McQueenie Mulholland

What McQueenie Mulholland does

McQueenie Mulholland is a deliberately small, founder-led strategic consultancy based in Exeter, United Kingdom, operating since 2011. The firm delivers senior advisory across three integrated disciplines — brand (positioning, narrative, visual identity), marketing (audience, channel, and campaign planning), and communications (PR, content, internal and crisis comms) — to leadership teams and boards of primarily UK-based organisations. There is no proprietary technology platform; the firm's 'product' is the founders' own expertise, with every engagement led personally by co-founders Sue McQueenie (former journalist, communications strategist) and Rob Mulholland (brand and marketing strategist), each with 20+ years of experience. The firm runs a four-movement working method (Listen, Frame, Make, Handover) and has no junior account layer between client and strategist.

The business operates two engagement models. The primary model, Client Consultancy, is traditional fee-based work structured around defined objectives for mature organisations, with engagements ranging from two-week diagnostic sprints to twelve-month senior advisory input. The secondary model, Venture Partnering, exchanges strategic input for an equity stake in selected startups, applied to a small number of ventures with long-term potential (current venture partners include Proponix, OpenLivestock, Ollo, and Refs on Tour). Distribution is direct and senior-led: clients engage via email or LinkedIn outreach to the founders, with no intermediaries, resellers, or marketing-led funnel.

In 2026 the firm deliberately repositioned from a broader full-service agency model (covering PR, design, digital, content, media, production and consultancy) into its current concentrated, senior-advisory form, having concluded that 'the space in the middle' of broad generalist delivery is under structural pressure. The consultancy is founder-owned, privately held, and operates without external investors, PE backing, or holding-company structure. Its stated headcount is 1-10 employees, anchored by the two named founders plus specialist associates drawn in on a project basis.

Name

McQueenie Mulholland

Legal name

McQueenie Mulholland

Website

https://mcmu.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

McQueenie Mulholland is a deliberately small, founder-led strategic consultancy in Exeter, UK, providing senior advisory on brand, marketing, and communications to leadership teams via fee-based client consultancy and equity-based venture partnerships with select startups.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Management Consulting (Brand, Marketing and Communications)

NAICS

Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Brand & Portfolio Strategy Consulting (MPAAAFAB)

Keywords

• Strategic brand consultancy
• Marketing strategy services
• Communications consulting
• Senior advisory services
• Brand positioning services

Headquarters

HQ city

Exeter

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations

Revenue model

1. Client Consultancy: Traditional fee-based, structured engagements for mature and established organisations. Work is defined around objectives and practical outcomes.
2. Venture Partnering: In a small number of cases, strategic input is exchanged for a share in the (equity) outcome itself. Works alongside founders and emerging ventures where the idea, ambition, and people have genuine long-term potential.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

McQueenie Mulholland is a senior-led strategic consultancy that delivers brand, marketing and communications services to leadership teams. Core offerings include positioning and narrative architecture, audience and channel strategy, and media relations and crisis communications, delivered either as traditional fee-based Client Consultancy for established organisations or as Venture Partnering (equity-based) engagements for selected startups. Every project is personally led by co-founders Sue McQueenie or Rob Mulholland.

Product overview

McQueenie Mulholland is a senior-led strategic consultancy offering three integrated service disciplines: Brand Services (positioning, narrative, and visual identity), Marketing Services (audience strategy, channel planning, and campaign management), and Communications Services (PR, content, and crisis management). The firm delivers these through two engagement models—Client Consultancy (traditional fee-based projects) and Venture Partnering (equity-based partnerships with early-stage ventures). All work is led personally by founders Sue McQueenie and Rob Mulholland, supported by specialist associates. Projects typically follow a four-movement approach: Listen, Frame, Make, and Handover.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Brand Services Positioning, narrative architecture, naming, verbal identity, tone, visual identity and brand systems, plus internal launch and rollout. For organisations that need a defensible articulation of who they are, delivered through engagements ranging from two-week diagnostic sprints to twelve-month senior advisory input.
• Marketing Services Audience definition and segmentation, channel strategy and investment cases, annual marketing and campaign plans, and measurement frameworks. Acts as the bridge between a board-level brief and an in-house team needing clear structure to execute against. Targeted at marketing leaders who need a thinking partner rather than another agency.
• Communications Services Press and media relations, editorial and digital content, internal communications change, and crisis and issues management. Grounded in journalistic expertise and targeted at communications managers, in-house comms and marketing teams, senior leadership and boards needing careful decisions about what gets said, how and where.
• Client Consultancy Traditional fee-based, structured engagement model for mature and established organisations requiring strategic clarity on brand, positioning, marketing or communications. The default way of working with the firm.
• Venture Partnering Equity-based engagement model in which strategic input is exchanged for a share in the outcome. Available in a small number of cases for startups and emerging ventures with genuine long-term potential.

