Call us big headed, but we’re pretty confident we’ve got the best people in the industry. Because IE is only as good as its people.
Our studio is full of some of the industry’s best consultants, researchers, designers, filmmakers, writers, developers, project managers and creatives – all under one roof.
Ollie Leggett
Managing Director and Brand ConsultantEmail OllieDriven by a desire to stand alongside values driven organisations and to make a difference through the power of brand and digital, Ollie founded IE in 1994 and continues to support IE’s more complex brand consultancy projects.
Notable not-for-profit clients include Christian Aid, Teach First, FPA (Family Planning Association), pfeg (now Young Money), Career Ready, Charity Job, Goldman Sachs Foundation, Cranfield University, University of Cambridge, and the universities of Aberdeen, Aston, Birmingham, Bristol, Imperial College London, Liverpool, Plymouth Marjon, Queen Mary UoL, Reading, Warwick and York.
A regular speaker at CHASE, CASE and AGCAS, Ollie has worked in the creative sector for 30 years and is an opinion leader on the subject of optimising business practices within the creative industries. A passionate advocate of self-improvement and the power of peer networks, Ollie is a graduate of business school programmes at Cranfield School of Management, London Business School and Aston Business School.
Ollie was awarded a Goldman Sachs Foundation small business leader scholarship to study toward an Executive MBA at Aston Business School. His Final Project entitled "Assessing the value of the CBIRM (Corporate Brand Identity and Reputation Matrix) framework to an international charity seeking to re-articulate its corporate brand" utilises the charity Open Doors International as a case study. In 2018, he graduated with Distinction.
He is a Visiting Industrial Fellow and Guest Lecturer at Aston University, a BSEEN business mentor, a volunteer for the Ahead Partnership and a Queen’s Small Business Charter Mark business school assessor for the Association of Business Schools. Ollie recently retired as a trustee of Trident: Reach The People Charity (a £14m+ social investment charity in the Midlands) to become a founder member of Christian Aid's Salt Business Network.
Ollie was consulted by Lord Young as he gathered insights for ‘The Report on Small Firms’ and Lord Heseltine for his report ‘No Stone Unturned in Pursuit of Growth’. Lord Young’s office expressed thanks with an invitation to No.10 Downing Street and the Queen’s Garden Party.
In his free time, he is an avid runner, cook and figurative sculptor. Having raised thousands of pounds running half and full marathons for Midlands charities, he’s currently trying to improve his personal best.
David Crichton
Creative Director and Brand ConsultantEmail DavidWith over 20 years' industry experience under his belt, Dave serves as IE’s Creative Director – leading IE’s brand offering and award winning design team, as well as working as a Brand Consultant.
Beginning his career as a Graphic Designer and making a gentle transition to consultancy, Dave combines his agency experience – which has seen him work with clients across almost every sector – with his love of design, writing and filmmaking.
Dave can often be found knee deep in research for a brand project, locked away in a room writing key messaging, art directing a visual identity project, on location for a campaign film, or bringing clients up to speed and running workshops.
Under Dave's direction, IE Brand won two Golds at the Transform Awards Europe 2017, for Best Visual Identity from the Education sector and for Best Brand Architecture Solution. Dave has spent his life and career obsessed with the power of brand, and helping clients to connect with their audiences by standing out from the crowd, and telling their story to the world.
Over the past decade at IE, he’s been thoroughly immersed in the worlds of charity, health and education – and before that worked with a number of blue chip clients, including investment banks and building societies, record labels, TV production companies and retail.
Dave and his wife are the proud parents of two daughters, who take up the majority of his time outside of work. However, he tries to find time to indulge his passion for playing piano, and creative writing – he is often to be found working on speculative screenplays or novels, and is a published non-fiction author.
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Kate Stone
Director of Operations and FinanceEmail KateKate’s been working with IE for nearly 25 years and serves as Director of Operations and Finance.
