Name: Greenwood & Bell
Based: Norwich
Website: greenwoodandbell.co.uk
Greenwood & Bell is a micro-agency, a new kind of advertising and design business launched by husband and wife team Mandy and Mark Greenwood.
After years of “wouldn’t it be great if...” discussions, we sold our London semi, bought a barn in Norfolk and burned our bridges. One year on, Greenwood & Bell is working with eight clients including Lotus Cars and IT companies Oasis and Tiger Eye.
Much as a micro brewery produces really good beer in small quantities, our innovative micro-agency concept is that the two of us concentrate on really good advertising and design for a few clients. We bring in specialists only when needed, work from our barn and keep overheads tight. This means clients get a great service but at prices significantly lower than old-style agencies.
The breakthrough came when, after pitching for three projects for Lotus, we won the fourth. It showed us that the micro-agency idea worked not only for local traders but also for projects as large as Lotus’ China-wide campaigns.
This gave us the confidence to push on and we have just signed our first retention agreement, developed new business prospects and produced pro-bono work for two non-profit organisations, Helping the Burmese Delta and the Norfolk Tank Museum.
Having a new approach is important, but we have worked harder than at any other time in our lives. These are the two reasons our startup has been more successful than we dared hope.
Mark Greenwood is partner at Greenwood & Bell
