MP&Co started with a simple belief. Marketing should do more than hit targets.
It should create clarity and momentum for the people responsible for delivering growth.
Over the last 10 years, we’ve grown alongside our clients. We’ve helped teams get clear on what matters, put structure around ambition, and turn good intent into visible progress. Along the way, we’ve evolved from a solo consultancy into a trusted strategic partner for purpose-led organisations navigating scale, change, and complexity.
This isn’t a list of everything we’ve done. It’s a reflection on the moments that changed how we work, who we work with, and the impact we aim to have. Each milestone shows how our thinking matured, how our delivery strengthened, and how purpose and performance became inseparable in our approach.
Explore our 10 defining moments that shaped how we work today and where we’re heading next.
From early proof points and partnerships to purpose-led decisions and collective scale, each milestone captures a shift in how we work and the outcomes it unlocked for clients, our team, and the wider community.
Here’s how MP&Co became what it is over time:
We launched with a clear point of view on how marketing should work.
Mike was deliberate about the work he took on, choosing clients where he could deliver real value rather than spread himself too thin. From the beginning, the approach was grounded in testing, learning, and improving; not selling ideas for their own sake.
Those early projects proved something important. Honest advice, clear thinking, and close collaboration could deliver strong commercial results without agency overheads or unnecessary complexity. That belief became the foundation everything else was built on.
Starting as a sole trader allowed Mike to stay close to the work and the people behind it. Every decision, from who he worked with to how he priced projects, was deliberate’ We focused on campaigns for SMEs that delivered real, measurable results, shaping the practical, outcome-driven approach MP&Co still uses today.
We expanded our capability without losing focus or flexibility.
As demand grew, the choice was made not to rush into hiring. Instead, building close partnerships with skilled freelancers, bringing in the right expertise as projects required it. This gave clients access to deeper capability while allowing us to stay lean, responsive, and focused on quality.
Throughout 2016, we continued operating as a lean setup, combining strategic leadership with trusted freelance support. Working with freelancers on a project-by-project basis taught us the value of flexibility, collaboration, and capacity-led growth. Staying small by choice allowed us to prioritise quality and build strong relationships rather than volume. This approach laid the foundation for scaling responsibly in later years.
We incorporated to support longer-term client relationships and developed our own professional identity.
Becoming a formally incorporated business was a practical step that allowed us to move into longer-term contracts and deeper client partnerships, and it brought more accountability.
This decision reflected our ambition to be more than a project-based supplier. It was about building a structure that supported trust, continuity, and sustained delivery, giving clients confidence that we were set up for the long haul.
Launching our first professional identity and website in 2018 clarified who we were and how we worked. The modular design positioned us as experts delivering clear, practical marketing solutions. This helped attract clients aligned with our values and reinforced that substance mattered more than agency theatrics.
2017 also saw us start to grow the team and refine our Associate Model business. Sarah Childs joined as project manager and helped create systems and processes to make us more organised and efficient.
In 2018 Mike had a chance coffee meeting with Daniella Russo and as they say, the rest was history. Daniella joined Mike after for a strategy session with fellow associate specialists AJ Handley Rowe and Sarah Wilde. Needless to say for anyone who knows her but she shone from that first session and has been a driving force of the business ever since.
We turned experience into a repeatable framework.
By 2019, patterns were emerging across successful client work. We took the time to document and structure how we approached marketing strategy, creating a clear framework that could be applied, tested, and improved.
This shift allowed us to move from instinct-led delivery to something teachable and scalable. It also helped clients build confidence in their own decision-making, not just rely on ours.
In 2019, our first resource was developed. Publishing the Building Blocks of Effective Marketing Strategy made our methods transparent and repeatable. It allowed clients to understand the reasoning behind decisions and empowered them to achieve measurable outcomes. It was a vital shift from instinct-led to structured, teachable strategy.
Then Covid hit. What a whirlwind. The business changed over night, like it did for many. The world stopped, some clients had to take a pause, some stuck with us (and for that we are truly thankful). We regrouped, and rethought things. Mike spent hours planning a new business model for the post Covid world, squirreled away in his home office.
We committed to aligning growth with positive impact.
During this period, we became more deliberate about the role purpose played in our work. We joined the Better Business Network in Manchester, meeting with like-minded business leaders. This was also the start of our B Corp Journey. Discovering the B Corp framework gave us language and structure for values we already held and highlighted where we needed to improve.