A Chartered Accountant, Kate previously enjoyed working with clients in her role as a Business Services Manager at Grant Thornton. Her financial expertise complements her passion for precision project management. Kate is PRINCE2 trained and is a fervent exponent of the ‘Agile’ project management philosophy. Working closely with her teams, Kate ensures that projects are well resourced and presented, and is responsible for overseeing IE’s financial health and planning.
Outside of work, she enjoys boot camp sessions in all weathers.
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Head of DigitalEmail NathanNathan has over twelve years’ experience as a programmer and web developer.
He joined IE having spent several years working in two different design agencies. He’d already earned a degree in Information Technology and Physics from Loughborough University, which instilled in Nathan a logical approach to problem solving. This helps him build elegantly crafted, bespoke, digital solutions to client problems using state-of-the-art web technologies and frameworks.
Five years ago, Nathan progressed to become our Head of Development, and he now leads IE’s entire digital offering as Head of Digital. He is also a triple-certified Drupal 10 expert, holding the Acquia Certified Developer, Certified Front End Specialist and Certified Back End Specialist certifications. This makes him one of the UK's first triple certified Drupal 10 Experts.
Most of Nathan’s time is spent keeping up with his young son, and any remaining time gets spent at the gym, travelling or attending gigs.
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Senior DesignerEmail JosieJosie joined IE from a London branding agency, where she cut her teeth on a range of clients – from blue chips, luxury hotels and pharmaceutical brands to charities and art museums.
Over the course of her time at IE she’s led the design for a range of charity, health and education clients – creating new logo marques, bespoke typefaces, art directing photoshoots, and creating dynamic, responsive brands. She’s also designed many websites, led on numerous social campaigns, and is as skilled online as she is offline.
For Josie, design is all about having fun and she aims to produce beautifully crafted work that is always rooted in a strong idea that tells a story and provokes an emotion. She believes in pushing her ideas to the limit, then reigning them back in. She's particularly passionate about designing for print but enjoys developing brands across all media.
Josie was named the Creative Young Contender 2021 at the Transform Awards Europe. She has a first in Graphic Design from Falmouth University.
Outside the studio, she's been experimenting with making coloured concrete plant pots, which she one day hopes to sell. She teaches swimming to children and enjoys running and yoga.
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Junior DesignerEmail AmberAmber joined IE Brand after graduating from Birmingham City University (BCU) with a degree in Graphic Communication. Her practice is very explorative, trying ambitious ideas and processes and them simplifying them to create innovative, sophisticated design solutions.
Before IE, Amber has gained experience on freelance projects with local businesses, working on employability and alumni initiatives at BCU, and supporting the Birmingham 2022 Festival. She’s no stranger to the not-for-profit sector, having volunteered at Ronald McDonald House Charities Birmingham. As creative leader, Amber worked on creating a welcoming experience for families through environmental design.
In her free time, Amber still taps into her fine art background with painting and collaging, as well as getting involved in the local design community. In her spare time you’ll find Amber teaching herself creative coding, watching drag shows, looking after her two rescue dogs, or planning her next travel destination.
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Associate Marketing/Brand ConsultantEmail SaraSara provides expert support on key marketing strategy, research and planning projects at IE.
She enjoys the challenges of developing marketing strategies that will enable clients to stand out from the crowd, and identifying new routes for growth that will maximise potential.
She has an impressive track record of high-quality delivery in the commercial and not-for-profit sectors, working with organisations including CMI Strategy, CSH Surrey, and the Amateur Swimming Association.
Sara is dedicated to inspiring insight; she loves to design and deliver research that will make a difference, be it e-surveys, face-to-face or telephone interviews, focus groups or data analysis. She's also an experienced facilitator, working with and inspiring clients and their in-house teams through problem-solving and scenario-planning workshops, team meetings, coaching sessions and more.
Sara has an MBA from Warwick University and is PRINCE2 qualified.
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Client Relationship ManagerEmail SophieSophie is an experienced digital project manager with over 12 years' experience in the industry.
