Our Mission Statement

“To be a strategic, results-driven and customer-centric marketing, communications and sales agency that strives to make a difference in the world and prides customer successes as our own.”

Who We Are

We are a close knit team of creatives, graphic designers, strategists, copywriters, and business developers who help ambitious businesses question the norm, defy the mundane and challenge the status quo.

Aphra has worked collaboratively to refresh and grow brands ranging from SMEs to multi-million pound enterprises, as well as help create and establish entirely new ones too. Driven by high standards and commercial insight, we look to work with like-minded people who understand the importance of strategy, story-telling and are not afraid of asking ‘why’?

The History

Founded by Grace Carter in 2017, Aphra was named after one of the most influential playwrights, poets and novelists of the late seventeenth century, Aphra Behn. She was one of the first women to earn her living by writing under her own name and became renowned for breaking cultural barriers in her work and defying the social norm.

Virginia Woolf said of Aphra: “All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn… for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds.”

Caring

Creative

Strategic

Professional

The team

The cast of Aphra

Grace Carter

Marketing Director & Founder

After amassing a wealth of skills as a freelance copywriter and marketing consultant, Grace launched We Are Aphra in January 2018. Utilising her BA Hons English degree (First Class) and MA English degree (Distinction), plus her experience of working with businesses in a wide array of industries, Grace has rapidly built an exciting, dynamic and creative company.

She is now a highly sought-after marketing expert and business advisor within Essex and London, who has worked with companies from start-ups to SMEs to those with multi-million-pound turnovers and FTSE 100 statuses.

Grace is renowned for her high-quality writing and editing, her perfectionist and passionate approach to her work, and for the fantastic relationships she has built with her clients over the years. Strategic and results-driven, her focus is always upon building a solid return-on-investment for businesses in a measurable, unique way.

Services

Completed Projects

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Matt Jolly

Sales Director

Matt is a talented sales director who has over 15 years’ experience building relationships, identifying opportunities, generating leads, securing contracts, and managing the post-sales process to advantage his clients.

He has worked in a wide array of industries and utilises this multi-faceted experience to tailor his strategy and approach in a succinct, strategic and measurable way.

For Phelan Construction, he personally secured £65 million worth of business within 3 years. He was also part of the senior leadership team that took the business from a turnover of £19 million in 2014 to £77 million in 2018. He helped to increase the conversion rate from one in five to one in three.

Services

Completed Projects

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Matt Lane

Commercial Director

Matt helps to lead We Are Aphra through the commercial landscape, ensuring our marketing agency maintains a consistent trajectory of growth and continues to provide an excellent service to clients that continually exceeds expectations.

With extensive experience in customer service, sales management and business development, Matt is a fantastic source of inspiration and direction for We Are Aphra. He has worked as a business director at both multi-million pound businesses and entrepreneurial start-ups. He uses this insight to support our company, as well as our clients in their growth and evolution.

Matt is astute to changes in the corporate climate that could affect our clients, ensuring we respond proactively to this. He also has a keen eye for budgets and spreadsheets, enabling us to continually provide solid return on investment for the businesses we work with.

Services

Jenni Harvey

Project Manager & PA

Jenni has worked in project management and high-level personal assistant positions for nearly 20 years. These have been in a wide variety of sectors, including publishing, insurance, removals, housing and working with Public Health England.

Her roles have included managing large budgets and book publishing projects, assisting with company acquisitions and new office projects, external and internal event management, as well as recently managing a survey of 3 years olds’ dental health across Essex.

With a BA Hons English degree and a wealth of project management experience, Jenni has a keen eye on the deadlines and processes of Aphra, ensuring all our client needs and timescales are met. Efficiency, innovation and consistency are key at Aphra and Jenni is always striving to improve processes and procedures, and therefore the client experience.

 

 

Tommy Steward

Senior Graphic Designer

Tommy has worked with a range of leading brands as a hugely accomplished graphic designer and illustrator.

From logo development to film graphics, website design to marketing collateral, Tommy can adapt his style to the needs of a business while also giving them a unique and compelling twist.

