The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire Edition 25: June/July 2016 | Page 13

BUSINESS NEWS

10 minutes with Purpol
Marketing’s Denise O’Leary
Purpol Marketing is a strategic marketing consultancy
with expertise in all elements of marketing from strategy
to implementation. It specialises in bid writing and
management, helping businesses grow and develop.
Since the company’s inception in 2014 it has seen a
95% success rate in helping firms win contracts.
Business owner Denise O’Leary has recently been recognised
for her successes winning the New Business of the Year
Award 2016 at the Bristol Post and Bath Chronicle Women
in Business Awards and was a finalist in the Women in
Construction Awards staged by Business Leader.
As the company enters its third year of trading we met
with Denise to find out more about the woman behind the
business and the passion that drives Purpol.
YOU SOUND LIKE YOU’RE A LOCAL GIRL,
IS WILTSHIRE THE PLACE YOU CALL HOME?
Of course! I was born and bred locally and grew up in
Trowbridge. I went to Clarendon School where I was chosen
as head girl.
I now live in Chippenham and that’s where Purpol HQ
is based.
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO LAUNCH PURPOL?
After spending five years as a board director for a group of
construction companies and growing the business from £26m
to £42m turnover in the worst recession in living memory, I
decided it was time to change direction and do something
for me. I knew I had the skill set and determination to run my
own business; I just had to get it started.
I’ve always worked in the manufacturing and construction
industries, beginning my career in railway brake engineering
at Westinghouse as a material controller, before moving
to Wavin as a planner within logistics, where I got to

Pictured from left to right:
Gavin White and Denise O'Leary of Purpol Marketing

the level of senior planner before moving across to the
commercial department and marketing. I worked at Wavin
in Chippenham for 13 years and they sponsored both my
bachelor and master’s degrees. I’m still very thankful for the
support they gave me.
WHAT MAKES THE PURPOL OFFERING UNIQUE?
We have seen the greatest success in taking marketing
principals and applying them to bids. We specialise in
looking at each bid as a marketing campaign. We assess the
opportunities requirements, match the key skills available for
a project and deliver the key messages in a clear and concise
way.
We can work in an advisory way giving companies
pointers of what to include/ what not to include when
writing their bids, but we really like to implant ourselves into
an organisation, working from within and really getting to
understand their strengths and weaknesses and how we can
help them.
It’s through working this way that I’ve built the business
and been able to take on an employee. I employed my friend
and long-term colleague Gavin White in June 2015. Gavin has
worked with me in three companies over 15 years. We work
together as a bit of a dream team. Gavin is great at process
management from system integration to CRMs. He’s also a bit
of a whizz at Excel!
I’m the communications specialist. One thing I’m great at is
cutting word counts without losing the meaning.

AS WE EMBARK ON THE NEW FINANCIAL YEAR,
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR GROWTH?
We are starting the process of recruiting a graduate intern
and we’ll continue to build the business through our highly
skilled associate network. I work closely with Alison Edgar
from Sales Coaching Solutions. We help clients find, assess,
write and manage their bids and Alison gives them the sales
training they need to win the pitch, it’s a winning formula
already proven successful with a great local business.
Giving back is also very important to me. I’m involved as
a mentor with the Chartered Institute of Marketing, support
local small businesses through Inspire and Business West
Chambers, Enterprise Nation and Small Business Saturday,
and I’m a Young Enterprise Award judge too, so I’m going
to be busy working on these projects alongside Purpol. We
also are members of Business against Poverty, proving our
commitment to business ethics.
TELL US SOMETHING WE WOULDN’T
KNOW ABOUT YOU
Before my bid writing career, I was a competition addict.
I’ve won so many prizes it’s untrue, including holidays, three
televisions, four mountain bikes and a trip to the States!
It’s slogan comps I’m good at. In the past I have even won
a two-year supply of OXO and a three-year supply of tights!
To find out more about Purpol Marketing visit:
www.purpolmarketing.co.uk or call 01249 481411

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THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE
201608:23
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06/11/2015