HEARD ABOUT SAM LIMITED

What HEARD ABOUT SAM LIMITED does

Heard About Sam Limited is a UK-based strategic sales, marketing, and event consultancy founded in 2010 by Samantha McGrath and headquartered in Portsmouth on the South Coast of England. Operating as HAS Consulting, the firm serves hospitality venues, MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and events) organisers, sports organisations (including Premier League football clubs), entertainment businesses, not-for-profits, and educational institutions across Hampshire, London, and the wider UK. The company's core offerings are three professional-services lines — Sales & Marketing Consultancy, Event Management Solutions, and Business Development Consulting — delivered through its proprietary "HAS Method" framework, which structures client engagements around Planning, Product, People, and Performance phases on an outcome-basis rather than hourly billing.

The firm runs a three-person core team (Samantha McGrath as Founder & Strategic Lead, Danielle Sturgess as Marketing Project Lead, Angela Peppis as Sales Project Lead) augmented by a flexible network of freelancers branded as "The Herd." No proprietary technology platform underpins delivery; operations rely on standard business tools for marketing, project management, and client communications, with AI referenced only as a personal skill of one team member rather than a productised capability. Distribution is direct-to-client, founder-led sales supported by referrals, Instagram-led brand presence, industry award judging, and community event participation. GTM motion is sales-led and event-driven, with bespoke scoping via introductory meetings rather than packaged pricing tiers.

The revenue model is professional services income from bespoke consulting engagements, with pricing undisclosed publicly. The company is founder-owned, bootstrapped, and has never raised external funding; it operates as an independent UK private limited company with no parent or holding structure. Notable enterprise clients referenced include Southampton FC, P&O Cruises, Sandals Resorts, and Portsmouth University, alongside a long tail of SMB and mid-market hospitality clients in the UK South region.

Name

HEARD ABOUT SAM LIMITED

Legal name

Heard About Sam Limited

Website

https://heardaboutsam.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Heard About Sam Limited is a UK-based hospitality, MICE, and sports consultancy founded in 2010, delivering bespoke sales, marketing, and event-management services to venues, corporate clients, and venues across Hampshire, London, and the wider UK via a three-person core team and outcome-based engagements.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Hospitality Sales & Marketing Consultancy

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Marketing Consulting Services (541613)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Management Services (8741)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYTHALACAM

Sales & Catering / Group & Event Management

Travel & Hospitality/Travel Technology & Distribution Services/Hospitality Tech (PMS, CRS, Channel Managers)

Keywords

• Hospitality consulting
• Sales marketing consultancy
• Event management services
• Business development consulting
• MICE event services

Headquarters

HQ city

Southsea

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Sales & Marketing Consultancy: Strategic consultancy services helping hospitality venues, regional brands, and event organisers improve performance through unified sales and marketing strategy. Services include business development, planning, and execution support. Pricing is outcome-based rather than time-based.
2. Event Management Solutions: Event management services for corporate companies, including corporate events, conferences, and incentive travel. The company turns client visions into reality through introductory meetings, goal understanding, and end-to-end event delivery.
3. Business Development Consulting: Long-term business growth engagements, team development, and mentoring services. Focuses on transforming commercial performance and sustainable growth for clients.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Heard About Sam is a specialist hospitality sales, marketing, and event consultancy that unifies clients' sales and marketing strategies to drive measurable revenue growth. It delivers three core services—Sales & Marketing Consultancy, Event Management Solutions, and Business Development Consulting—through its proprietary HAS Method (Planning, Product, People, Performance), priced on outcomes rather than hours. The firm serves hospitality venues, MICE clients, sports organisations, entertainment businesses, not-for-profits, and educational institutions across Hampshire, London, and the broader UK.

Product overview

Heard About Sam is a strategic sales, marketing, and event consultancy offering a unified consultancy service built around commercial goals. The company provides three core service offerings: Sales & Marketing Consultancy, Event Management Solutions, and Business Development Consulting, delivered through its proprietary HAS Method methodology that combines Planning, Product, People, and Performance phases. The consultancy focuses on hospitality, MICE, sports, entertainment, not-for-profit, and education sectors, operating on an outcomes basis rather than tracking work by hours.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sales & Marketing Consultancy

Quantifiable outcome

• 100% increase in new business enquiries for a national production company in Q1 2026
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• South Downs Food Festival Partners (Hampshire Fare, Rowans Hospice, Creative Cliq)minorGTM or Marketing Partner · 6 June 2026Heard About Sam is partnering with Hampshire Fare, Rowans Hospice, and Creative Cliq to deliver the South Downs Food Festival on 6-7 June 2026 at Stansted House. The partnership supports local food, skills, and real community impact.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Zonal: UK-based hospitality technology provider offering EPOS, CRM, and commercial solutions to hotels, restaurants, and venues. Comparable as a broader incumbent serving the same UK hospitality customer base with overlapping commercial-improvement services.
• MCI Group: Global events and association management group serving enterprise clients across meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions. Comparable as a much larger incumbent in the same MICE space HAS operates in.
• Cvent: Major event management technology and services platform serving enterprise event planners globally. Comparable as an incumbent offering event technology and managed services overlapping with HAS's event management solutions.
• Freeman EMEA: Large global brand experience and events agency serving enterprise clients. Comparable as a scaled incumbent in the corporate events and brand experience space.

Direct peers

• Smyle Group: UK-based event management and creative agency serving corporate and hospitality clients with bespoke event delivery. Directly comparable as a boutique firm offering strategic event and brand experience services to enterprise clients.
• DRP Group: UK-based integrated events, communications, and consultancy group. Comparable as a mid-sized firm offering strategic event, communications, and business development services across enterprise clients.
• Hopscotch Group: Boutique hospitality, leisure, and venue consultancy focused on commercial performance and sales strategy. Highly comparable in scope — sales and marketing consultancy for hospitality venues with outcome-based delivery.
• Grass Roots Group: UK-based hospitality, events, and sponsorship consultancy with deep sports and venue expertise. Comparable to HAS in serving stadium, sports, and venue clients with sales and event development services.
• CPL Events: UK corporate event management agency delivering conferences, incentive travel, and meetings. Comparable as a direct competitor in the MICE and corporate event space HAS serves.

Emerging players

• Taylor Bennett: Boutique UK consultancy focused on marketing, brand, and communications strategy. Comparable as a similarly-sized emerging boutique offering strategic marketing consulting services.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/heardaboutsam
• Facebookfacebook.com/HeardAboutSam

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 HEARD ABOUT SAM LIMITED