Murray McIntosh

The Challenge

Murray McIntosh is a specialist recruitment consultancy operating across Engineering, Water and Policy. Despite eight years of industry experience and a strong reputation within its sectors, the business had virtually no inbound pipeline.

A marketing review revealed four key issues:

• A website that wasn’t converting

The website failed to clearly explain what Murray McIntosh did or why prospective clients and candidates should engage with them. During early research, one prospect admitted they had visited the site but still weren’t sure what the business actually did.

• Eight years of expertise with little visible proof

The company had an impressive track record and deep sector knowledge, but very few case studies, insights or proof points that demonstrated its credibility.

• Fragmented marketing across three specialist teams

Engineering, Water and Policy all served different audiences, yet the marketing lacked focus and wasn’t speaking effectively to any of them.

• A brand that no longer reflected the business

What the market saw no longer matched the quality, expertise and value that Murray McIntosh delivered. 

The Strategy

Working closely with the leadership team, I developed a marketing strategy directly linked to the company’s growth ambitions and revenue targets.

The objective was simple:

Create a sustainable inbound pipeline while positioning Murray McIntosh as a recognised authority within its specialist sectors.

I led both strategy and execution, collaborating with leadership and sales throughout the process.

Turning Expertise into Demand

The business had already begun exploring industry research as a lead generation tool, making it the ideal foundation for the wider strategy.

Working with leadership and the sales team, I led the development and launch of the State of the UK Water Industry Workforce Report 2025.

Delivering the report required:

• Market research and data collection

• Stakeholder management across leadership and sales

• Content development and production

• Campaign planning and execution

• Partnership and industry outreach

The report became the centrepiece of an integrated campaign spanning:

• LinkedIn

• SEO

• PR

• Email marketing

• Industry partnerships

The impact exceeded expectations.

The report was cited multiple times within the The Independent Water Commission Report, the UK Government’s independent review of the water industry. It also opened partnership opportunities with trade associations and generated a pipeline of new clients that Murray McIntosh continues to work with today.

What began as a lead-generation asset has since become the company’s annual flagship publication and a recognised benchmark for workforce trends across the sector.

Simplifying the Brand

The success of the report highlighted a larger issue.

Murray McIntosh was operating under three separate sub-brands:

• Water by Murray

• Policy by Murray

• Engineering by Murray

While intended to create sector focus, the approach had created confusion externally, division internally and unnecessary complexity for a growing business.

I led a complete brand consolidation, bringing everything back under a single Murray McIntosh identity.

This included:

• Developing a unified brand architecture

• Refreshing the visual identity

• Rebuilding the website

• Creating clearer user journeys

• Aligning messaging across all sectors

The result was a more coherent brand experience that better reflected the expertise of the business and supported future growth.

Fixing the Lead Journey

As inbound activity grew, another challenge emerged.

The company’s technology stack had become disconnected. CRM data, email marketing activity and other marketing tools were operating independently, making it difficult to understand where leads originated, how they moved through the funnel and where opportunities were being lost.

I integrated the systems and mapped the customer journey end-to-end.

This uncovered:

• Leads that weren’t being followed up

• Marketing activity that sales couldn’t see

• Gaps in reporting and attribution

• Inefficiencies within existing processes

The findings became the foundation for a broader CRM and process-improvement programme, delivered alongside a specialist CRM consultant.

Beyond Marketing

My role extended beyond traditional marketing responsibilities.

I contributed to tender submissions that helped secure new business within the water sector and supported marketing requirements linked to the company’s ISO certification.

I also managed relationships with recruitment job boards, negotiating commercial agreements and optimising campaigns to improve candidate quality rather than simply increasing application volume.

This reduced pressure on consultants and improved the overall effectiveness of candidate sourcing.

Ongoing Partnership

I continue to work with Murray McIntosh and Marketing Director Ashleigh McFarland, supporting the company’s growth through new research reports, case studies, brand development and demand-generation initiatives.

The Results

The report, brand transformation and wider marketing programme created something Murray McIntosh had never previously achieved: a reliable inbound pipeline.

The strategy generated new business across:

• Water utilities

• Tier-one suppliers

• Trade associations

• Engineering consultancies

• International organisations establishing UK operations