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Budleigh Salterton Literary FestivalcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Consultancy client relationship since 2019. Providing brand and communications support to the literary festival.
• Totus NeurorehabcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Consultancy client relationship since 2019. Supporting Totus Neurorehab with brand and communications strategy.
• The Deaf AcademycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Consultancy client relationship since 2018. Working with the Deaf Academy on their brand and communications needs.
• Exeter Science ParkcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Consultancy client relationship since 2018. Supporting the science park with strategic brand and communications work.
• Ubi CommunicationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Consultancy client relationship since 2018. Strategic partnership with Ubi Communication.
• Exeter City Football ClubcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Long-standing consultancy client relationship since 2017. McQueenie Mulholland provides brand, marketing and communications strategic support to the football club.
• ProponixcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVenture partner. AI powered quoting technology for trades. Strategic input exchanged for equity share in the outcome.
• OpenLivestockcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVenture partner. A digital trading platform for UK livestock. Strategic input exchanged for equity share in the outcome.
• OllocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVenture partner. Agentic OS for mid-market companies. Strategic input exchanged for equity share in the outcome.
• Refs on TourcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVenture partner. A movement supporting community rugby officials. Strategic input exchanged for equity share in the outcome.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Landor & Fitch: Landor & Fitch is a global brand consulting and design firm offering strategy, naming, identity, and brand experience work. It overlaps with McQueenie Mulholland's brand positioning and narrative practice, but serves larger enterprise clients with broader service lines.
• Anomaly: Anomaly is a global independent creative agency offering brand strategy, communications planning, and campaign development for major consumer and enterprise brands. It overlaps with McQueenie Mulholland's integrated marketing + communications discipline, but at significantly greater scale.
• Mother Design: Mother Design is the design and brand strategy arm of Mother, a leading independent creative agency network. It competes for the same senior brand strategy and identity briefs as McQueenie Mulholland, but with a much larger multidisciplinary creative team.
• Wolff Olins: Wolff Olins is a large global brand consultancy offering strategy, identity, and experience design for major enterprise and public-sector clients. It competes with McQueenie Mulholland for senior-level brand strategy mandates but at a much larger scale and broader portfolio.

Direct peers

• Pentagram: Pentagram is a partner-led design and brand consultancy where each project is led personally by a named partner, with no account teams in between. It is the closest structural analogue to McQueenie Mulholland's senior-led, founder-led model, operating across brand strategy, identity, and communications work for major clients.
• The Clearing: The Clearing is a London-based brand strategy and design consultancy that delivers senior-led engagements focused on positioning, narrative, and identity. It is comparable to McQueenie Mulholland in its emphasis on strategic clarity over full-service execution, and in targeting leadership teams.
• Carter Wong Design: Carter Wong is a UK-based brand and visual identity consultancy providing strategy, naming, and design for organisations across sectors. It shares McQueenie Mulholland's UK regional footprint and integrated brand + communications offering.
• Koto: Koto is a brand strategy and design studio known for senior-led work on positioning, naming, verbal identity, and visual identity for ambitious organisations. Its practice mirrors McQueenie Mulholland's brand discipline and 'defensible articulation of who they are' value proposition.
• SomeOne: SomeOne is a London-based brand design and strategy consultancy offering positioning, identity, and communications work for established and challenger organisations. It is comparable in its senior practitioner model, integrated brand + communications proposition, and focus on strategic clarity.
• B&B Studio: B&B Studio is a London brand and packaging design consultancy working on strategy, naming, identity, and verbal identity for ambitious brands. Its senior-led, strategy-first delivery model is structurally similar to McQueenie Mulholland's Listen-Frame-Make-Handover approach.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mcqueenie-mulholland
• Xx.com/mcmuagency
• Facebookfacebook.com/mcmuagency

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about McQueenie Mulholland