Stacey MacNaught, the former search director at Tecmark has set up her own specialist agency in Manchester.
She will run MacNaught Digital alongside husband Michael MacNaught and mother, Helen Freeman, who’s taken on an outreach and content promotion executive role.
“One of the biggest drivers for me setting up a small consultancy was the ability to stay hands on with campaigns for clients. The further up the career ladder you progress in scaling agencies, the less hands on you become and more of your time is taken up with things like admin and HR. So, setting up something on my own allows me to do more of what I love the most. This really is about doing something I love and doing it well,” she explained.
“Manchester already has bags of brilliant agencies, many of whom are growing. Where MacNaught Digital will differ is that growth will be gradual and the end goal isn’t about having 20 or 30 people in an office. I love the small team environment and specialising just in the core things we do best.
“Making my Mum the first hire was an unusual step. Many of us in the industry joke about trying to get our Mums to understand what we do. So actually, bringing my Mum in and getting her doing it quite out of the ordinary. But we’ve identified her strengths in dealing with people and building relationships and it’s going really well. She’s learnt so quickly and we’re exceeding all of our targets.”
MacNaught spent 9 years at Tecmark before working as a freelance SEO and content marketing consultant.
