Expert Partners in Residence

Aggie is the founder of CFO for Growth, a company that specialises in providing outsourced finance department and advisory services for marketing agencies. With over 15 years of experience managing finance functions for small to large corporations in Europe and the Middle East, Aggie has developed a deep understanding of the financial challenges faced by agencies and has spent much time consulting for them. Launched during the pandemic, CFO for Growth offers a full-service finance suite with a dedicated team that becomes an integral part of each agency they work with. Aggie uses her experience to take the hassle out of finances. She firmly believes that financial management should always be at the heart of business decision-making and that a firm grasp of finances is essential for any business owner seeking to create long-term success. As a partner in growth, Aggie and her team remove the burden of financial management, allowing agency owners to focus on scaling their businesses confidently without being distracted by daily operations and team management. Her passion for empowering others to take control of their financial future translates into her work, where she helps ambitious agency owners build more profitable businesses, protect their cash, and offer financial guidance for confident scaling.

Tend Legal covers all things legal for your agency. Tend Legal was founded in 2020 by Alistair and Shona Wells, who are on a mission to deliver a better, more human, legal experience for agencies. They can either work on individual projects at a fixed price , or on an ongoing subscription basis, providing an outsourced legal function for a fixed monthly fee. They can help with: ✅ Setting up and running a limited company ✅ Shareholders agreements ✅ Fundraising ✅  Preparing contracts/T&Cs that are easy to use and understand ✅ Third party contract reviews ✅ Employment documents and compliance ✅ Employee share schemes ✅ Business sales and acquisitions ✅ Influencer agreements Law is about relationships: the relationship between you and your co-founders, investors, customers, suppliers, employees and the state.  Everything we do is aimed at helping you keep those relationships healthy and profitable. It’s all about people. We know you hate paying for time. It doesn’t make much sense to us either. We’ll give you a fixed price for your project, and we’ll stick to it. We also offer innovative subscription packages tailored to your needs, so you have complete certainty on legal spend. You need to make sure you are protected. Make sure you have Alistair in your back pocket!

Claire is the founder of Chime Agency, a marketing agency for agencies. With 15 years experience in boutique and networked agencies, she is on a mission to help agencies with the one challenge they all face - their own marketing. From marketing strategy and positioning to ongoing campaign management and thought leadership, Chime Agency supports agencies of all shapes and sizes to turn up their volume.

Hi! I’m Dave, a music and football loving Dad of 3 from the Southwest, passionate about connecting with each other, the things we love, and generally being excited by life. I’ve developed hundreds of partnerships and given or received thousands of referrals. Growing my membership organisation to 2000 members almost entirely through referrals and strategic partnerships, before my customer engagement agency provided access to the SME market for global brands such as Regus & Volvo, reaching nearly 1 million business owners along the way. In 2020 I set up Collaboration Junkie. Helping brands identify, nurture and scale referral & partnership opportunities. Since then my DANCE framework for strategic partnerships, and methodology for building cultures of referrals, has helped hundreds of businesses - many of them agencies - learn the lessons from my successes, and not so successes. Tapping into our innate tribal nature to connect, I offer consultancy, coaching, and workshops that offer a mix of inspiration and highly practical advice for those looking to leverage the oldest, and most successful form of marketing, in a very intentional, but personal, way.

David Wain-Heapy built a successful Adobe Gold partner agency, Best Response Media that he exited in 2022. He now runs Prodigi which helps agencies solve their hiring challenges with offshore tech talent. Prodigi cuts time to hire by 50%.

Freia is a growth advisor with 15 years of experience in growing and optimising agencies, and seeing strategic plans through to the implementation of positive, embedded changes and ways of operating. Previous to running her own consultancy, she worked agency-side for 12 years, grew her own digital content & PR team from 0-100 people, and was responsible for delivering the strategy and change programs for one of the most successful 150-strong digital marketing agencies in the UK. Freia loves to bring calm to chaos, helping agency leaders streamline their operations while enhancing team culture and productivity. Her approach to growth involves optimising every aspect of the business – new business, structures, processes, systems, and client management - to ensure lasting success. With a qualification in Agile Change Management, Freia designs practical delivery plans that lead to consistent and effective growth.

Culturehood specialises in building engaged, high-performing company cultures. We’re here to make people strategy straightforward, guiding business leaders to reach their business aims with clear, effective solutions. We understand the agency challenges of attracting talent, retaining a team and the uncertainty of “where do I start?” Our services are designed to give business owners the clarity they need to foster thriving workplaces. Whether you’re just starting to build a team or looking to elevate your employee experience, Culturehood has the expertise to support your journey.