Tommy is particularly skilled at unlocking a brand’s visual potential, identifying weaknesses in their visual communication and developing strategies to offer them a stronger, more cohesive identity.

Services

Completed Projects

[email protected]

Dan Maslanka

Graphic Designer & Videographer

Dan joins Aphra as a skilled mid-weight graphic designer, photographer and videographer. He has been in the design and media industry for the past 14 years, working along side some of the UK’s biggest outdoor pursuit companies. Alongside this, he has gained experience at agency level, offering branding, advertisement, website and packaging design.

Dan’s other passion is photography, offering professional and creative visual delights with any brand he has collaborated with. Combining both the love of design, photography and film, he is able to offer a full unique creative package for clients.

Services

Tom Kelly

Motion Graphic Designer

Tom has recently graduated from his BA (Hons) Graphic Design degree from the University of Hertfordshire with a First-Class and after a one-year placement, joins Aphra as a skilled motion graphic designer and video editor.

Having worked on all types of design, including graphic design for social media, motion graphics, branding, video editing, copywriting, artworking, and print design, Tom is not limited by any job title. He applies himself to every project with clear communication and skilled creativity.

Services

Rebecca Winward

Senior Content Strategist

A talented senior content strategist, Rebecca has previously worked as a magazine editor, journalist, copywriter, PR and marketing consultant in a range of industries. She is highly skilled at taking complex messaging and communicating this to a range of audiences in a clear, concise way.

Services

Completed Projects

[email protected]

Martin Roche

Senior SEO & PPC Strategist

Martin has 10 years experience in Paid Media, including Paid Search, working for some of the most renowned global brands, such as American Express Travel, BT, Eurostar, Apple, Jaguar Land Rover and Honda through some of the world’s biggest marketing agencies. Martin’s Paid Social experience includes running the European activity for IMAX Black Panther and Dunkirk. He has also worked with a number of non-profit organisations, start-ups and SMEs across verticals such as Travel and Property.

Completed Projects

Chelsea Robinson

Marketing Associate & Photographer

Chelsea has worked with Aphra since August 2018 and has grown in skills and strengths throughout this time.

She works closely with many of our clients offering social media management, content production, animated and filmed videos, photography and creative, well-researched strategies for growing their brand.

Helping to coordinate the team’s efforts, Chelsea remains the “glue” that holds Aphra together, ensuring everyone is working to schedule and maintaining consistent high standards.

Services

Completed Projects

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Joe Dougherty

Web Developer

Joe has been creating websites and interactive content for over seven years now, with a focus on developing user-friendly sites that perform excellently for clients.

His particular love is for projects with well-thought-out designs using high-quality images as they are always satisfying to see as a final product. A love of video games, movies and comics – and the high level of detail that goes into their design – is one of his main inspirations for working in the creative industries, and his logical methods of thinking made him a natural fit for website development.

Services

Completed Projects

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Buster Heeney

Drone Photographer and Videographer

Buster is a talented aerial photographer and videographer, shooting captivating and engaging imagery through the use of his drone. This is then edited back on the ground to create compelling brand stories.

Services

Louise Richardson

Illustrator and Product Developer

After graduating from Nottingham Trent University (Decorative Arts), Louise began her career in illustration, starting her own greeting card brand. She has since grown this to cover a wide range of designs and gift shop products, working with the likes of English Heritage and Snape Maltings.

Louise loves designing new products and personalising existing ones, taking bespoke illustration and project requests. Her illustration style is fun, colourful, creative and packed with detail. She often utilises her own typography – and is certainly one for colouring outside the lines!

Services

Completed Projects

Zoe Jolly

Financial Controller

Having previously worked as a management accountant, Zoe brings a wealth of experience to Aphra. Her name is likely to be the one you’ll see at the end of the month when invoices are due.

Always on hand to help clients with any issues they may have, Zoe helps to support the team in their day-to-day activities to ensure the business continues to operate smoothly.

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Brands we’ve worked with

“

It gave me immense pleasure and pride to see the quality of work that has gone into producing this tender. A phenomenal effort.

Phelan Construction View all testimonials

Matt Lane We Are Aphra