A Sustainable PR Agency in London

Denyse Whillier is the founder of The Purpose Company, working with purpose-led founders and leaders at every stage of growth. Her approach - hope-centred strategy - combines the strategic capabilities she developed over eight years as a CEO with a commitment to building businesses that are aligned with their founder's purpose and values.

‍ Cat was put in touch with me by an existing client. Her second daughter was a few weeks old and she'd just been made redundant from an in-house PR role. Her confidence had been hit hard, and she was facing some big decisions at a point when everything felt uncertain. She needed strategic support to figure out what to build - and how to build it with a newborn and a toddler.

"When I came to Denyse, I'd just been made redundant and I had no idea what I wanted to build. She saw something in that first session that I couldn't see myself - that my degree in sustainable textiles wasn't a footnote on my CV, it was the foundation of everything. Three years later, I'm running an agency I'm genuinely proud of, and I'm more confident than I've ever been." - Cat

I began working with Cat through Purpose-Led Business Coaching, starting with a half-day session. The obvious path was a generalist PR agency built on her existing London network - safe, sensible, and the advice most people would have given her. But within the first hour, it was clear Cat had very little enthusiasm for that direction. When she mentioned her degree in Sustainable and Ethical Fashion - a qualification she'd never used professionally - her energy shifted completely. For the first time that day, Cat was talking about something that mattered to her deeply.

The strategic question became whether she could build a specialist PR agency for the sustainable textiles industry - an industry she knew through her education but had never worked in. We designed a foundation year to find out. Retained clients from her existing network funded the year, while Cat systematically built her presence in sustainable textiles - attending industry conferences, validating the market through desk research, and developing a clear positioning, brand strategy, and website designed specifically for textile and fabric brands.

The foundation year also included something I think matters enormously: looking after Cat. She brought in a part-time EA, got domestic support, and we treated her health and wellbeing as a strategic priority rather than something she'd get round to when the business was more established. Because when a founder is running on empty, every business decision suffers.

By the end of Year 1, Cat had five retained clients providing stable monthly revenue, a trusted team of specialist freelancers, and a clear position in her target market. The foundations were in place.

In Year 2, those foundations compounded. Cat built a freelance delivery team - women who had left traditional employment - and trained them in the sector, accepting reduced margin to free herself for growth. She focused all her business development on sustainable textiles: conferences where she was now recognised rather than an outsider, targeted LinkedIn outreach, collaborations with complementary agencies, and case studies used deliberately as a sales tool. By the end of the year, she had twelve retained clients and turnover exceeding £30,000 a month - growth of approximately 140% year on year.

Year 3 began with a Strategy Planning Retreat where Cat set out her vision for the next stage. She wanted the business to be more structured and sustainable. The freelancer model had been right for its stage - but Cat's vision had evolved. She employed Account Managers, giving long-serving team members a genuine stake in the agency's future. She established an apprenticeship programme. She rebranded - creating a brand strategy brief and going out to agencies in a structured process that treated the selection like a recruitment exercise. And she began working toward B Corp accreditation, embedding purpose into the governance of the business from the start.

Six new clients joined in Year 3, adding £24,000 a month in revenue. Projected revenue for 2026 exceeds £500,000 a year. Cat's agency is now a structured, sustainable business with employed Account Managers, an apprentice, a new brand designed for larger clients, and B Corp accreditation in progress.

Cat's journey is told in detail across a three-part case study series on my blog:

• Part 1

• Part 2

• Part 3

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If Cat’s story resonates with you - whether you're building something from scratch, navigating a transition, or looking for the strategic support to take your business to its next stage - I'd welcome a conversation about what working together could look like for you. There's no pressure and no obligation. Just a conversation about where you are and where you want to be.