GS Verde Group

Head of Brand & Communications

Alchemy Branding Studio

Welcome to Alchemy, where art meets science in brand crafting. Taking a bold step with us into SEO-driven social media management, perfect for detail-oriented leaders who need more time to focus on what they do best. More than just logos, we create brands that resonate and endure. With our new, smart SEO content strategies, we ensure your brand not only stands out but also engages effectively online. Think of us as your comprehensive backstage crew, expertly handling your digital presence so that when the spotlight hits, your brand shines its brightest.

Co-Founder & Consultant

Airbox Systems

Airbox produces the most comprehensive suite of situational awareness tools available anywhere on both desktop PCs and mobile platforms. Designed for planning, execution and after action review, Airbox software is trusted by law enforcement, military, special forces, search & rescue, fire and medical emergency services. With over 400 maps available to use and the option to create your own, the base level map can sit off-line allowing operations to continue whilst no internet access is available.

Brand Communications Manager

Tiny Wizard Studio

SHOWCASE YOUR BRAND’S PERSONALITY AND MAGNETISE YOUR AUDIENCE LIKE MAGIC WITH SPELLBINDING VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS

Creative marketing campaigns | Animation | Brand design

You have a skin-tingling vision to shape, an important message to spread, a unique story to share — and they all deserve an adoring audience. 

But attention is getting more and more difficult to win, which is why you don’t just need to produce strategic visuals, you need to produce spellbinding ones. 

That’s where we tiny wizards come in. (And yes, you may ask to see our wands.)

Tiny Wizard Studio is a creative agency where anything is possible. You dream it? We do it. Boldly. Beautifully. 

We’re here to be the partner to your visionary, purpose-driven company and help grow its reach and revenue faster by conjuring up personality-drenched visual communications.

Co-Founder & Chief Wizard

I am a seasoned Brand and Communications expert with over a decade of experience driving growth and market readiness for businesses navigating pivotal moments such as investments, mergers, acquisitions, and succession planning. My passion lies in developing strategies that enhance brand value, attract investment, and position companies for success in competitive markets.

In my current role as Head of Brand & Communications at GS Verde Group, I work closely with businesses in the Buy-Sell-Raise space to elevate their market presence and ensure they are ready for acquisition or sale. My approach combines a consultancy mindset with the expertise of a fractional marketing director, providing tailored branding and marketing strategies that maximise value for business owners, CEOs, and entrepreneurs.

Prior to this, I founded Tiny Wizard Studio, where for over 11 years I led a creative team in crafting bold and beautiful brand designs and marketing campaigns for purpose-driven companies. Running my own business gave me a deep understanding of the challenges business owners face, and this experience has been invaluable in my current role. I know first-hand how to shape a brand that resonates with its audience, stays true to its vision, and thrives in a competitive landscape.

In addition to Tiny Wizard Studio, I co-founded Alchemy Branding Studio, where we specialise in SEO-driven social media management and brand development. Our focus is on helping businesses stand out and engage their audiences effectively in the digital age.

Specialising in:

Brand and PR strategies for M&A and investment readiness.
Leveraging AI to empower marketing teams and drive innovation.
Strategic brand positioning for tech and scientific sectors.
Comprehensive communication strategies for business growth.

I’m passionate about helping businesses uncover their unique value propositions and communicate them effectively to their target audiences. I advocate for the adoption of AI within marketing teams and have been actively exploring AI tools to enhance the strategies I craft. My goal is to empower marketing teams, drive innovation, and deliver data-driven advice that resonates with businesses looking to scale, sell, or raise investment.

Whether leading a creative team, running my own business, or acting as a fractional marketing director, my approach is always rooted in collaboration, precision, and a deep understanding of the modern marketing landscape.

Some roles don’t come with a job title.

You know the type. The unofficial fixer. Culture builder. Pep-talker-in-chief. The one who notices when someone’s struggling and checks in quietly. The one who catches what falls through the cracks, even when it’s not “your job”.

I’ve been thinking a lot about these people.  Because while it's brilliant having people who naturally connect the dots, bridge departments, and hold space for others, it can also be exhausting if we don’t acknowledge it.

These ‘glue people’ are often the first to spot when something’s misaligned, the go-to for emotional support or practical help, the reason a new hire stays, or a stressed manager doesn't snap.

But being the glue doesn’t mean you should hold everything together.
Sometimes glue needs reinforcement, too.

So here’s a nudge to leaders (myself included): if someone on your team is quietly holding a lot, notice it. Appreciate it. And make sure they’re not being worn down under the surface.

Recognition is a lot to do with asking; How are you, really? It’s offering slack when they need it. It’s making their invisible work... visible.

And if you are the glue, this one’s for you: You matter. What you do matters. You deserve the same support you so freely give.

For anyone who knows me, culture is something that I harp on about regularly. Culture isn't about perks, it's about noticing.

