Zero UK presence to live in the market, executed 11,000 miles away from head office, without distracting the team from the proven growth engine back in New Zealand and Australia.
The brief
BoardPro, a board management platform out of New Zealand, has a fast-growing AU/NZ business and grant funding to explore the UK.
The one condition: the UK couldn't distract from that proven growth engine.
Rather than set up an internal UK team, BoardPro brought in Colney Island Studios to own the UK market end-to-end.
Overview
Waypoint — Discovery
Before a pound went into UK marketing, we sized the opportunity: a full TAM and SAM assessment, and competitor pricing across charities, academy trusts, and SME boards.
We pressure-tested it against reality through conversations with charity directors, an exited SME founder, and school governors, and identified every blocker standing in BoardPro's way.
Output
A fully costed 18-month roadmap with clear decision gates and a growth model.
Waypoint — Pre-launch
Eight weeks to clear it all. GDPR and data residency, closed out with an IDTA and a UK Article 27 representative. Pricing, reset against real UK competitors. GBP checkout, delivered.
And a full /en-gb/ UK subdirectory: live, indexed, technically sound, with UK testimonials on it from day one.
Output
Every blocker resolved and every launch-readiness criterion met, delivered on time and in full.
In market now
Referral seeding and partnerships, organic SEO and PR, and paid campaigns — all live, all being tested and run independently of the NZ operation.
BoardPro now has a fully functional marketing operation in the UK: strategy, execution, and someone on the ground, without the cost of a UK hire — no National Insurance, no incorporation admin, no PAYE, no pension, no full-time salary.
The engagement is now an ongoing retainer, with Colney Island Studios still on the ground as embedded UK Marketing Director, driving the next phase of growth.
Get in touch and we'll scope what a fractional UK marketing operation would look like for your business.
Start a conversation hello@colneyislandstudios.co.uk