She has worked on 100s of projects across multiple sectors, from food and finance to charities and construction. She has extensive experience across the whole agency spectrum, working on projects from brand and creative work through to producing websites, apps and custom platforms.
With a passion for processes and a keen eye for detail, Sophie takes pride in delivering high quality work. She loves making a difference for her clients, by bettering their online offerings, making best practice recommendations, and offering advice to improve the user experience for service users.
Sophie’s background is in film and media. She graduated with a 1st class BA Hons and has successfully transferred the skills she learnt in her degree into her project management and production roles.
A self-confessed crazy animal lady, Sophie loves spending time with the furbabies in her life. She also loves to sing, bake, take photographs and go on adventures with family and friends.
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Client Partnership LeadEmail MattMatt’s been working in design and digital agencies for over 20 years and joins IE as our Client Partnership Lead.
Originally a designer, front-end developer and consultant, Matt’s expert knowledge of the creative industries allows him to build long-term relationships with values-driven clients. With his extensive experience, Matt’s able to contribute to our clients' ongoing success and drive our agency’s growth.
Over the years, Matt's worked with universities, NHS trusts, schools and MATs, trade unions, housing associations and skills councils, which has allowed him to become immersed in the charity, health and education sectors we work in.
Outside work, Matt tries to spend as much time as possible with family and friends. And if he isn’t watching Aston Villa, he'll probably be gaming, binge-watching tv shows or mowing his lawn.
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Senior Front End DeveloperEmail JordanJordan is an experienced web developer with 10 years' experience in e-commerce and the digital industry.
Jordan initially studied art and design, with a placement as a Junior Web Designer. He quickly realised that he wanted to take on the technical build on projects and bring his designs to life. He went on to study Web Development at Staffordshire University, achieving a first class BSc honours degree.
He went on to work both client-side and within agencies as a web developer. This has given Jordan experience of working with multiple CMS platforms, including WordPress, Magento, Shopify and Shopware, as well as experimenting with headless sites. He's now a Senior Front End Developer at IE.
Away from the screen, Jordan enjoys going to the gym, travelling, photography and watching motorsports.
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Senior Web DeveloperEmail DanHaving dabbled in a bit of self-taught Java and Ruby from a young age, Dan jumped at the chance to take up an apprenticeship with a local web development agency.
In his 4.5 years there he delivered bespoke WordPress sites and custom Laravel applications for a range of clients, from a nationwide childcare company, to the McDonalds Maintenance & Repair Department.
A life-long member of the Scouting community, first as a Scout and now as a leader, IE’s focus on values-driven organisations appealed to Dan, so in 2019 he joined us a Web Developer.
Dan has since become a triple-certified Drupal 10 expert, with Certified Developer, Front End Specialist and Back End Specialist certifications. This makes him one of the UK's first triple certified Drupal 10 Experts. He has also mastered CiviCRM and SOAP integration, and continues to work on our WordPress sites.
When not coding, Dan can usually be found hanging off the nearest climbing wall, strumming his guitar, or exploring a good open world RPG.
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Senior Web DeveloperEmail JeffJeff is an experienced full stack developer. He has over 13 years' experience working with Drupal and actively participates in the Drupal open source community.
His other specialisms include WordPress, HTML, CSS, PHP and MySQL. Jeff has honed these skills while working for various digital design agencies, delivering bespoke solutions for numerous blue chip clients. He also holds Acquia's Drupal 10 certifications: Acquia Certified Developer, Certified Front End Specialist and Certified Back End Specialist, making him one of the UK's first triple certified Drupal 10 Experts.
In his free time Jeff enjoys watching Formula 1, listening to music and, most importantly, spending time with his family.
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Senior Digital ConsultantEmail EdEd joined IE as a Web Applications Developer in 2008 after graduating from the University of Birmingham.
He has a BSc in Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science, and an MSc in Intelligent Systems Engineering. At IE, he grew into a senior development role, before taking a step away from writing code and towards user experience and technical consultancy.
