The short version
James started as an art director at Saatchi & Saatchi, one of the world's most famous ad agencies. He worked on campaigns for Samsung, Cadbury, Guinness, Netflix, Škoda, Bacardi, GiffGaff, Mikado, and Cheesestrings - campaigns seen by over 134 million people.
He trained at the Watford Creative Advertising Course under Tony Cullingham - the programme that produced some of the UK's best creative directors. He also had placements at Wieden & Kennedy, BBH, Mother London, and VCCP - four of the most respected agencies in the world.
Then he left the agency world. He co-founded Eddie Harrop, a luxury accessories brand stocked by Net-A-Porter, Selfridges, and Harvey Nichols - featured in Vogue and endorsed by Gwyneth Paltrow. He co-founded Minderful, an NHS-approved wellness app that was named Apple's App of the Day, with clients including PwC, Dell, and Barclaycard.
That taught him something most agency people never learn: what it's actually like to run a business. To manage a budget. To need every pound of ad spend to work. To know that a lead isn't a "metric" - it's someone's mortgage payment.
Why home services?
Because it's the UK sector where great advertising makes the biggest difference. There are over 66,000 home services companies in the UK - kitchen fitters, landscapers, bathroom installers, driveway contractors, renovation specialists. Most of them are brilliant at what they do and terrible at advertising.
The ads they run (if they run any) look identical. Same stock photos. Same "Quality work at competitive prices." Same results: nothing.
Meanwhile, the agencies that could help charge £5,000+ a month and treat home services as an afterthought between their fashion and fintech clients.
We saw the gap. Agency-grade creative thinking, built specifically for home services, at a price that makes sense.