting people. How did the idea come about, and what was the journey like getting it off the ground?

Ah, GRAFT is my baby, so I'm chuffed to hear you got something out of it! It took about a year to get it all planned out.

GRAFT actually started as just a passing comment in a meeting and grew into a full-blown event with 150 ambitious tech founders.

We started by building a list of event names and kept the audience front of mind throughout. The last six months were particularly intense! Our tech audience is incredibly busy, so we wanted to make sure they got real value from taking a day out of their business.

Since the event, the response has been amazing. People felt inspired, made great connections, and left with actionable insights to grow their business.

Some founders connected with investors they’d been trying to reach for ages - we even heard about two follow-up meetings and calls with investors just a week after the event. That’s exactly the kind of impact we were hoping for.

Alexandra Balazs, Managing Director at Prolific North

Prolific North has had a busy few months. Can you share some highlights?


Well, it's certainly been a whirlwind, but in the best possible way! With my background in events, it's always brilliant to see ideas come to fruition.

We recently had our Northern Marketing Festival across Liverpool, Leeds, and Manchester, which was a huge hit! It really stemmed from a need for top-notch marketing events right here in the North because, let's face it, not everything has to happen in London! Over three days in June (the 10th, 11th, and 12th), we brought together over 500 Northern marketers, and the energy was just incredible.

We also just re-launched our national platform, Brands & Agencies, which is a monumental directory boasting over 17,000 brands and the agencies they collaborate with. There's so much more we're keeping under wraps with this project for now, but we're working with a fantastic team of brand and agency marketers, and I'm genuinely excited to see where this platform goes next.

Our last big bash before the summer is the Prolific North Creative Awards, where we'll be hosting 300 creatives from across the North - it's always such a fantastic night! After that, we'll be taking a short seasonal break before diving headfirst into our autumn plans.

Why should people attend Prolific North events?


We've built a really friendly, open community. People are genuinely happy to share what they've learned and offer advice. After every speaking session, there's a real buzz - loads of questions, great discussions. Our speakers are experienced and established, and there's always a lot of valuable insights to take away. Plus, the drinks receptions are always a lot of fun!

Is there anything you do at Prolific North that people might not know about?

I think people might be surprised at how much we’re leaning into tech. While our core audience has always been creatives and agencies, it’s great to see those worlds converge at our events like GRAFT and the Northern Marketing Festival. It’s about tracking what’s happening across the Northern ecosystem, particularly as Manchester cements its place on the tech map.

You’ve been based in Fabrica since February, with the original plan to move to Colony Spring Gardens when it opened - what made you stay?

We love it here! We were only meant to stay until spring, but Fabrica is such an amazing, welcoming space, we decided to stick around.

New Islington is a fascinating area with lots of new development and I love being near water, so it’s nice to be so close to the New Islington Marina. It has a unique energy - a mix of creativity and calm. There are great places to eat and drink, like Pollen and Cafe 90 Delice. It’s just a nice place to be.

Why did you choose a serviced office rather than a traditional office?

We’re a small team, and we’ve tried a few different coworking options. The serviced model just works better for us! The little things like good coffee and a friendly “hello” from our community leads really make a difference. A lot of our audience also work out of Colony, so there’s a real sense of connection and community.

Thank you Alexandra! We’ll make sure to get our hands on a copy of this year’s Northern Agency Guide!

If you're a creative or tech business in the Colony network and think your journey would make a great story, email us at info@colonyco.work - we’d love to see if you’d be a good fit for a feature on Prolific North