Every Story Has to Start Somewhere

It’s not often you get the time and space to really think about something you want to do. This time, the time existed. The space? A hotel bar.

That first conversation was just me and Aggrey, reflecting on a combined fifty years at our previous business — a business that had seen incredible growth, and given us some of the most positive times of our careers. We laughed until we cried, looking back. But the conversation naturally turned forward too: if we really had the choice — and in that moment, we did — what would we actually want to do next?

For Aggrey, it was always going to start with coaching. That dream had already been quietly taking shape. For me, it was more of an unknown — a question of what comes next. But somewhere in that slightly drunken conversation, a new idea emerged: wouldn’t it be great to build something together again, rooted in the things we’d always loved most — watching a culture be built, focusing on developing people, and feeling the genuine joy that comes from seeing people fulfilled?

From Post-its to a Plan

From that first conversation, it became a case of figuring out what “something” actually looked like. We moved into a kitchen-diner setting, armed with Post-it notes, oversized sheets of paper, and thoughts scattered everywhere — what does good look like, what do we enjoy, what could we actually be good at? And slowly, the ideas started to take shape.

We quickly realised that an idea like this needed an accelerant. Culture is a vast topic with countless approaches and angles, and there was no shortage of consultancy out there already — but that was never what we wanted to build. So where would our differentiation come from? The answer was the creative angle. Enter Nick — someone we’d worked with before, with a great deal of success.

That was the moment the idea properly took shape: culture and coaching were the foundation, but it needed something different alongside it — real creative thinking woven through conversations about brand, events, and culture-building. The common thread across everything we’d loved doing in the past was a creative element that gave it a distinctive look and feel. So we picked up the phone.

Mornings at the Duke of Clarence

Nick was on board — even if none of us were entirely sure yet what “it” was. What followed were a lot of conversations, largely in a pub (though, to be clear, in the mornings, just as it opened). We owe a real debt of gratitude to the Duke of Clarence in Marlow for the space, the tea, the juice, and the breakfasts that fuelled the decisions about where this was all heading.

One of the first big tasks was the name. We searched endlessly — checking Companies House, hunting for a usable web address (a very different challenge today than it once was) — and built a list of around thirty options. We went back and forth until one idea kept resurfacing: we just need people to consider culture. Literal and alliterative, combined into one. Before long, we had a web address registered and a name. This was becoming a real thing.

From there, the ideas began to build, and the conversations widened — not all of them in the pub, but plenty were. What struck us most was that whether we were talking to each other or to other people, the reaction was the same: “You really come alive when you talk about this.” And it was true. We’d agreed early on that we wanted to enjoy what we were doing, but it quickly became clear this was more than enjoyment — there was real passion behind it.

Finding the Look

With a name in place, Nick brought a potential look to the table. A brand workshop followed — getting underneath what we wanted the business to stand for, its tone, the thinking behind it, how we wanted it to be perceived. More paper, more Post-its, and from that “Brand Hand” session came a full design direction. One option stood out clearly — no purple in sight, a genuinely distinctive look and feel. We knew at that point we wanted something different: a little edgy, vibrant, creative, and different.

That was one of those moments of real inspiration — you look at something, pin it to the wall, and what started as an enjoyable design exercise quickly became something we deeply cared about and wanted to see brought to life.

The First Pitch

After all those steps, the conversations kept multiplying, and the consensus was the same: this could be really interesting, but we needed to test it. There was only one place to gather that first group of trusted people from different backgrounds — back to the Duke of Clarence, this time with a dedicated space set up so people walked straight into the brand and the idea.

That was the first time we properly presented the thinking behind it all — and the word at the centre of it was belief. Building Belief, Builds Better became our line, with everything built around it. It was a nervy moment. We were among friends, but deliberately critical ones — nobody held back. What came through clearly, though, was that there was something here people wanted to get behind. A network of people genuinely interested in being part of it began to take shape.

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Refining the Idea

From there it was a process of refining and building — plenty of back and forth, a few false starts, and testing the idea against the market by going to events. Nothing held us back; if anything, every question we faced confirmed there was something worth bringing to market.

A second round-table session with our critical friends followed, this time in a new environment, and the pitch had been refined into something with a genuine route to market. Even so, there were still testing questions — like which way round the belief triangle should sit. There was a case for both, but in the end belief is fundamentally about depth, which shaped how we landed on it.

Every one of those conversations was thought-provoking, and we’re hugely grateful to everyone who gave up their time to help us. By this point, it wasn’t just an idea anymore — it had purpose, values, and a clear set of services behind it. It was getting closer to becoming real.

The Admin (Which Turned Out to Be More Fun Than Expected)

Then came the inevitable admin: setting up the company, the accounts, an office space, VAT registration, trademark registration. Surprisingly, even this stage carried more fun than we expected, with culture creeping into every conversation. A standout moment was a chat with our accountants that somehow turned into a discussion about how we measure time and the cultural impact of timesheets. Wherever we were and whatever we were technically meant to be discussing, there was always something pulling people back to the topic they genuinely wanted to engage with.

By this stage, the business existed — built on a huge amount of input — but there was still plenty to bring together, right down to how we’d describe ourselves as an organisation. It was easier to say what we weren’t than what we were, until the phrase landed: a culture agency. It felt obvious in hindsight, but we still had to work out what that actually meant, and make sure it was right. It was — another piece of the differentiation that genuinely fit our approach and what we wanted to do.

Bringing It to Life

As the website came together, so did the words, and then the video. Standing in front of a camera isn’t anyone’s natural environment, but getting Nick in front of one for the first time turned into one of the most fun parts of the process. We laughed our way through a photoshoot designed to capture the visuals we wanted, and somewhere in there we found the energy and enjoyment we’d hoped to put into the brand from the start.

Pulling together the words, the video, and the social presence — trying to capture the passion behind it all — wasn’t easy. There was a genuine pause point, a moment of asking ourselves: can we really do this? Is this the right move? We questioned ourselves throughout the process. But the answer was always yes. We have real passion for this. We talk about building belief, and we believe Consider Culture can make that difference for organisations. Every time we come together on it, the energy returns, new ideas surface, and people get excited about what it could become.

Launching Consider Culture

And that brings us to here — ready to go live, ready to put this out into the world in a way that reflects everything behind it: passion, belief, fun, and the simple enjoyment of working with people to make a difference.

So, at this point, we launch Consider Culture. We know what we’d like it to become in the years ahead, and we’re looking forward to sharing that journey with you — helping organisations consider culture, helping leaders build belief, and driving real, positive, transformational change.