And noticing is something I will be striving to do more of as we head into the next growth stage. 

Let’s not let the culture builders burn out. They are important!

Jess Morgan

Commercial Director at Ligtas | Co-founder at Alchemy | Driving brand, marketing & sales alignment for people-first growth | Believer in bold storytelling, behavioural-led leadership & culture that connects ✨

🎙️ So…I launched a podcast.

And no, it’s not perfect. The sound might not be BBC-ready, and I definitely say “um” more than I’d like. But it’s out there. 

Over the years, I’ve had so many off-the-record chats with leaders, coaches, friends and colleagues about what entrepreneurship and leadership really looks like, in the trenches. Not the performative LinkedIn-polished kind, but the quiet, persistent, sometimes chaotic, always human kind.

The kind that involves messy decisions, unspoken fears, last-minute pep talks in the mirror and late-night wondering if you're actually doing any of it right.

And every time I’ve walked away thinking, “Why aren’t we talking about this stuff out loud?”

So that’s what the podcast is about. Conversations with people who lead with grit, soul, courage and (often) caffeine. People who don’t pretend to have all the answers, but care enough to ask better questions.

Huge thank you to Jay Guthrie MBE, Jyotendra Thokchom & Emma Armstrong for having faith and being my very first guests! To Dave Morgan & Alex Williams for doing all the hard stuff and tech that make things work, so I could just show up and have some epic conversations. 

The first two episodes are live and I’d love for you to listen. You can find all the relevant links below or just search Brand To Scale on your podcast channel. 

🎧 https://lnkd.in/dGekq_Ce  

P.S. If you've ever thought about launching your own thing, do it before you're ready. Done is always better than perfect. Start small, stay curious. 💡

WELCOME Loren Coad 🥳👏

A new adventure awaits! Loren is an incredible talent and we’re lucky to have her. Watch the magic commence…

View company: Ligtas Consultancy & Training

What an exciting 2025 so far! We’re delighted to welcome Loren Coad to Ligtas as our new Brand Manager.

Loren brings a sharp eye for detail, deep expertise in brand strategy, and a passion for creating meaningful, consistent brand experiences.

She joins us at an exciting time as we enter a new phase of growth, starting with our refreshed brand and website. Her skills will be instrumental in helping us bring Safety Beyond Compliance to life across every touchpoint.

Welcome to the team, Loren, we’re thrilled to have you on board.

I got dramatic with Dave Morgan last night because he wouldn’t watch Location, Location, Location with me. 

Obvs I was totally justified and not at all unreasonable…but I decided to be the bigger person…

…I let him beat me at the gym this morning by purposefully choosing a much lighter kettlebell. 

Growth that is.

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We talk a lot about brand strategy.
Logos, tone of voice, content plans.

But the real brand lives in how we behave, especially when no one’s looking.

At Ligtas, our goal is to build a brand that doesn’t just look trustworthy, but feels it.
For our clients. And for our people.

That means:

⭐️Following up when we say we will.
⭐️Making processes easier, not harder.
⭐️Showing up consistently, not just loudly.

Culture isn’t built in workshops or away days alone. It’s built in the day-to-day interactions that shape trust.

Brand is behaviour.

What’s one internal behaviour your team is proud of?

There’s something powerful about the moments where people feel seen.
Not in a company-wide shout-out or a structured incentive scheme.
But when someone remembers a passing comment you made last week…

Like your kid starting school, your dog being unwell, or your parent going in for surgery. 

It’s those tiny interactions, the “how did it go?” questions, the quiet check-ins, the unprompted gestures that build trust. That build culture.
And it’s so often missed.

We sometimes over-engineer culture with reward systems and team-building “tactics” but forget that the real glue is human connection.

Culture is what happens when no one’s looking. 

It’s the micro-moments that say: “You matter.” Not just what you do, but who you are. This has come up a lot in the conversations I have with Sam Heighway. Sam’s big on behaviour-led leadership, and she often says:

“You don’t need a big budget to build a connected culture, you just need to pay attention.”

And she’s right.

Noticing is free. But it’s one of the most valuable things you can do.

It’s always exciting when a new website goes live! It's been months in the planning and behind the scenes, this wasn’t just a web project; it was a brand reset. A culture reset. A confidence reset.

When I first began working with Ligtas Consultancy & Training, what I saw was a business with incredible depth, serious technical expertise, long-standing client relationships, and a team that truly cared about doing things properly. But like many businesses at a pivotal point of growth, the outside didn’t reflect the inside.

We needed to reconnect the brand to its purpose.
To simplify our message.
To honour the team behind the delivery.
And to step forward with clarity and confidence. 

Massive thanks to the brilliant team who brought this to life, designdough & Amy Jones in particular and to everyone at Ligtas who’s been part of this brand evolution over the past few months.

