We help bold ideas succeed in the real world

Growth Guides works with ambitious founders and mission-led teams to turn strategy into action - 

building propositions that shift behaviour, scale effectively, and deliver commercial results

Image of Growth Guides Holly and Tony - Marketing Incubator

When what you need goes beyond a standard brief

Whether you’ve secured funding or are still shaping your idea, early-stage projects rarely come with a roadmap. The stakes are high, the timelines tight, and the brief often ever-evolving.

We work alongside you to spot what matters most – at any stage – and move quickly to fix what’s critical. That might mean building something from scratch, refining what’s already there, or shifting direction entirely. Our role evolves as the work does.

What we do

We make new, unfamiliar, high-stakes offers usable, engaging and effective – especially when success depends on behaviour change at scale.

That could mean:

  • Creating or adapting a brand (eg. name/logo/visual identity)

  • Mapping audiences and designing the user journey

  • Designing and building digital journeys - like websites, portals and CRMs

  • Crafting marketing and engagement campaigns that convert

  • Testing messages and tracking responses

  • Fixing friction fast, based on what’s actually happening (or not happening)

We take ownership of delivery – shaping strategy and executing it end to end.

What we do

We make new, unfamiliar, high-stakes offers usable, engaging and effective – especially when success depends on behaviour change at scale.

That could mean:

  • Creating or adapting a brand (eg. name/logo/visual identity)

  • Mapping audiences and designing the user journey

  • Designing and building digital journeys - like websites, portals and CRMs

  • Crafting marketing and engagement campaigns that convert

  • Testing messages and tracking responses

  • Fixing friction fast, based on what’s actually happening (or not happening)

We take ownership of delivery – shaping strategy and executing it end to end.

Who we work with

Councils, consortia and public bodies delivering retrofit and energy trials

Startups and early-stage teams building exciting purpose-led offers

Innovation partners needing comms and digital done well - and done fast

Why clients choose us

Because we:

  • Turn complex policy into user-ready journeys

  • Work across brand, strategy, tech and delivery – not in silos

  • Bring deep experience of engagement, behaviour change and retrofit

  • Spot the gaps, stay hands-on, and make things work on the ground

  • Help you report real impact to funders and stakeholders

Why clients choose us

Because we:

  • Turn complex policy into user-ready journeys

  • Work across brand, strategy, tech and delivery – not in silos

  • Bring deep experience of engagement, behaviour change and retrofit

  • Spot the gaps, stay hands-on, and make things work on the ground

  • Help you report real impact to funders and stakeholders

Examples of Recent Work

Energy Saver App promotional image - Net Zero Retrofit marketing and community enagagement

Strategic Marketing for a Scalable Retrofit Subscription Model: From Zero to 8,000 Sign-Ups in 5 Months

Strategic Marketing for a Scalable Retrofit Subscription Model: From Zero to 8,000 Sign-Ups in 5 Months Case study: ...
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Net Zero Marketing Heat Pumps for Friday Bridge

Accelerating Net Zero in the Real World: Community-First Marketing for a Heat Pump Adoption Project

Accelerating Net Zero in the Real World: Community-First Marketing for a Heat Pump Adoption Project Case study: Heat ...
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Library image on online focus research group

Understanding What Homeowners Really Want and Need: User Research to Shape Retrofit Tools that Work

Understanding What Homeowners Really Want and Need: User Research to Shape Retrofit Tools that Work Case study: Consumer-Focused ...
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trusted by...

Holly Tony Growth Guides image

Who we are

Growth Guides is led by Tony Harbron and Holly Whitehead. Tony was Marketing Director at Red Bull during its successful UK launch – experience that continues to shape how we think, test and scale. Holly brings a background in strategy, research and copywriting, with a sharp focus on usability and conversion.

The two of us lead every project we take on. We stay close to the work, from shaping strategy to delivering it – and we only take on projects we believe in. Our earlier work together helped grow the cleantech company Lightfoot from a team of 12 to over 70, securing investment from the British Growth Fund along the way.

Growth Guides Marketing testimonial

Dave Buonaguidi

Author of 'Blah, Blah, Blah' & co-founder, Unltd Inc

Tony & Holly are a crack team of marketing guns for hire. Tony has a vast amount of experience in helping brands scale and this complimented by Holly’s intelligent and analytical enthusiasm to really drive growth. They have the perfect ability to help solve any marketing problems in the hugely fragmented world we live in.

Oxfordshire County Council client logo

Dale Hoyland

Retrofit Team Leader, Climate Action Service, Oxfordshire County Council

Growth Guides have been fantastic to work with across multiple retrofit projects. You get personalised, flexible, professional and friendly support from Tony, Holly and the team. They’re great at parachuting in to make timely improvements based on real-world trial and testing, so you can be sure of a successful outcome.

Small City Science logo

Jade Baker-Edwards

Principal Energy & Sustainability Consultant, City Science

Working with the Growth Guides team, particularly Tony and Holly, has been a game-changer for our projects. Their expertise, unwavering reliability, and results-focused approach consistently drive our initiatives forward. They are highly revered within our team as true partners who go above and beyond to ensure success, making the entire process seamless and impactful.

Growth Guides Marketing testimonial

Alastair Banks

Director, Optix Solutions

Holly and Tony are a great team and inspire the best in the people around them.

Growth Guides Marketing testimonial

Laurence Bray

Director, Stature PR

Working with Tony and Holly has been a real pleasure - they are really passionate about what they do and have the right attitude and experience to turn exciting ideas into reality.

Growth Guides Marketing testimonial

Llew Nicholls

CCO Grow Marketing and Grow Exeter Magazine

Holly and Tony are original thinkers who love exciting ideas but also nail the execution.

Total Media

Pedro Martins

Chief Growth Officer, Total Media

Having worked with Tony and Holly for many years I can say that they have an amazing ability to create exciting visions of better futures and then work hard to bring them to life.

Absolute PR & Marketing

Rachael Whitson

Managing Director, Absolute PR & Marketing

Holly and Tony are unconventional in spirit and push hard to get results in everything they do. Suffice it to say that they are honest, perceptive and their judgement is second to none.

The Honest Truth

Annette Lloyd

CEO, The Honest Truth

Tony and Holly bring an invaluable human element to business, looking at the people inside and how to maximise the value they add to the wider mission.

South West Photographers logo

Emily Fleur

Founder, South West Photographers

I love you guys so much you're actually saving me!

how we work with clients

We aim to have long-term relationships with all our clients. Often, we start out working on a single project, challenge or deliverable, and move into one of the below ongoing arrangements:

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Monthly Retainer

Where we essentially become your internal marketing resource for a fixed monthly fee

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Project Partner

Where we help you bid for and deliver Innovate UK or DESNZ-funded projects as a named project partner

Subcontractor icon

Subcontractor

Where we work on your funded project as a marketing/engagement/ research subcontractor

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Sweat Equity

Where we help you build and scale your business, focusing wherever we provide most value

interested?

We’d love to hear from you! Either schedule a free 30-minute introductory call, or complete the form below and Tony and Holly will get back to you within 24 hours

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