Independent brand and marketing consultancy.

Independent brand and marketing consultancy.

THE CONSULTANT

Set the vision. Build what you need.

I work with founders, leadership teams and growing businesses that need senior brand and marketing experience without another permanent hire or a traditional agency relationship.

Sometimes there’s a specific challenge to solve. Sometimes the marketing function needs building from scratch. Sometimes you need someone to step into the business, establish the priorities and lead the work. I help you work out what’s needed, then get it moving.

Senior marketing leadership without the full-time hire. I can step into your business to set the direction, establish priorities, manage budgets and lead your team and agency partners. The aim is to give marketing a clear purpose, connect it to your commercial objectives and make sure the work moves forward.

For start-ups and growing businesses that know they need marketing but aren’t sure what the function should look like. Together, we establish the strategy, proposition, channels, processes and people you need, with practical ways to measure progress. A marketing function built for where the business is going.

For businesses going through change, launching something new or looking for their next stage of growth. I help with positioning, brand strategy, rebrands, go-to-market planning, launches, campaigns and partnerships. We define the problem, agree the work and build the right approach around it.

Bring Your Own Brand. Focused workshops for founders and leadership teams who want a fresh perspective on their brand or marketing. Bring the problem and the people who matter. We’ll ask the difficult questions, challenge the assumptions and leave with a clear sense of what happens next. The outcome should be something you can act on.

The right specialists. Only when you need them.

I don’t pretend to do everything. Over the years, I’ve built relationships with specialist agencies and independent talent across brand, creative, PR, digital marketing, search, social, web development, content and production.

When a brief needs more than me, I bring together the right people. That might mean working with a designer, assembling a team of specialists or simply making an introduction. The team takes its shape from the work.

You’ll know who’s involved, why they’re there and what you’re paying for. I stay close to the brief and help everyone work towards the same outcome. The Consultant sets the vision. The Band makes it happen.

You build the relationship. I’ll create the experience.

Some briefs start with a person you want to impress, a relationship you want to strengthen or an occasion that deserves more thought. The Fixer is for those moments.

It could be an intimate dinner, an unusual venue, a particular bottle, an extraordinary gift or a client experience built around someone’s interests. Every brief starts with the person and the reason you’re bringing them together.

Tell me who it’s for, what you want to achieve and what you’d like to spend. I’ll work through the details and bring the right people and possibilities together to make it happen.

01

HOW
IT WORKS

We start with what you’re trying to achieve. If you need senior thinking and direction, you get me. If the work calls for specialist expertise, I bring in The Band. If you need an experience or something unusual arranged, that’s The Fixer. You might need one, or a combination of all three. The approach follows the brief, and you only use what you need.

02

THE
PRINCIPLE

Transparency is how NS&M works. You know who’s doing the work, what you’re paying for and why we’re doing it. I’ll tell you if I think you don’t need something, bring someone in when they’re better placed to help and make an introduction when that’s all you need. As the brief changes, the approach can change with it.

03

THE
BRAND

No Smoke & Mirrors is a straightforward promise: thoughtful work, honest conversations and care in the details. It runs through the advice, the people involved and the experiences we create. Whether we’re shaping a brand or bringing people around a table, the ambition is to make something that feels considered, personal and worth remembering.