Shopify calls one of its partner tiers “Plus”, which makes looking for a Shopify Plus agency more confusing than it needs to be. A Plus-tier partner isn’t the only kind that can run a Shopify Plus store, and plenty of agencies that do aren’t Plus tier. Us included.
So this list covers every Shopify partner agency based in Greater Manchester, whatever its tier. We’ve left out freelancers working on their own, because you’re hiring an agency. Every name, tier and location comes from Shopify’s own partner directory, checked in October 2026. Nobody paid to be on it, and we’re on it ourselves, at Select.
The list
| Agency | Shopify tier | Based in |
|---|---|---|
| Glass Atlas | Platinum | Manchester |
| Rainy City Agency | Platinum | Manchester |
| CREATE8 | Plus | Stockport |
| CSP Commerce | Plus | Manchester |
| CTI Digital | Plus | Manchester |
| Fluid Commerce | Plus | Manchester |
| MARCA Media | Plus | Manchester |
| Northwest Web Developments | Plus | Manchester |
| Space 48 | Plus | Manchester |
| Actuate (us) | Select | Manchester |
| beHIVE Design | Select | Manchester |
| Brand Empwr | Select | Manchester |
| mood | Select | Manchester |
| Nuuk Digital | Select | Manchester |
| Pixel Kicks | Select | Manchester |
| Senso Studio | Select | Manchester |
| XeeDevelopers | Select | Manchester |
Within each tier they’re in alphabetical order. No Manchester agency is listed at Premier, the tier between Plus and Platinum.
What the tiers mean
Shopify ranks its partners Select, Plus, Premier and Platinum, and says the tiers are based on “history of experience and proven success on Shopify”.
It doesn’t mean the others can’t run a Shopify Plus store. Plus is a plan your store is on, and any partner can work on it. What matters is whether they’ve run a store like yours, at your size.
Platinum partners
Glass Atlas, formerly Brave the Skies, works with leadership teams on platform moves, customer experience and performance marketing.
Rainy City Agency covers Shopify design and development, CRO and paid media.
Plus partners
CREATE8 is in Stockport and covers Shopify design and marketing for eCommerce and B2B brands.
CSP Commerce works with retailers on direct-to-consumer growth.
CTI Digital has worked in eCommerce since 2003, with a UK team of around 200 and a lot of Magento to Shopify migrations behind it.
Fluid Commerce covers Shopify strategy, design, development, integrations and ongoing optimisation.
MARCA Media focuses on conversion, with a background in behavioural economics.
Northwest Web Developments handles Shopify development, from bug fixes and custom features to new stores and migrations.
Space 48 builds for international retailers and runs a strategic consultancy practice alongside its build work.
Select partners
Actuate is us. More on where we fit below.
beHIVE Design covers design, eCommerce, web development and SEO, with over 20 years in the industry.
Brand Empwr is a family-owned agency that designs, builds and improves Shopify stores.
mood covers builds, advertising and retention.
Nuuk Digital builds Shopify stores and grows them with paid ads and email.
Pixel Kicks is part of the PushON Group and specialises in moving stores from WooCommerce and Magento to Shopify.
Senso Studio is a brand studio working across the UK and the UAE, with a focus on brand and product design.
XeeDevelopers has worked on over 500 Shopify stores since 2019, from setup to migrations and SEO.
How to choose between them
The directory tells you who’s a partner and roughly how much Shopify work they’ve done. It doesn’t tell you who’s right for your store, so ask everyone on your shortlist the same five things.
Do we actually need Plus? Plus starts at £1,950 a month on a one-year term, and plenty of stores pay for it before they use what it adds. Any agency worth hiring will tell you if you don’t need it yet. We’ve written up when moving to Shopify Plus makes sense.
Show me a Plus store you run now. Not one you launched three years ago. Ask what’s changed on it in the last six months, and what that did to the numbers.
Which of our apps would you remove? Most Shopify stores carry apps they’ve stopped using, and every one adds weight to the page. If an agency only ever suggests adding apps, that tells you something (here’s how apps slow a Shopify store down).
Who writes the code? In-house, freelance, UK or offshore can all work. You just want to know before you sign.
What happens after launch? Ask who’s looking at your numbers in month three, and how often you’ll talk to them.
Where we fit
We’re Select, so if you want the agencies Shopify rates highest, Glass Atlas and Rainy City are Manchester’s two Platinum partners.
We’re a small senior team, and we work on Magento and Hyvä as well as Shopify, so we’ve no reason to push you onto Plus, or onto Shopify at all. When AutoID came to us on Shopify Plus, we stripped out the app bloat first. The store loaded 38% faster, then the CRO work lifted conversion 9.92% and order value 6%.
More on how we work on our Shopify Plus page, or see our Shopify agency in Manchester page if you’d rather meet in person.
Which of those five questions would your current agency find hardest to answer?
