Two UK-based independents entered the global indie rankings in May: the7stars and VCCP Media. The7stars made its entrance in seventh spot, recording $31.5m in net new-business billings for the year to date, according to preliminary data from COMvergence as of 5 May 2026. The agency’s ascent can be entirely attributed to securing the UK account of vacuum cleaner brand Vax in April. It beat six other agencies in the review, including incumbent McCann Birmingham, which repitched for the business. The process was run in-house by the brand.Meanwhile, VCCP Media debuted in 16th position, with $10.1m in net new-business billings, driven by three confidential UK wins. At the top end of the table, Horizon Media held on to its crown, with $451.4m in net new-business billings for the year to date, over five times that of its closest competitor. The New York-based independent recently picked up the wins for plane charter service Blade in the US, worth $3m, and real estate company Royal LePage in Canada, worth $1.6m. Meanwhile, second and third positions were taken up by newcomers to the league: Pilot and Cramer-Krasselt. German independent agency Pilot debuted in the league in second spot with $87m in net new-business billings. The majority of Pilot’s billings came from winning the German account for People's Postcode Lottery, worth $67.8m, which it secured in March from WPP’s EssenceMediacom.Chicago and Milwaukee-based indie Cramer-Krasselt snatched the final podium position with $80.6m in net new-business billings for the year to date. This figure was entirely driven by a single May win: automobile accessory brand WeatherTech Direct, worth $91.4m. However its net billings were lower than the value of this win, due to Cramer-Krasselt losing the $10.8m tyre shop Belle Tire to fellow independent Noble People earlier in the year. In total, nine new agencies entered the indie league this month: Pilot, Cramer-Krasselt, Brainlabs, the7stars, Moroch, Accenture Song, Starmedia, VCCP Media and CoSpirit Media. Campaign Red has produced the indie media rankings, using direct findings from COMvergence, to calculate the overall media billings sum of each agency, taking into account both wins and losses for the period. The formula is new wins – losses. Retentions are not included but readers will still be able to view retentions in a separate column in Campaign's tables.May refers to the publishing month of the rankings by Campaign. The data covers all 2026 account wins reported by COMvergence as of 5 May 2026. Next month’s rankings (June) will include accounts reported after this date. Reported figures may be revised in the future as more information becomes available.A version of this article first appeared on Campaign Red.