Why your project plans don’t reflect reality
23/03/2026
Most agencies have project plans. Tasks are listed, timelines are mapped, people are assigned. On paper, it all holds together.
Mission: Purple
Operations consultants for marketing agencies
Most agencies are losing margin they can't see.
We find it - and fix it.
Growing agencies with healthy-looking revenue can still be losing £10-20k a month through scope creep, reactive resourcing, and projects that drift past their profitable window. It rarely looks like failure. But it adds up.
We work with founders and senior leaders of scaling marketing agencies to find where delivery is costing more than it should, and put the right fixes in place.
It's our mission to get you to that purple patch of operational excellence.
Offering fractional operations leadership, process optimisation,
and project management expertise
The problems agencies face
The patterns that erode profit in growing agencies are rarely dramatic. They're quiet, cumulative — and easy to miss when you're only looking at the headline numbers.
Over-servicing and undercharging erode profit
Scope absorbed rather than reset. Extra amends answered with a 'just get it done'. Retainers drifting beyond what was agreed — without the invoice to match.
Revenue that's hard to predict
Forecasts built on assumed timelines rather than delivery reality. Milestones that slip quietly. Month-end surprises that shouldn't have been surprises at all.
Workflows that slow delivery down
Processes that exist on paper but not in practice. Templates nobody uses. Handovers that happen quickly because the client is ready, not because the brief is complete.
Teams working in silos
Finance and delivery talking about different numbers. Account teams optimising for client happiness. No single view of what's profitable, what's at risk, and what needs attention.
How we help
We tackle the operational gaps that stop agencies from delivering predictably - and profitably. No lengthy transformation programmes. Just clear diagnosis, the right fixes, and the support to make them stick.
Restore profitability at project level
Find where margin is leaking across projects and retainers, and fix the scoping, pricing, and tracking gaps that are causing it.
Make revenue and capacity predictable
Replace gut-feel forecasting with delivery-led reviews, so what's in the forecast is actually going to land, and hiring decisions are based on real capacity data.
Reduce friction and firefighting
Define workflows that people actually follow. Eliminate the bottlenecks and reactive resourcing that burn time, erode margin, and exhaust team
Build operations that scale
Put the processes, tools, and team habits in place that hold as you grow, so more revenue doesn't just mean more complexity.
Why invest in operations
Your agency is already paying for the absence of it.
It's easy to look at acceptable gross margin and assume operational investment would be a luxury. But the cost of reactive delivery - last-minute freelance days, projects drifting past their profitable window, teams burning time on work that should have been charged for - is already in your P&L. It's just hard to see.
When operational discipline is introduced, even in targeted ways, the impact shows up quickly.
£10–15k
typical monthly margin recovery on £250–300k revenue; without adding headcount
3–5%
reduction in variable delivery costs once operational changes are in place
1–3 months
to see impact in the numbers for most agencies
Predictable delivery
aligned with revenue targets - so growth feels sustainable, not stressful
Thinking about agency ops, straight to your inbox
Practical ideas on profitable delivery, capacity planning, and the operational habits that protect margin. No noise. Just the stuff worth reading.
[Their] dedication to developing and implementing best-practice processes significantly improved efficiency and effectiveness across multiple areas of the business
Aimée
Agent3
Kate plays a critical role in keeping operations and programmes running smoothly, efficiently and effectively. It is easy to take this for granted - because you know that Kate is at the controls and you have complete trust in her abilities
Shaun
The Craft Consulting
Working with Kate has been a genuinely valuable experience; her recommendations were both practical and insightful. The process gave us a clearer view of our operations and a solid foundation to start making real improvements
Jennifer
Sharp Ahead
Grab a coffee.
Thinking on agency ops, profitable delivery, and the patterns that separate agencies that grow sustainably from those that just get busier.
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