Brand consultant for hospitality, food and lifestyle brands.
How I work with founders, from the first conversation to opening day.
Most founders come to me at one of two moments. Either they're building something new and want to get it right before the money starts going out, or they've built something that works and the brand no longer reflects it.
I work with founders from the earliest ideas through to established brands preparing for growth.
What people tend to want from me first isn't design. It's a clear head on a decision they've been going round in circles on.
I work with a small number of brands a year. The person you meet is the person who does the work, from the first conversation to opening day, and you won't be handed to anyone else once the project is signed. When a build needs a developer, a photographer or another specialist, I bring in people I've worked with for years and direct them myself.
Sticks & Cones, Marylebone. Brand creation and interior direction, working alongside the interior designer.
Most founders come to me before they've decided what they need.
The questions usually sound like this:
Should we rebrand, or evolve what we already have?
Is the business ready for a second site?
Does this concept have franchise potential?
Is our positioning holding us back?
Are we speaking to the wrong audience?
Should we rename, or is the name fine?
Sometimes the answer leads to a branding project. Sometimes it leads to spending the money somewhere more useful, and I'd rather say so than take on work that isn't going to move the business.
That conversation is where most of my client relationships have started, and it's why several of them have lasted years rather than months. Six with KAB Holding across three hospitality brands. Five with Town Hall Hotel. Four with Fresko, across two countries.
Three ways to work together
Brand Creation
The full thing.
Brand Creation takes a business from an idea to something people can walk into, buy from and talk about. Positioning, then naming, then a visual identity built to work everywhere the brand lives. Packaging, signage, menus, uniforms, interiors, launch and website.
When it's all shaped together, the brand arrives fully formed rather than assembled from the work of four suppliers who never spoke to each other.
Around twelve to twenty weeks with a website.
Brand Strategy & Positioning
Start with the thinking.
Before anything is designed, we need to know what makes the business worth choosing. Together we'll define who you're for, what you stand for, where you sit in the market and what you own that competitors can't.
You'll finish with positioning, audience, brand personality, tone of voice and a clear strategic direction. It's a complete piece of work in its own right, and the foundation everything else is built on.
Typically three to six weeks.
Visual Identity
Start with how it looks.
Some founders arrive with the thinking already done. They know who they're for and what they stand for, and what they need now is for the brand to look like it.
Identity projects begin with a discovery session and a short positioning statement, then creative direction, then the identity itself. Logo, colour, typography and as much visual language as the brand needs.
Typically three to five weeks.
What happens after launch
A brand doesn't stop needing decisions once it launches.
Most of the founders I work with stay in touch, and the work continues in whatever shape the business needs. Sometimes that's design, sometimes it's a second location, a new market or a franchise conversation, and sometimes it's an hour on the phone before a board meeting.
None of those relationships were planned at the start of a project. It's what tends to happen when the strategy holds up.
Testimonial
"We've been working with Marc for more than four years and he has become a trusted partner in the growth of Fresko. He takes the time to understand both the business and the customer, and his work has played an important role in shaping Fresko into the brand it is today."
Sofia Zournatzidi, Founder, Fresko
Not every business needs the full thing
Some founders already know exactly who they are and need the brand to work harder in one place. Both of these can be commissioned on their own, and both are approached the same way as everything else here. Strategy first, then the channel.
Website Design
Websites for hospitality, food and lifestyle brands, built around how people actually decide to book, visit or buy. From £4,000 + VAT.
Explore Website Design →
Social Content
Photography, video and creative direction built on brand strategy rather than trends, keeping a brand visible and consistent after launch. From £1,500 per month.
Explore Social Content →
Burro Blanco, UAE. Brand repositioning and digital experience for a growing QSR brand.
How I price
Every project is quoted properly, because scope varies enormously between a single-site opening and a brand preparing to franchise across three markets.
What's consistent is that you'll always get a written proposal with a fixed price, a clear scope and a timeline before anything begins. No hourly billing, no scope creep, no surprises at the end.
Myra, Saudi Arabia. Brand creation for a luxury patisserie.
Let's talk about your brand
Whether you're opening something new, rethinking an existing concept or preparing for growth, tell me what you're building and I'll come back to you within a working day.