Murray McIntosh

The Challenge

Murray McIntosh is a specialist recruitment consultancy operating across Engineering, Water and Policy, Public Affairs, Communication and Economics. Despite eight years of industry experience and a strong reputation within its sectors, the business had virtually no predictable inbound pipeline and relied heavily on outbound business development.

A marketing review revealed five key challenges:

A lack of consistent lead generation

Despite its reputation and expertise, Murray McIntosh had no scalable mechanism for generating inbound enquiries. Growth depended largely on existing networks, referrals and consultant outreach, making it difficult to build a predictable pipeline.

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 initial 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 to potential clients.

Fragmented marketing across three specialist teams

Engineering, Water and Policy each served distinct 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:

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

I led both strategy and execution, collaborating closely with leadership and all three teams 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 a wider demand-generation strategy.

Working with leadership and the water team, I led the development and launch of The UK Water Industry Labour Report 2025.

Delivering the report involved:

• 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 content

• SEO

• PR

• Email marketing

• Industry partnerships

The impact exceeded expectations.

The report was cited multiple times within the Independent Water Commission Report, the UK Government's independent review of the water industry, significantly increasing Murray McIntosh's visibility and credibility within the sector.

It also opened partnership opportunities with trade associations and generated a pipeline of new client relationships across water utilities, engineering consultancies and industry bodies, most of which remain active clients 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 company's expertise and made it significantly easier for prospects to understand the breadth of services available.

The new website and messaging framework improved the customer journey while providing a stronger foundation for lead generation and future marketing activity.

Fixing the Lead Journey

As inbound activity increased, 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.

By connecting marketing and sales data, the business gained greater visibility over pipeline performance, improved lead management and created a clearer link between marketing activity and revenue outcomes.

Beyond Marketing

My work extended beyond traditional marketing responsibilities.

I contributed to tender submissions that helped secure new business within the water sector.

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, improved sourcing efficiency and helped the business focus resources on higher-value recruitment activity.

Ongoing Partnership

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