Ed has spent the past 15 years immersed in the challenges faced by the charity, health and education sectors – from their aspirational goals and strategies, to the best technology choices, and right down to the individual lines of code required to deliver an experience that will make a measurable impact on achieving objectives. You’ll generally find Ed delivering discovery and UX workshops, facilitating user testing, crafting innovative new information architectures, and advising clients on how best to leverage and connect different digital tools in a compelling user experience.
For eight years, Ed was IE’s Digital Services Director and helped to transform our digital offering, before stepping down in 2023 because of family commitments. Today, Ed serves as a Senior Digital Consultant at IE.
Outside of work, Ed’s dedicated to spending time with his young family, and enjoys pursuing his interests in home automation, DIY, astronomy, photography and playing the occasional video game with friends.
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James Marsh
Senior Digital Consultant and Head of SupportEmail JamesSenior Digital Consultant, James earned a BA in Interior Architecture and an MA in Design Management and brought his varied experience to IE in 2012 to a diverse group of clients.
Due to his expertise in user experience, he tends to specialise in projects that require a detailed understanding of audience.
For over 20 years, James has designed, built and managed mobile platforms, intranets and websites. He worked in some of the UK’s most well-known FTSE companies, before bringing that experience to bear in the charity, health and education sectors, as well as many of IE's membership association clients.
When not at work, James drives a VW Camper, bakes bread and volunteers as a Governor at one of Birmingham’s top primary schools.
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Helpdesk AnalystEmail KatKat has a winning combination of technical knowledge and top notch communication skills, which she's putting to good use as IE's Helpdesk Analyst.
She took a BSc in Multimedia from Birmingham City University, covering everything from photography, filmography and design to programming and industry knowledge. In her spare time she was writing creatively, and her urge to make online forums prettier and more and user-friendly led her to explore web design and development. She built a prototype web app for her dissertation to creatively display story data for authors, before completing an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Birmingham.
Kat's work life took her to become first a developer, then a copywriter for a small company, so being the face of customer support at IE Digital is the ideal marriage of these key skills.
Outside work you'll find Kat entertaining her young son, crying over her novels-in-progress, watching terrible TV, playing video games, and talking about astrology.
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Associate DesignerSheri is a designer and illustrator working from the wild West Coast of Scotland.
Before taking the freelance plunge she worked for agencies in London and Bath on a diverse range of branding projects, from Scouts to Ben & Jerry’s.
She's a Falmouth graduate with an idea-first approach and a keen eye for craft.
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Associate DesignerEmail DanDan is passionate about branding; he crafts elegant and scalable design systems for print and screen.
He delights in rationalising and resolving complex communications into simple, coherent and beautiful user experiences. A brilliant typographer, Dan has a keen eye for detail and a sensitive approach to design. Working closely with IE's consultants Dan often leads the design process, converting research and feedback into a visual approach to inform the design.
A multi-award winning designer, Dan consistently produces industry-leading work, has been featured in online galleries, magazines and a book. He worked at IE for 18 years before switching to the freelance life.
Outside of work Dan enjoys anything astronomical, loves taking pictures and drawing, and is always up for a game of ping pong!
Dan holds a BA Honours degree in Design for Communication Media and graduated from Manchester University in 1996. He lives and works from his home studio in Brighton and regularly attends design related conferences.
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Associate DesignerEmail TimAfter graduating from Bath School of Art and Design with a degree in Graphic Communication, Tim began his design career working as an in-house designer for Purity Brewing.
Since then he's worked both agency-side and as a freelancer. His diverse skill set has enabled him to work for several high profile clients, especially bars and restaurants, passionately creating brands that please the eye, while never forgetting to serve their purpose.
A keen illustrator and a self-proclaimed "ideas person", Tim's design process always starts with an airtight concept and a desk-full of doodles – some of them worth keeping.