We’re not done yet. But this is a moment worth pausing to acknowledge. Progress over perfection. 🚀

If you get a chance, have a browse. 

https://ligtas.co.uk/

We're hiring!! 

If you’re someone who enjoys digging into the details, making things safer for everyone, and learning a skill that genuinely saves lives, this might be the opportunity you've been waiting for.

We’re hiring a Trainee Fire Door Inspector at Ligtas Consultancy & Training.
You’ll join a team that values prevention over panic and rigour over box-ticking. You'll need an appetite to learn and the willingness to show up, even when the weather doesn’t play nice. 😉 

Sound like a bit of you (or someone you know)?
🧯 Apply here: 👉  https://lnkd.in/egjh-ZrT

or email careers@ligtas.co.uk directly!

Zoe Hancock Neil Heslop Shaun Ashmead Tom Stallard MIFSM CFPA.Dip

Jess M.

It all began years (and years) ago when I was launched into the world of work after completing a degree in Graphic Communication. I was always obsessed with creating, storytelling and film but at the time, there weren't any animation degrees to jump onto and even learning the design software was an afterthought in my design degree. 

I wanted to find a way to blend my love of design and storytelling and after trying (really hard) to work for other people) to find the right creative environment to follow my passions it seemed, the only way to do that was to build one myself. My obsession turned to building a team of experts who were as passionate as I was about how we communicate, how we tell stories and talented AF at creating worlds from nothing. And making sure that no-one, ever, had the Sunday dreads.

So that's what I did. 

Like most creative agencies, when we started our studio, we set out to create truly inspiring content - helping marketers bring their brand stories to life through the magic of animation.

Nothing unusual about that ambition.

But creative agencies can often be frustrating to work with – they may be talented, but don’t always take the time to really understand your brief and your brand. They seem more interested in their vision than yours and sometimes, you don’t know what you’re going to get until you’ve got it!

At Tiny Wizard Studio, we’ve always been a bit different.

You see, unlike some other agencies, we never let our egos get in the way because, at the end of the day, we know it’s you who should be in the limelight, not us.

We know that you’re the market expert. We understand that you have inspiring ideas. And of course, it’s your brand; no-one has more knowledge of that than you. So we fully appreciate that it’s our job to draw on your insights and help you to get the result you’re looking for.

That’s why we always put our clients at the heart of what we do – from the word go, we’re in collaboration mode – listening to you, learning from you, adding our skills, experience and imagination to the mix until together, we’ve created a spellbinding animation that’s impossible to ignore.

And it’s why we’ve developed a unique ‘alchemic’ production process that means you’ll never be left in the dark. We’ll make sure you’re involved from start to finish, from scripting to storyboarding and from voiceovers to visual effects – every detail will be agreed with you at every stage.

When you work with Tiny Wizard Studios, you leave nothing to chance. No fuss, no frustrations. Just magical animated content that helps you stand out.

Culture shows up in the small moments. In my conversation with Jay Guthrie MBE, he talked about leaving the military, but bringing the mindset with him.

“We were just in suits instead of uniform. Same people. Same rules."

That shift, from command to connection is one so many leaders face. Jay’s since gone on to help build businesses from the ground up (sometimes quite literally, with nothing but a suitcase and a mission in Ukraine). 

He’s navigated acquisition, war zones, burnout, and boardrooms. But the thread that runs through all of it?

Care. Culture. And a people-first kind of leadership.

“I want to be the guy people want to go for a pint with, not the one who climbs the ladder by stepping on others.”

That line’s stayed with me.

Because culture isn’t what you say about your business, it’s what your people feel when they work with you. And Jay gets that.

🎧 Clip below
 🔗 Full episode here: 🎙️ https://lnkd.in/eHCKWkAc 

#LeadershipCulture #MilitaryToBusiness #PeopleFirst #TeamEthos #ValuesInAction #brandtoscalepodcast

I’ve been thinking a lot about how goals take shape. Not just at Ligtas Consultancy & Training where we’re building high-performance systems and culture at pace, but also at Alchemy Studio where we focus on clarity, language, and identity that actually mean something.

The pattern? Whether we’re scaling a commercial function or refining a brand strategy, nothing sticks if we skip the foundation.

💡You can’t align sales and marketing if the data is a mess.
💡You can’t create a coaching culture if people don’t feel safe enough to speak up.
💡And you definitely can’t build a brand with impact if you’re still guessing what you stand for.

So yes, we’re getting better at CRM. We’re defining what “good” looks like for our proposals. We’re reviewing our tone of voice. We’re asking hard questions about culture, clarity, and collaboration.

Strategy means building the scaffolding slowly and deliberately, before we ask people to climb. It’s just about making sure people aren’t building goals on sand.

Crikey, 2025 has been epic so far, how lucky am I?! Building things is what I love! Happy Friday all!

Taplio

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