We began working more closely with organisations whose missions aligned with our own, shifting from purely tactical delivery to building marketing engines that could support long-term impact. Working with Simon Ursell, Jon Berry and the team at Tyler Grange can be described as nothing short of transformational. The culture they have built and the way in which they continue to grow year on year with kindness at the core of their business is an inspiration. (Thank you for sharing your home with us and for being so generous with your knowledge and support TG!)
Fjelltopp, GMB Credit Union, Caritas Salford, Collaborate Living, Fusion 21, and other early purpose-driven clients demonstrated how strategic marketing could support global missions.
We collaborated with Manchester Met University and Lancaster University to produce the Purpose Report. Our joint report combined in-depth data with seasoned expertise, highlighting that ethical purpose isn’t a mere ‘plus’, it’s fundamental to good business.
This was the time when our team really took shape, too and over the next couple of years, we welcomed some exceptional people who’ve added their own personalities to the business and shaped it into what it is today. Lucy Nugent, Vanessa de Rudder, Maddy Lindup, Katy Morris, Akvile Esechie, George Thompson, Georgina Walls all joined the team. Some have moved on to better things, or started their own businesses, others are still with us and have grown, developed and turned into leaders of the business.
A notable mention too to Nicola Blair Park who supported, mentored and developed our young team and honed our client service experience.
We evolved from a founder-led consultancy into a collective.
2023 brought our rebrand to MP&Co.
This wasn’t cosmetic.
It reflected a real shift in how the business operated. Responsibility, leadership, and expertise were shared across a growing team and trusted partners. The rebrand clarified who we were for and how we worked. It strengthened our positioning with senior decision-makers looking for calm, experienced support without unnecessary layers.
Submitting our B Corp assessment and rebranding as MP&Co marked a shift from founder-led delivery to a collective approach. The work was done, but the wait began for the proof we delivered both growth and measurable purpose impact.
In 2024, we made impact measurable and built it into how we run the business.
As MP&Co continued to grow, we needed clearer ways to make decisions, deliver work at pace, and stay accountable to our team, clients, and community. This year marked a shift from values being understood to values being embedded, measured, and acted on consistently across the business.
Becoming a certified B Corporation was a significant milestone for us. It validated how we already worked while holding us to a higher, externally verified standard. The process challenged us to evidence our governance, people practices, community contribution, and environmental responsibility. The result was a clearer framework for accountability and a shared benchmark that our clients and partners could trust.
Growth also brought responsibility.
Our focused shifted in 2024, to scaling in a way that protected delivery quality and team wellbeing. We clarified how work flowed through the business, how decisions were made, and how responsibilities were shared. That allowed us to take on more complex, higher-impact work while remaining dependable and steady for our clients.
We also launched our Shared Impact Model, a structured way to support a small number of values-led organisations each year. Rather than increasing client fees, we chose to reinvest time and expertise from a profitable business. The impact was twofold: meaningful support for mission-led organisations and a clearer link between commercial success and positive change. It’s an approach we’re proud of, and one we would choose again.
We entered our tenth year with confidence, direction, and the resilience to manage change without disrupting the great work we deliver.
The foundations we had built over the past decade allowed us to support a growing number of purpose-led organisations and contribute meaningfully to our community.
The structures, practices, and experience we developed over the years meant that even as change came our way, with promotions, new starters, and planned transitions, we could continue delivering high-quality outcomes with clarity and focus. This year is proof that thoughtful investment in people, systems, and processes pays off, enabling us to maintain momentum while embracing change.
2025 represents a marker for what’s next. We brought in some amazingly talented new people into the team who are transforming us every day. Amy Melia, Emma Sweeney, Ollie Evans and most recently Becky Clarkson and Jo Yarnall.
The last ten years gave us the confidence, perspective, and platform to focus on deeper impact, stronger partnerships, and sustainable growth we can continue to stand behind. It’s a year that signals not the end of a journey, but the beginning of a decade defined by purpose, ambition, and meaningful results for clients, our community, and our team.
Looking back, the most important shifts weren’t about scale alone.
They were about choice.
Choosing clarity over noise. Choosing partnership over dependency. Choosing growth that lasts over growth that looks good on paper.
These 10 years show more than growth, they show evolution. From a solo consultancy to a collective of skilled professionals and trusted partners, MP&Co has continually tested, refined, and scaled approaches that help purpose-driven organisations succeed.
As we look ahead, the next chapter is about building on what works. Going deeper with the right clients, continuing to share responsibility and expertise, and staying honest about where we can make the greatest change.
What does it really mean to be a purpose-driven marketing agency? As MP&Co marks 10 years in business, we’re sharing 10 acts of kindness that show how we’ve supported charities, purpose-led organisations and our local community through volunteering, pro bono work, partnerships and everyday business decisions.
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