Outside work Tim also illustrates for pleasure and is in the process of writing and illustrating a children's book. He also enjoys infuriating his wife and daughter with his love of drumming, brewing his own beer and climbing mountains as often as he can.
Having worked with IE for many years as a full-time member of the team, Tim now works with us as an Associate Designer, and we continue to make great use of his talents on a regular basis.
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Associate Marketing and Content ConsultantEmail DeniseWith over 25 years’ experience in marketing across a number of sectors, Denise is IE’s content marketing specialist.
Denise enjoys nothing more than working with talented experts and promoting that expertise to clients, be it through brand messaging, thought leadership, social media or events. She creates clean and engaging copy for our clients as well as for IE.
She's trained with Content Design London and takes a keen interest in user-driven content and accessibility. She’s also our go-to PowerPoint whizz, adapting the work of our design team into brilliant branded templates that make creating on-brand presentations a breeze for our clients’ teams.
Denise is as passionate as we are about working with values-driven clients, particularly anything to do with animals, the environment or the arts. Outside work, she is a keen amateur photographer and appreciates a wide range of entertainment and culture.
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Jamie Perry
Associate Fundraising and Marketing ConsultantEmail JamieJamie supports IE's clients with marketing, behaviour change and income generation projects. He has a consistent track record of delivering impact for not-for-profits for over 15 years and has spent much of his career client-side.
Jamie has delivered projects for arts and culture clients, international development charities and environmental organisations, and has brokered a number of commercial agreements between the private and charitable sectors.
In the past few years, Jamie has worked with The UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Acorns Children’s Hospice, Proctor and Gamble, Unilever, The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, The V&A, The Natural History Museum and Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust.
Jamie dedicates 50% of his time to a newly formed CIC that delivers cutting-edge projects to empower people across the UK to unlock their own human potential.
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Katie Mitchell
Associate Supporter Experience and Fundraising ConsultantEmail KatieKatie is an experienced fundraising leader who is passionate about supporter experience.
She believes that the way a donor feels about their chosen charity is crucial to the future of the charitable sector, and that long-term fundraising growth can only be achieved by building a great experience for supporters.
During her career, Katie has led fundraising teams to deliver year on year growth and has a proven track record working with both local and national charities. She loves to create a compelling case for support and has worked with organisations to find the right fundraising strategies for both their ambitions and their values.
While Head of Fundraising at John Taylor Hospice, Katie studied for her Master’s in Business Administration MBA). Katie’s background in community and supporter-led fundraising at Cancer Research UK and Muscular Dystrophy UK encouraged her to focus her research on how fundraisers can use business strategies to co-create an excellent supporter experience, and her research was accepted as a conference paper for the Academy of Marketing Conference in 2019.
As well as her consultancy work, Katie is interim Head of Supporter Engagement at Mind, and a member of Rogare’s Critical Fundraising Network.
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Associate ResearcherEmail SamSam provides expert support on market research projects at IE.
She has over 25 years' experience working in various insight and research roles where she's gained valuable expertise in building strong and actionable consumer, customer, category and market understanding.
Sam’s enthusiasm for research and insight comes from a desire to deliver simple actionable solutions that are aligned to organisational performance. She's experienced in a wealth of methodologies and brings strong analytical and interpretation skills to the table. Sam is a Certified Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) which means that she has additional skills and techniques that help her to understand subconscious behaviours and how people communicate. Sam is also a Member of the Market Research Society (MMRS).
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Associate ResearcherEmail StuartStuart provides expert support on market research projects at IE.
He has a wealth of experience of research methodologies and sectors gained over 25 years working for clients and agencies. He is passionate about the difference that research can make when it's rigourous and communicated well. He works across quantitative and qualitative research, feeling that too-often the divide between disciplines leads to information being missed.
Stuart is a Certified Member of the Market Research Society (CMRS) and an individual member of the AQR. He is also non-exec Chair of The Leprosy Mission Shop, an online retailer which raises funds for the work of The Leprosy Mission.
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