I work with founders and owners of manufacturing, engineering and defence companies to get in front of new clients beyond their existing networks. I make your business stand out, become the obvious first choice, and get you on the shortlist to win new contracts without relying on referrals.
I specialise in finding what makes your business different, what you do that your customers cannot get anywhere else.
After more than 20 years running Pallant with Ben Davis, I keep seeing the same pattern. The most capable company in the room loses the contract because buyers cannot find them, cannot tell what they do, or cannot justify choosing them.
I started out as a mechanical engineering apprentice at sixteen, so I am at home on the shop floor and I have a very process driven approach to problem solving. Having run my own business for over 20 years, I also know first-hand the challenges and opportunities that SMEs face.
Since 2003 we have transformed the marketing of over 450 businesses, from composite materials to semiconductors, data centres and the defence supply chain. We have worked with Knight Fencing since 2004.
What I write about
I write about how to make your business stand out, how technical buyers decide, and AI tools for founders. Most of it comes out of a problem a client brought us that week.
The recurring themes:
- Positioning, and what to do when quality and capability are the minimum expectation rather than a difference.
- How technical buyers decide, and why the most capable company often loses the contract.
- Marketing sensitive work, where the interesting part sits under NDA or inside a proprietary process.
- Moving beyond a network that has stopped growing, into new sectors, larger contracts or a sale.
- Where AI search and answer engines are changing how buyers find suppliers, and what is worth doing about it.
A good place to start: how to differentiate your engineering and manufacturing business, how to do marketing when you have an NDA, or how to find new clients. Everything is in insights.
How I work
Our approach is the Pallant 3-step process. Step 1, foundations and conversion: a website that converts. Step 2, trust and consideration: proof buyers can verify. Step 3, awareness and network scaling: reaching buyers who have never heard of you.
We are experts at working on projects under strict NDAs, and our sector-specific experience means we can suggest marketing that works and scales your business. We make you easier to choose and harder to compete with.
You work directly with me and Ben. There are no account managers and no layers between you and the people doing the work. I do the strategy, the writing and the videos. Ben does the websites, the paid campaigns and the photography. We bring in specialists when a project needs them, and we tell you when it does.
You can see what that looks like in practice in our work.
Marketing built on trust outperforms marketing built on pressure.
I am the author of Reframing Marketing, a 3-step approach to ethical, effective marketing. It argues that marketing built on trust outperforms marketing built on pressure, over the time horizons that matter in B2B. The 3-step process we use with clients grew out of it.
Credentials and background
Co-founder, Pallant, since 2003
Based in Brighton, working with companies across the UK.
Engineering apprentice first
A mechanical engineering apprenticeship from the age of sixteen, and the author of Reframing Marketing.
Ten years in sound for TV and film
Simon spent ten years as a TV and commercial sound editor and location sound recordist, working with brands like BMW, Volvo, GSK and Adobe, as well as on Oscar and Bafta-winning programmes. His IMDb profile lists the credits.
Where else to find me
I publish on LinkedIn most weeks, and every article here has a video version on our YouTube channel. If you would rather watch than read, start there.
Want a straight answer about your marketing?
If you are weighing up whether your marketing is doing its job, take the Shortlist Test. Seven questions, four minutes, and you get a recorded walkthrough back from me and Ben within three working days. No sales call attached.