I am an experienced business leader. I mix energy and enthusiasm with 30 years experience in the world of marketing and advertising. Having led Tribe Global for the last 12 years, I have significant experience in international business having worked in more than 50 markets around the world. During my career, I have worked with the private and public sectors, Government, charities, start-ups, scale-ups and international businesses. Along with my colleagues in various agencies, I have been part of teams that have won 150+ awards for effectiveness, creativity and management. I am an experienced presenter and speaker. And in my spare time, I'm a big fan of Dundee United and then Liverpool along with the Scottish rugby team. I love skiing and keep-fit. Travel is in my DNA; Italy is my favourite place, but I also like exploring less visited countries and cities.

I’m Jo Rogers, with over two decades of leadership experience on both the agency and client sides of the business, I've navigated the complexity of agency growth, client retention, and team development. My journey has equipped me with invaluable insights and strategies to help your agency not only survive but thrive in today's challenging economy. Throughout my career, I have been at the helm during the expansion phases of two major independent agencies. This experience has provided me with a firsthand understanding of the intricacies involved in scaling operations without compromising on service quality. It has honed my ability to foresee potential growth pains and implement effective mitigation strategies, ensuring a smooth and sustainable scaling process. One of my proudest achievements is building a Client Services Department from the ground up. This gave me a deep understanding of the essential elements required to implement and run a successful client services team—from the initial setup to creating a culture of excellence and accountability. My approach emphasises the importance of embedding a client-centric mindset across all areas of an agency. It’s not just about keeping clients at the heart of what you do; it’s about making this philosophy the cornerstone of your agency's culture, ensuring every department understands and contributes to client satisfaction and retention. As AI becomes more prevalent in the industry, the role of client services becomes even more pivotal. The agencies that will lead the future are those that adapt quickly, integrating new technologies without losing the human touch that clients value so much. I firmly believe that a client-centric approach, combined with strategic innovation, is key to maintaining strong client relationships and achieving long-term success. In summary, my extensive experience and commitment to client-centric excellence position me as a valuable partner in navigating the challenges and opportunities of the modern agency landscape.

Kate Waterfall Hill is a leadership coach with a difference. She brings over 30 years’ business and leadership development experience to her coaching practice – including 15 years on the board of a leading consumer PR and sports marketing agency. Kate was made MD of the agency at the tender age of 29 and was the leading account strategist on the agency’s largest accounts, Virgin and Vodafone. During her time as MD, Kate led the team through venture capital investment, a sale to a larger agency, and a management buyout. The agency grew from £500k to £5m turnover during her tenure. Kate started her own consultancy in 2007, working alongside a number of CEO founders and supporting a range of SMEs in need of director-level input, covering a range of issues from business improvement, growth strategies, exit plans, marketing, restructuring, recruitment & retention, and people plans. This depth and breadth of experience, coupled with a lightness of touch, makes any encounter with Kate in her latest guise as a leadership coach refreshing yet powerful. You might know her better as the creator of “Linda, the bad manager” her alter ego on social media who inspires us all to brilliant leadership by showing us what not to do. Kate's skits have had over 60 million views; illustrating the traps that leaders often fall into and raising a wry smile from her 130k+ TikTok followers and 57k+ Facebook followers. Yet, there’s more to Kate’s current passion than amusing (if sometimes cringe-worthy) content creation. Kate is also the author of ‘How to Lead’, a step-by-step guide to leadership for CEOs, founders and leaders, and a keynote speaker, workshop facilitator and seasoned leadership coach. Her coaching programmes include a group mentoring/training course for aspiring and new leaders and a VIP one-to-one coaching programme for CEOs, founders and senior leaders.

Ex-MD of digital agency - Clicky Media, Laura is now owner of We are Truth - we help businesses through the framework of getting Bcorp certified from start to finish. We provide: - Workshops - output - GAP report and action plan to get Bcorp certified - Training on the 5 key areas of Bcorp - Governance, Workers, Customers, Environment, Community to get you ready to submit - Webinars if you have just started or a bit stuck We take care of the whole process from setting up your BIA assessment + getting all your documents ready + training if needed + evaluation stage - all of it or some of it depending on how Bcorp ready you are Because of previous background and taking many agencies through the process we can help plug any gaps, and we know what is needed to fast track you through the process, no stress.

Liz is the co-founder of EDI Accreditation, a firm providing accreditation for organisations, large and small, committed to improving Equality, Diversity and Inclusion for their people. With 20+ years’ experience in recruitment and executive search, she excelled at helping organisations create diverse and inclusive leadership hiring strategies. Having been a passionate champion and practitioner of EDI best-practice talent attraction and development strategies for many years, in 2020 she decided to create an EDI training and consulting firm to help organisations benchmark and improve EDI across all areas of their business. Together with her co-founders they created the EDI Accreditation Framework© to measure and improve the world of work for everyone.

