An agency model designed to scale around the work

Digital SHIFT started with a problem that still affects many small agencies: clients want access to a broad range of expertise, but carrying every possible specialism as permanent overhead makes the business inflexible.

Marc Thornton founded Digital SHIFT by bringing together the talent, clients and resources of three existing local agencies, then acquiring a successful fourth agency for its brand, client relationships, experience and premises.

The intention was to create more than the sum of those businesses.

A strong permanent multidisciplinary team formed the core. Around it, Digital SHIFT developed a trusted network of specialists who could join when a project required additional development, design, photography, film, marketing or other expertise. That meant the team could expand around a substantial contract and contract again when the specialist phase was complete.

The model developed further when Marc took over the acquired agency’s offices and then the full 13-room building. Digital SHIFT shared the environment with the newly created SKYLAB business, professional photography, video and audio facilities, coworking space and independent specialists.

The internal team grew to more than 12 full-time people, but the practical delivery capacity was larger because the company did not try to put every possible capability on payroll permanently.

Combining the portfolios, client histories and expertise of the constituent businesses also changed the opportunities Digital SHIFT could credibly pursue. The agency could show experience across strategy, branding, design, development, marketing, photography and video rather than presenting itself as a narrow single-discipline supplier.

That broader proposition helped Digital SHIFT win work connected with nationally and internationally recognised brands including Clipper Teas, Thomas J. Fudge’s and Whole Earth. The agency also became an overflow resource for larger national agencies that needed additional specialist capacity during busy periods.

Marc led the commercial and organisational transformation: bringing the businesses and talent together, shaping the resourcing model, developing the specialist network, expanding the physical infrastructure and pursuing larger client opportunities.

The success of Digital SHIFT also created the capability and commercial momentum to establish SKYLAB alongside it, giving more experimental software and venture work a separate home.

The useful lesson is not simply that the team grew. Digital SHIFT became more adaptable. It could offer senior commercial and creative direction, keep a reliable core team close to the client, and bring in deeper specialists only where they added value.

That principle remains central to the Digital SHIFT proposition today. We do not believe every client needs a huge team or a long list of services. They need the right people around the actual problem, enough continuity to avoid hand-off chaos, and a delivery model that can expand without turning unnecessary overhead into their bill.