Last time, you might’ve read our scoop on Phoenix Sounds, Newton Abbot’s community interest record store that unites music fans and local businesses through its dedicated staff and live events.
Just above the shop, however, is Marsha Miles Consultancy Limited (MMC Ltd), a company founded by Marsha Cox. MMC Ltd has helped businesses, charities and social enterprises to grow over the course of the last ten years, operating in Devon and beyond to help them secure funding or create business plans.
Marsha Cox is joined by fellow staff members Lisa Cox, Business Development & Strategic Services Lead, Rosie Gitsham, Fundraising Services Lead, and Sean McDonald, Fundraising Consultant & Digital Lead.
How have you been able to help charities and businesses?
Marsha:
Our fundraising work supports organisations like Age UK Plymouth & Devon to write applications so they can secure funding for services that make a big impact in their communities. Our strategic work helps clients to write business plans, with CICs like No Limits Community Café which Roger Cox also supports. I’m also an executive coach so I support senior leaders of charities who struggle with setting goals and managing stress.
We’re always trying to improve our free resources for our community if they’re not able to work with us on a paid basis. For our Charity of the Year programme, we’re giving ELM Wildlife Hedgehog Rescue at Seale Hayne free consultancy hours to help them fundraise and support their cute hedgehogs.
Lisa:
I’ll write business plans and provide evaluation work for clients, so they can assess their impact on how that funding is made. I’ve also promoted, marketed, and written business plans for MMC Ltd and Phoenix Sounds.
Rosie:
I lead the development of the products that the charities we work with might need. We mostly work with small charities with a range of sizes; some people say that’s under £1mil, but we have clients with turnovers under £200k.
We also align the aims of the charities we work with what funders are looking for. When one of our clients called Escapeline (a charity that helps children to escape child criminal exploitation in county lines) wanted to work with young people in Bridgwater, they carried out the initial conversations with the funder who came to us to support them make that step and apply. We were able to help them get that evaluation and funding, so that was a good way of us being able to get what the charity wants in the bid as well as what the funder wants to see their money make a difference.
Sean:
I started working part-time but I’m now an employed member of the team. I help Rosie with fundraising and bid writing but also oversee the IT side so we’re complying and not open to cyberattacks as a small business. I also make sure that the systems at Phoenix Sounds work.
How have your different experiences led to where you are now with MMC Ltd?
Marsha:
I was a sole trader when we started the consultancy. We knew a bit about charity regulations and the challenges they faced, then as time developed, a lot more CICs needed support, so we’ve had to learn what’s different for charities and CICs, as CICs have more of a business need around trading and fundraising.
Moving to a limited company taught us a lot about how to keep the business stable and how to grow and scale up. When me and Roger bought Phoenix Sounds, that gave me an extra challenge around retail, so we had to learn about accountancy, taxes and employment law.
Lisa:
Because I have a business background rather than a charity background, I brought that insight into MMC as well.
What have been the difficulties of running MMC Ltd?
Marsha:
Time and capacity are some of our biggest challenges. Out of a whole year of work, we only get two weeks to pause and look at our services. Before that, we didn’t have any business management time to critically review what we’re doing. Now we’re growing and have more time, we’re really excited to make ourselves and our opportunities better.
What are your future aspirations for MMC Ltd?
Marsha:
We’re passionate about working with all charities, but have an affinity for children and young people and causes that are hard to gain support from elsewhere.
Recently we’ve got a commission to work with Plymouth Diocese around fundraising, whether it’s on migrant or anti-slavery projects, so we’d like to work in that space as well.
Our skills are transferrable, so we’re confident about writing business plans for retail and commercial businesses, and that’s what we’re interested in supporting the community with going forward.
Lisa:
We’re about to start work with a special school in Torbay. Marsha’s done work in the past in a similar field, so it’s nice to go back into those core areas you’ve worked in the past to see what the challenges still are for those organisations.
Rosie:
We’re trying to make the biggest difference where the people are. Escapeline, being county lines, the other money for county lines that goes through the government will go to those inner cities more than the rural areas, so some of the need is in the rural areas.
Sean:
We’re always looking for opportunities to expand. We’ve had some successes with charities outside of Devon and Somerset, as far as Derbyshire, Newcastle, London and Bournemouth, but sometimes, it’s easier if you’re regional because you can get out to clients easier, which is key at the start.
Have you got any advice for anyone wanting to start a community interest company or charity?
Marsha:
Get the right advice about the right structure, whether you want to be a company, a CIC, or even a sole trader, which is easier and a better option if you’re only bringing in under £70k.
Also think about what structure you need, why you’re doing it, and if you’ve researched the need enough; it might be the case that you think you know what the community needs rather than what the community wants because you haven’t done your consultation property.
Lisa:
Market research is the key. Obviously, having a business plan will guide you through the processes, so think of your vision, mission and why you’re there in the first place.
Rosie:
As a charity, you could go about it yourself or choose to pay more and get the expertise. It helps if you have the right people around you and know what bits you can do and what bits you need someone else to help you with.
Sean:
On the charity side, involve the public. Some trustees will push for projects, but don’t really have ways of showing that they’ve got the public on their side.
What is your favourite thing about working in MMC Ltd?
Marsha:
It’s the change it can make. There aren’t many other jobs that you can look back and think that the money you’ve raised has impacted those communities positively. The diversity of being able to help lots of different types of groups is really important as well. Sometimes when you watch the news, you feel quite helpless about the way things are, but when we come to work every day, we’re doing a little bit towards that mountain of need.
Lisa:
We’re a friendly bunch of people that have got quite a wide skill set, which makes it nice to come to work and do things.
Rosie:
The work that we do can be emotionally heavy, but we’re a good team and we help each other.