Lorna specialises in empowering creative small business owners to thrive as business owners with confidence. With a diverse background spanning corporate marketing and communications roles, agency work, consultancy as well as entrepreneurial ventures like her award-winning garden design business, Lorna brings a unique perspective to her coaching and mentoring. Recognising the unique challenges faced by creative entrepreneurs, Lorna offers a transformative experience through personalised one-to-one coaching and mentoring. Having navigated the tightrope of overwhelm and burnout herself, she intimately understands the toll it takes and is dedicated to guiding others through similar struggles. Lorna helps clients overcome their fears and self-sabotaging tendencies, build confidence, reshape their perspectives, and implement practical mindset strategies to support their business strategies and ambitions. Her practical and pragmatic approach ensures clients will see an immediate impact and make meaningful and lasting change. With qualifications in life and business coaching, NLP, and DISC accreditation, Lorna provides a comprehensive toolkit to help clients unlock their true creative potential and redefine success on their terms. Whether you're feeling overwhelmed and stressed, feeling like an imposter or wondering where your mojo went, Lorna is committed to helping you stop spinning your wheels and start confidently transforming your business's success, while ensuring you’re having fun along the way.

Hello! I'm Mark, a brand and strategy expert who has been involved in agencies for over 25 years, from new startups to global networks. I have a core belief that every agency has the potential to be extraordinary. But to reach this goal, agencies must overcome the biggest barrier to growth – the lack of differentiation and standout. I work closely with founders and leaders to harness the unique qualities of their agency, turning those elements into a powerfully focussed brand, proposition and content strategy. I've developed a framework – Agency XO – to give agencies a clear structure, enabling them to identify and market their most unique features.

Pink Giraffe are the UK's 1st agency-only talent, recruitment and HR business, with a focus on helping you hire exceptional agency-experienced candidates, who align to your agency's culture and values. Our mission is to help agency founders make people their biggest asset. We become your in-house Talent Acquisition and HR team, helping your people develop without hiring in a HR or Talent person.

Paul helps ambitious agency founders achieve their goals, using real-world experience to support them on their journey. He co-founded and grew an agency to 70 team members and £5m turnover in eight years, before exiting via an Employee Ownership Trust. He's also a former international journalist and a member of the British Psychological Society (GMBPsS). Paul specialises in the unique challenges presented by agency growth, helping to pre-empt the issues it throws up. This frees the founders up to focus their time and attention on what really matters: doing great client work and winning new business. His experience - combined with specialist training in accounting, psychology, organisational design and change management - means he brings a unique skillset as an agency advisor, including deep commercial and financial knowledge, an intuitive understanding of what drives and what blocks employees, an innate ability to optimise team structures and workflows and a mastery of how to inspire and lead lasting change.

Rachel is the founder of Huddle, a talent attraction and retention partner for marketing and comms specialists. Offering wrap-around career support to help your people stay and thrive with you. Attracting the best talent through developing your own people and their personal impact – together with our recruitment expertise. We make it easy for your people to access confidential career conversations on-demand, so niggles can be nipped in the bud, shifting back to positive action and avoiding time wasted in negative mindset. We work with you to connect personal motivations with the company mission, and make space for people to find innovative solutions to issues and challenges. Then when you’re hiring, we’ll recruit with you to match the best talent. Exclusive rates apply for clients who include coaching for their staff. Our services include: · 1:1 work life coaching · Workshops · Recruitment Through which we help your people to shape careers with you they want to shout about. Rachel has 20 years’ experience in recruitment and headhunting, and 6 years’ experience in coaching and career development programmes as an accredited coach. She’s a mother of girls and loves being outdoors, on a chatty trail run or exploring off the beaten track. Loves a good story, and has worked with many brands in media, publishing and entertainment.

Seeing that agencies were struggling to stand out, differentiate themselves, and position themselves in the market, Soba is designed to solve that problem, so it’s easier for agencies to land new clients. During his time in-house, he has marketed international B2B products across APAC, North America and EMEA and worked in the trenches with agencies across these regions, so he understands the new business, market positioning, and niching challenges agencies face.

Sarah is a HR & employment law specialist. She has spent years managing and advising on complex HR issues and supporting managers with their challenges. Her mission is to help guide small business owners and HR professionals through the storm of HR crises, providing not only practical guidance but reassurance and sound advice.

