16/10/2026
Our founders, Paul and Sarah, used to hate one another.
So what happened? Here’s the story…
Around 2008/2009, Paul and Sarah met at an agency in Leamington. Sarah was a digital account manager; Paul was a client. She doesn’t remember specifically why, but:
“I didn’t like him; I thought he was a gobsh*te.”
Meanwhile, Paul had decided that he didn’t like Sarah much, either. Not a great start to their relationship!
Fast-forward a couple years, and Sarah is returning from maternity leave. It’s October 2011, and Paul’s just been asked to join the agency as commercial director.
Disaster.
In Paul’s first week, he was sent to London to talk to a new business lead. The MD was away, so he asked Sarah to go with him. They decided to get the train together from Warwick, which, as you can imagine, was a very frosty journey all the way to London (mostly in silence).
They then arrived in London and absolutely smashed their meeting.
“I saw a different side to him, and he to me. Although we still didn't like each other, that day was the start of us respecting each other.”
Over the next few months, that respect grew. They started to work well together, realising they were the male and female versions of each other, both ambitious, both good at what they did and both really motivated.
They both then became shareholders/directors in the agency, and this is where things really started to change. They shared the same concerns, had the same battles and got frustrated by the same things. They became a two-person team striving for the same thing but not making the radical change they wanted.
So in 2016, they decided they wanted out. They wanted to start something on their own, something that they were really proud of, and somewhere people wanted to work (and clients wanted to stay).
While in the process of launching their own agency, they were headhunted by the previous owners of Catalyst, which at the time was in distress. They had accumulated considerable debt, had no MD, only one client, and employed no senior staff.
Paul & Sarah were brought on to take it over, rescue it and grow it, and that’s exactly what they did.
As you may have guessed, they turned the business around, paid off the considerable debt and made it profitable.
And now? Paul and Sarah couldn’t imagine doing it without the other. They’re business partners, but best mates, too.
