Mike’s supported me across several businesses, delivering brand strategies and visual identities that have helped me define my place in the market and show what makes my businesses different, while staying true to what I offer. What I’ve valued most is how he’s helped me see the importance of brand for an SME in a way that feels simple and easy to act on.
DEFINE YOUR DIFFERENCE.
BRING IT TO LIFE.
Brand consultancy & design services for SMEs looking to stand out.
Agency quality and process without the overheads
Who we are
i-Spy is not an agency with large overheads or a freelancer working without project management or creative direction. We are the bridge in between. A collective of talented, vetted creatives, managed from brief to artwork by a Brand and Creative Manager who has helped businesses like yours for over 23 years. Together we provide agency quality and process without the big office and payroll costs, so your budget goes into strategic and creative thinking, craft and process. Nothing more.
What we do
We help you find opportunities for growth through sharper insight and clearer communication. Together with your team, we diagnose your brand against your business vision, define your difference, and bring strategic direction to life through your marketing and internal communications. We turn insight into real, tangible impact: a brand that is focused, distinctive and hard to ignore.
How we do it
We keep things clear, collaborative and simple. Our team is a close knit group of experienced, friendly, positive thinkers and problem solvers. We are customer centric, always working with your customers’ behaviour in mind to make sure creative solutions are truly meaningful and relevant to their lives. We can start with strategic thinking, or, if you already have a plan, we can step in at the design stage and roll your brand out across online and offline communications.
Our philosophy
Brand is not a logo. It is an extremely powerful business asset. You could argue it is your biggest. When it sits at the heart of the business, it sets direction, tightens relationships and builds trust and recognition with all audiences. Used to its full potential, brand makes your marketing work harder and helps you build a stronger team. Future sales and recruitment become easier.
Past and present partners
Testimonials
Michael's advice, guidance and support as an extension of our own marketing team has been highly valued over the last two years. Michael has a firm understanding of our commercial needs and ambitions and has consistently delivered communications to meet our marketing and sales objectives while remaining on brand
His team raised the level of the customer magazine significantly, winning CMA awards in consecutive years. The quality, process and client management experience was excellent, and meant we could spread our magazine content further into the app, social channels and PR cost-effectively. Michael is strategic, creative, empathetic, and also had a very clear understanding of our brand.
He has a strong understanding of brand and corporate communications; empathises with your situation and needs; and takes the time to understand the wider business context and stakeholder arrangement behind each brief. Everything a busy marketer needs from their creative agency.
Working with Mike for our rebranding has been a fantastic experience. We appreciated having the same team throughout the entire process, led by Mike, which fostered a strong sense of collaboration and ultimately a creative solution that marries with our business direction. We couldn't be happier with the results!
Michael's professionalism, willingness to go the extra mile and ability to engage stakeholders ensured our recent rebrand project was delivered on time, to budget and with great results.
Throughout a challenging project, Michael's attention to detail, aptitude to deliver and hard work ethic, always left us feeling confident. It's evident in how Michael works, that he is not only passionate about his job, but also takes pride in ensuring the highest quality of work is delivered.
He knew the O2 brand inside out and understood what we’re all about. He helped us evolve the brand and our identity - bringing it up-to-date and making sure we’re designed for digital. Mike's got a great eye for detail and was a reliable part of the O2 team.
Michael is an intelligent, quick and creative thinker and was able to foresee and highlight certain challenges that we hadn't anticipated, and this helped us plan future solutions from the outset.
As well as offering exceptional creative advice and guidance, I could rely on Michael for an astute and industrious response to our numerous creative challenges.
Services
Stronger brand leads to stronger communication
- creative and conceptual thinking
- brand positioning (including audits, customer & competitor insights)
- brand & visual identity
- brand architecture
- brand guardianship and management (including mergers & acquisitions)
- 1-2-1 sessions and training workshops
- retained help for on-hand support.
- brand & visual identity (concepts, artwork, guidelines and roll-out)
- marketing collateral (such as presentations, brochures, events, merch)
- marketing campaigns
- social assets and animation
- editorial design for print
- websites (design and build)
- design and conceptual support for in-house design teams
About Michael
I take the role of your Brand and Creative Manager, guiding brand strategy and creative direction, and overseeing a curated team of proven creatives. We’ll work together from first conversation through to final delivery, with a smooth process to produce work that’s effective, not just polished.
With 23 years in brand and communications, I help businesses shape, build and communicate their brands so they stand out, earn trust and grow with more confidence. My career has included major London agencies and creative independents, working with global brands like Shell, O2, PwC, Bentley Motors and Driscoll’s. That experience means I understand how clear strategy and strong creative direction translate into commercial results.
Early in my career, I co-ran an industrial cleaning business, helping to take it from a start-up to a national operation within the four years I was involved. Cleaning abandoned fish counters, sleeping in vans, managing mixed teams, stock levels, invoicing, and keeping customers happy, all while trying to have a personal life. This gave me a very real understanding of the pressures owner-managers face. I can empathise with your day to day.
I see brand and business as tightly connected. Treated as a practical tool, brand supports growth, pricing, recruitment and culture. It becomes an asset that protects your business and helps it grow.
Based in Norwich, I bring big-business thinking and business-owner empathy to independent and regional businesses. My focus is practical brand and creative leadership, delivered through collaborative workshops and tools that bring brand and business together. The process is designed to be enjoyable and insightful, giving you clarity and conviction in the decisions you make.
My style is informal, positive, fun and hassle-free. I listen first, then help you find a clear way forward that fits your processes, budgets and timings.
If you’d like a brand partner who keeps things clear, joined up and enjoyable, the team and I are here to help.
Learn More
Download our book
‘Your Business Is Your Brand’ is a short guide written specifically for SME owners and marketers that explains what 'brand' is and how it can be used as a transformative tool to drive business success.
Download PDF