At Manchester Digital, we regularly shine a light on our members to understand more about their roles and their work within Greater Manchester’s digital and technology community. This week, we’re speaking with Carl Phillips, Managing Director of The PMC.
You support some businesses almost like an extension of their team or a fractional CMO. What difference does that kind of support make for growing companies?
We absolutely love stepping into that fractional CMO role because it completely changes the dynamic and the value we can bring to our clients. Instead of just being an external supplier, we become a true extension of the client's team. It’s incredibly rewarding to get right under the hood of a growing business and align their marketing directly with their commercial goals and financial health. We aren't just running isolated campaigns; we're sitting at the table helping to drive genuine, measurable operational growth.
A lot of your work is about helping businesses generate new leads and sales. What are clients coming to you for most often at the moment?
You are spot on, a lot of our clients are coming to us for lead generation right now. High-intent, qualified leads are the lifeblood of any business, regardless of the industry. With the rapid disruption of AI and the increasingly crowded spaces our clients operate in, the landscape is highly competitive at the moment. Fortunately, we’ve really honed our tactics and developed adaptable, proven strategies that drive tangible, commercial results.
Alongside that, we are seeing a fantastic influx of enquiries for enterprise web development. We’ve built some beautiful, award-winning websites over the last 12 months, and it’s incredibly rewarding to see that we’re making a real name for ourselves by delivering platforms that actively work for a business. We aren't just building static brochures with zero traffic; we are engineering bespoke sites that act as genuine engines for growth.
Your client base spans Accountancies & Service businesses, Manchester Fashion Week, Automotive Manufacturers & Sustainable focused companies and, most recently Google. Is there a common challenge that unites those sectors, regardless of industry?
It is incredibly rewarding to work across such a diverse portfolio of clients, and we are really proud to be pushing into spaces that have traditionally been occupied by much larger agencies.
On the face of it, you wouldn't expect such a vast array of sectors to be linked in any way, but there are definitely common threads and I think its twofold. Firstly, commercial budgets are tight across the board right now, and companies are simply not seeing the return on investment or the value they expect from traditional agency models and thats becoming a universal.
Secondly, a lot of our clients are actively looking for a much closer partnership that brings genuine, senior-level experience and expertise to the table. All too often, we see work at other agencies being wholesale outsourced abroad or to AI, with little to no oversight, and without a really strong, experienced team driving the strategy, the results are inevitably lacklustre. We are finding that people are not primarily looking for a blanket agency partner right out of the gate anymore; they are looking for experts to come in and fix a specific, pressing problem.
Because we bring senior those staff to the table and embed ourselves so deeply into an organisation often acting as a true extension of their own team we have the ability to ensure exceptional quality all the way through the work we do.
You've recently achieved Google partnership status and picked up award recognition and podcast invitations. What's driven that momentum, and what does it signal about where the agency is heading?
I would love to say there was a grand masterplan behind the recent recognition, but a lot of this momentum has happened quite organically. It has been an incredibly exciting few months. Having just reached the end of our second year of trading, we have really kept our heads down, refining our offering and focusing entirely on delivering the best possible work for our clients. I think that focus is exactly what is paying off.
While we are always open to opportunities to showcase the great work we are doing across Greater Manchester, we haven't been actively chasing accolades. It is genuinely humbling to be invited to do things like this spotlight with Manchester Digital, or to start seeing our name on award nominations.
I am not bashful in saying that I have always wanted The PMC to have a seat at the table with the biggest and best agencies in Manchester. I have looked up to organisations like Manchester Digital and Prolific North, as well as the city's major agency names, for a very long time. This recent momentum signals that if we keep plugging away, we will get that seat. I genuinely believe that the quality of the work we are producing is as good as, if not better than, what is coming out of those larger agencies.
There’s been a lot of talk about businesses using AI to do more marketing in-house. Are you seeing attitudes shift when it comes to the value of agency support and expertise?
We are certainly seeing a shift. With those current budget constraints I mentioned, many businesses are turning to AI out of necessity. But when companies begin relying on AI to drive their core strategy, the result is often a saturation of generic marketing campaigns.
AI is highly effective at automating lower-skilled, repetitive tasks, something we see mirrored across industries. For example, in our work with the top 10 law firm Anthony Gold, we can see similar trends where tasks traditionally handled by paralegals are almost totally absorbed by AI now.
I like to think we are comfortable conceding this execution-level work to automation because our true value lies in strategic partnerships, system architecture, and high-level consultancy we deliver.
It does mean the baseline for agencies has been permanently raised. The days of charging premium rates for low-value execution are over when you are competing against a £19-a-month Claude subscription. Ultimately, this forces the entire industry to deliver a higher standard of work.
However, because AI has commoditised that basic execution. A common misconception we are navigating right now is the assumption that increased output equates to better results. While AI enables businesses to automate processes and scale volume efficiently, the overarching strategy and commercial alignment must remain firmly in human hands for now.
You were recently the "Expert in the Room" at Silicon Sessions in Kampus and The PMC have also sponsored our own Member Conference and contributed to MD content and news. What draws you to that kind of visibility and what conversations came out of those experiences?
I 100% thoroughly enjoy these kinds of events. Manchester is such a significant hub for talented individuals right now, and the momentum in the city right now is palpable.
Many of these opportunities have arisen organically through our network. We have known Lewis, Joanna, and Fernando at Silicon Mingle for a long time, and they are running arguably the best Tech event in Manchester right now. But I’ve always enjoyed discussing other people's businesses; I often say that The PMC is boring, it is the companies we work with who are building the truly interesting companies.
For example, Luke & Dan at Declaris have built the such an impressive enterprise customs management platform, and Nancy at Get Rude is developing a highly innovative sex tech product, the R&D alone that has gone into creating what is essentially the 'Whoop band of orgasms' is fascinating. And it’s such a fun product and brand to get behind.
Networking and showcasing your own business is a much more natural, rewarding process when you are surrounded by such amazing peers. And having a platform to offer genuine, strategic advice and show off the breadth of knowledge we can bring to the table. I would not want to be operating a business anywhere else in the UK right now.
Thanks Carl!
To find out more about The PMC, click here.
