Meet the creative mind helping schools thrive
Steve’s journey to becoming an Experience Director at UBIQ wasn’t a traditional one.
With an early career in sales, he made a bold decision to pivot completely, returning to university as a mature student to study photography. After graduating, he spent several years as a commercial photographer before moving into agency life—first managing a start-up design agency, then launching his own creative firm, and later serving as Head of Marketing for a manufacturer.
"After an early career in sales, I decided to change direction radically and sent myself to uni to study photography as a mature student. Upon graduation, I worked as a commercial photographer for several years before then taking an opportunity to manage a start-up design agency. A few years later I set up my own creative agency, and then a few years after that I took another opportunity to join a manufacturer as head of marketing. Each of these steps, from heading to uni onwards, was a learning opportunity, where I developed and refined new skills and upped the ante with each onward move. By the time I met UBIQ, I had 15+ years of lived commercial experience across a very broad creative marketing base in my pocket, which has proven very valuable in helping our clients."
In this blog, we'll be hearing from Steve about his experience working with UBIQ, how he partners with clients, and the relationship he has with them.
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Making data actionable
At UBIQ, Steve’s focus is on ensuring schools get the maximum value from their data and platform. While developing marketing strategies is a key part of his role, what excites him most is proving the impact of schools’ efforts.
"My main interest is in helping our clients achieve all they need in their day-to-day marketing. Building out strategies and methodologies to help them implement their marketing plans is a part of it but the bigger part, in my opinion, is in measuring outcomes and proving the impact of their efforts, and our platform is tailor made for this. Lead source attribution is the holy grail for marketers, the ability to prove which precise leads were generated by which specific marketing activity, and it has been very satisfying to help many of our clients easily tie this together and allow them, with confidence, to associate actual income to marketing spends. These are tools I wish I had available to me when I was running marketing campaigns!"
“Being able to follow a customer's full journey after they fill out a form has been inavuable-it has streamlined everything” - Victoria Burton, Digitial Marketing Officer at Queen Ethelburga's College
Tailoring strategy
Every school has its own story. While goals may be similar—boosting enrolment, increasing engagement, or improving recruitment—the path to achieving them is always different. Steve helps schools shape strategies that align with their individual narratives.
"The context of each client is unique, in their offer, in their local marketplace, in their heritage. While the goals that our clients have are often fundamentally similar, the route to satisfying those goals is never the same. That is reflected in our approach to design, with each website a tailored and unique experience that is totally bespoke to that School's narrative, and it is that bespoke narrative that informs how we define goals and measure our success."
Did you know?
UBIQ intentionally ensures that each Experience Director supports a small number of mission-aligned schools—typically around 20. This focused approach allows for deeper relationships, hands-on support, and a truly personalised experience.
“Working with Jo, Steve, and Kris felt like a true partnership. They were always eager to brainstorm new ideas and quick to resolve any issues. Steve, in particular, was fantastic—he’s always available and willing to help with even the smallest questions,” - Victoria Burton, Digitial Marketing Officer at Queen Ethelburga's College
A partnership
For Steve, working with schools is more than a job—it’s a partnership built on trust and collaboration.
"Above all, I'd describe the relationship as collaborative. I hope that our clients perceive the value and effort I bring as that of an additional team member. I strive to become truly invested in our client outcomes, and want to see each of them succeed."
What drives Steve? The same thing that has motivated him throughout his career—helping organisations achieve their marketing goals. But when it comes to schools, the reward is even greater.
"It's the same motivation as I've had for each business that I've ever worked with in my whole career; to help them achieve their marketing goals. It's always enjoyable to help a client compete in their marketplace, whatever sector they're in, but with schools it is especially satisfying to see them grow and provide new and rich opportunities to the young people that they serve."
Ready to work with your long-lost website bestie? Book a demo with the UBIQ team and we'll show you what we're capable of.
