Why Great Leaders Don’t Stay in Top Gear All Year

In Dubai, we unveiled the MENA region’s first data-led benchmark of commercial performance across marketing communications agencies – revealing where growth is heading in 2026. Built in partnership between Sprint Partners Consulting, PRCA MENA and YouGov, the report captures the real story behind revenue, profitability, investment, new business intensity and the strategic capabilities shaping the […]

  Agency Hackers’ Growth Summit was one of the most honest, practical and founder-led conversations about agency growth I’ve been part of in a while. What stood out wasn’t hype or theory, it was lived experience. Across M&A, new business, leadership, pricing, independence and scale, there was a refreshing lack of BS. Clear patterns from […]

For the past decade, marketing performance has been driven by execution: speed, scale, reach and efficiency. That era is ending. In 2026, execution will no longer be the differentiator. Judgement will be.

You’ve probably seen the wild visuals doing the rounds from Google’s Nano Banana Pro. I had a play by uploading my report, The Growth Divide, and turning it into a whiteboard… 🤯 The output was spot on: sharp analysis, clean design, eerily lifelike. Exactly the sort of thing that speeds up early-stage strategic thinking and […]

I attended the fantastic Moore Kingston Smith LLP annual agency survey event last night, which painted a very clear picture: the agencies winning today – and those positioned to win tomorrow – are the ones behaving like high-performance teams. They’re agile, strategically disciplined, and continually evolving their proposition. The difference between “fit” and “future-fit” comes down to […]

I recommended what I called “the GOAT of business books” to a client last week – and I stand by it. If you haven’t read Good to Great by Jim Collins, it’s well worth it, particularly as you shape your 2026 plans. It was first recommended to me by an old boss, and the principles […]

Glasgow you great. Great fun, great people, and great food (GaGa Kitchen)! Enjoyed speaking to many Scottish agencies and learn more about the market up there. Some seriously strong agencies that shouldn’t be overlooked just because they’re not in London. Thanks to the PRCA for inviting me to speak about Agency Growth in 2026 and Pitching Smarter, Winning Bigger. Here […]

Had a lot of fun chatting to Chris Norton and Will Ockenden from Prohibition PR. Thanks a lot for having me on and putting me on the spot more than once! We dug into why so many brand-agency pitches miss the mark, and how both sides can make the process work better: The usual suspects: AI-written RFPs, vague briefs, and […]

I spent today at the Festival of New Business – Pimento‘s inaugural event for independent agencies – and it was great. My biggest takeaway? Most agencies are just not good at their own sales and marketing, despite being great at marketing their clients. For years, many have relied on reputation and referrals. But in a saturated, […]