Experience should reduce waste, not decorate a proposal.
We look at the business before we recommend the marketing.
We have spent more than 20 years building businesses and helping other people grow theirs. That means looking beyond clicks, rankings and leads to the margins, capacity, sales process and customer experience behind them.
A business may need better enquiry handling before more traffic. It may need stronger proof before advertising. SEO may be a sound investment, a small opportunity or a complete waste of money.
Our job is to identify the order.
I have been responsible for the whole business, not one marketing channel.
I have not only advised businesses from the outside. I have had the idea, built the business, sourced the product, worked out the margins, found the customers, managed customer service and fulfilment, and ultimately sold the business.
That experience changes the questions I ask. More leads are not helpful if the margin is poor, the team cannot fulfil the work or nobody follows up the enquiry. Marketing has to work as part of the business, not as a separate department reporting impressive numbers that never reach the bank account.
I have also spent more than two decades working hands-on with websites, SEO, paid advertising, email, content and automation. Knowing several routes to market means I can choose between them, or tell you that none of them should be the priority yet.
A husband-and-wife team with different strengths.
Paul works out what is most likely to help. Victoria brings the ideas, creative thinking and sheer ability to get things finished. Together, we turn sensible advice into work that actually gets done.
Paul Ash
Strategy and commercial directionPaul has built, marketed, operated and sold businesses. He looks at the commercial problem behind the marketing, challenges weak assumptions and works out what should happen first.
Victoria Ash
Ideas, creativity and deliveryVictoria is the creative and organisational force behind much of Local Up Lab. She is brilliant at finding ideas, shaping content, researching local opportunities and turning a plan into finished work. If something needs organising and getting over the line, Victoria is usually the person making it happen.
You can see a selection of that client work on the home page.
You deal with us. We bring in the right expertise when it is needed.
Local Up Lab is deliberately personal, but it is not just two people trying to do everything. After more than 20 years in the business, we have built a trusted network of friends and specialists across paid search, development, design, data and automation.
These are people whose work we know and trust, not random freelancers found after a client says yes. When a project needs specialist expertise, we bring in the right person, manage the work and remain accountable for it. You still deal with people who know your business rather than being passed around a large agency.