Smile Digital Talent is here to help agencies thrive. The 360 talent strategy is about addressing pain points proactively. Empowering your business with the skills you need when you need them. It’s what we do. Our 360 talent approach starts with a review and provides a plan to follow. Sourcing and mapping talent, onboarding the best people for you. You can dedicate your time to growing your business using your creative skills while we provide the people and expertise to support it. Our partnerships thrive because we’re experts and we care. Recruitment is only part of the process. Sourcing and mapping talent, solidify your employer brand, onboarding the best people, retain skilled team members and plan for the future, you need Smile on your side.

Steve Copestake is a highly experienced Marketing & Communications expert with more than 36 years of corporate, consulting and coaching achievement worldwide (he’s quite old). Over that time, he’s worked with non-profits, governments and companies like Disney, PepsiCo and Unilever, defining and launching brands at the same time as navigating a variety of organisational structures and protocols. So he knows a thing or two about understanding an audience and landing points with clarity and impact. He has lived and worked in the UK, Saudi Arabia, USA, Australia, Hong Kong and the UAE; all of which makes him even more glamorous and exciting. Currently Steve has companies in the UK and Singapore delivering advisory on corporate and consumer branding (brand strategy, positioning, and commercially effective brand ideas) as well as offering a comprehensive range of public speaking and pitch training. As the owner of Acuity Coaching, Steve is committed to accessing an individual’s authentic style, and uses the latest techniques in storytelling, structure, and stage presence to find simple steps to help people speak, write, or interact with more efficiency and self-belief so as to make their messages simpler, relatable, and more engaging. Steve’s coaching approach is informal and conversational, with the aim being to support and make the outputs simple and easy to practice. By incorporating his own personality and inter-personal style the programmes are enlightening and highly enjoyable.

AI Marketing Specialist | Simplifying Marketing with No-Code and AI Solutions I’m an AI marketing specialist with a knack for making complex processes simple. I’ve built tools that transform how agencies and brands work, including my own Audience Intelligence platform, which turns social media listening into actionable insights for consumer brands. I also have a strong understanding of no-code tools, helping agencies work smarter, not harder. Before specialising in AI, I was a Digital Director, leading departments in shopper, experiential, and digital agencies. I’m a hands-on problem solver and a self-confessed geek who loves finding new ways to streamline workflows and free up time for creativity. My approach is rooted in the idea of Human-AI-Human. Humans provide the context and input that’s essential for any system to work well. AI takes over to do the heavy lifting, speeding up the process, and handing it back to humans at the most important point, where creativity and critical thinking come in. I believe AI can’t replace these qualities, but it can give agency teams more time to focus on delivering their best work. I’m always learning and experimenting with innovations to help agencies stay ahead of the curve, making processes easier without sacrificing quality. My goal is simple: to make AI an enabler, not a replacement, so agencies can concentrate on creating work that really matters.

Trenton spends his days running a client leadership programme. It supercharges agency teams with emotional intelligence and people skills. His programme increases client revenue by up to 35% and team skills by 47%. He knows the agency world inside-out - he ran his own agency for 15 years until it was acquired and he exited. Trenton is also a published author. You can buy his bestselling book, ‘Human Powered’ on Amazon and most other book websites. In 2023, he took his kids out of school and went backpacking in Asia and Africa. He survived going hunting with tribesmen in Tanzania, having paint thrown at him in India and being chased by leeches in Borneo. Most importantly, he survived being with his family 24-7 for 6 months.

Vicky founded Tender Response in 2023 after three years as a freelance consultant and over 15 years in public sector sales. With an applied mathematics background and a commercial mindset, she has held senior strategic sales roles, focusing on new public sector business development. Her experience spans telecoms and IT, securing contracts from £50k to £37 million. At Tender Response, Vic leads a team of grant writers, bid writers, bid administrators, data analysts and sustainability consultants. Although we started out as a pure bid writing and grant writing service. After creating Tender Response, Vic realised that businesses needed access to information and advice on carbon initiatives, and so expanded our core bid writing offering to include Tender Analytics and Green Response. The team is known for its meticulous approach, respect for deadlines, and thorough understanding of the formal procurement process. Under Vic's leadership, every tender response meets the highest standards, enhancing clients' chances of winning public sector contracts. Since founding Tender Response, we have helped businesses win public sector contracts ranging from £50k to £3.2m. And we’ve businesses and charities get awarded with grants from £1k from a range of different sources including government grants and philanthropic funders. When I’m not running my business, I’m mum to two boys, cat mum to two girls, wife to a long-suffering husband who tags along for the ride and an elected member to West Berkshire Council. I presently hold a position on the Executive and hold a senior position within my group.