84. Native PR and Marketing Consultancy

Founder: Richard Edwards
Founded: January 2012 (launched September 2012)
Website: www.nativethinking.co.uk

Native Consultancy has a clear mission – to take on the market of boring, inflexible PR and marketing agencies, by offering “game-changing value” to its clients.

After 15 years working as a journalist and in PR, founder Richard Edwards saw that the traditional PR industry model was failing companies in a world of social media and digital content. He decided to deliver a new communications model that would position his clients as “thought leaders” on issues that mattered to buyers. Native Consultancy charges an agreed price per project or per year to its 15 clients including large organisations such as Coutts and The Institution for Engineering and Technology, as well as smaller companies like The Executive Coaching Company and Profitability.

Edwards adds that he only works “for clients where we think we can make a real difference” – a tact that appears to be working. The profitable company is on track to double its turnover this year after heavily investing in people and marketing, which has led to a client win every month so far in 2015. For the remainder of the year Native will focus on launching into new sectors, as well as building its client base in existing markets, expanding its team and retaining 100% of its clients.