NewsCreativeFormer AO & Sorted team launch new brand & culture agency

Former AO & Sorted team launch new brand & culture agency

Today, Lee Thawley & Vicky Pritchard, formerly part of the senior team at Sorted and AO.com, announce the launch of MuddyWellies, a new brand & culture agency.

Their aim – to create customers committed to buying from their clients, and people motivated to work for them.

Having spent the last month focusing on building out their model and approach, MuddyWellies is a powerful new agency on the North West scene with a very clear goal – to create destination brands for customers and employees alike. By putting brand & people at the forefront of everything, the North West based team believes they can ultimately bind, guide and attract people, business and partners.

With an already impressive track record, the new agency is set up to create cutting-edge experiences for clients, producing bespoke plans and building enviable initiatives that make a real difference to businesses, inside and out.

The new agency is co-founded by Lee Thawley & Vicky Pritchard, both formerly of Sorted and AO.com. Between them, they have experience working with some of the UK’s biggest brands across a variety of sectors including, Halfords, Green Flag, Mercedes-Benz, Authentic Food Company, and Royal Bank of Scotland.

Thawley & Pritchard met eight years ago on a project that would see Appliances Online relaunch as superbrand AO.com. Their paths continued to cross, and in 2017, they reunited at Sorted, with Pritchard as People Director and Thawley as Head of Brand. There, they built a powerful culture with purpose, through brand-driven experiences & initiatives.

Their new company aims to help businesses big or small, with the one stipulation that the senior leadership team must understand, or at least be prepared to understand, how brand and people combined is the key to a company’s success.

Thawley & Pritchard both believe that bringing brand and culture together is the key to engaged people and customers, and they will work together to create strong company cultures for each of their clients, putting this right at the core of each unique business plan.

This proves important for organisations of all shapes and sizes, from the well-established to the fledgling start-up, and can be achieved at any stage in a business’ journey.

While well-established organisations may need to review their position or vision, and start-ups may need to create a brand that can grow with them, MuddyWellies will work with businesses to bring people & purpose together. They will achieve this by bringing clarity & consistency to each & every business they work with; aligning employees, increasing internal efficiency, and therefore external outputs.

As well as re-engaging internal teams, and powering up both the employee & customer experience, MuddyWellies will help businesses to attract top talent & partners by building brand advocates.

Thawley & Pritchard describe themselves each as a welly, Thawley the reliable, tough left boot – a little bit of what you really need, & Pritchard the high gloss right, bringing the energy & sparkle.

Pritchard said “It’s hard work keeping everyone engaged within a business, it’s tough finding that point of differentiation, or the core purpose to our being and avoiding values being just words on a wall. But, when you get it right, it can create such great stories and memories – and deliver such a great business return.

Well, that’s where we come in. We dig deep, we get muddy, we focus on getting the wellies on the right feet – and your business going in the right direction.”

Thawley added “What you do internally, runs parallel to what you demonstrate externally. And that’s where the power lies. The greatest businesses – big or small – are built with brand and people at the heart of everything they do. So, we want to help more companies to build their perfect pair.

We want to create talkability. As we say on our site and our creds we don’t do dull, we create destination brands that stand out.”

The duo feel there’s a particular need to remember the importance of culture as many businesses go through a period of change due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Pritchard commented “There is so much noise & opinion around returning to work, remote working, the ‘new normal’ at the moment but to be quite frank nobody really knows what is right or wrong.”

“Not only is every business different, but the people within the teams are too, and this will create new challenges as we reintroduce the return to the office. Getting it right will be driven by leaders who ensure that the purpose and people are still at the core of the business – it will actually require more investment and more concerted initiatives to actually work differently”

MuddyWellies launches today, with full details on the team & their services available on their website – www.wearemuddywellies.com

Latest

The role of sustainable energy infrastructure in Manchester’s business growth

UK electricity prices for non-domestic users averaged 24.9p/kWh in the first quarter of 2024, which was up 60% compared to 2019. As competition grows...

Majority of UK mid-market firms trapped in ‘identity crisis’, new benchmark finds

More than half of the UK's mid-market B2B service businesses are failing to convert marketing investment into commercial growth because they lack brand identity,...

New research finds over a quarter of women have considered leaving the workforce because of hormone-related symptoms

A new survey has revealed that 28% of women have considered leaving the workforce altogether because of their hormone-related symptoms. This highlights the significant impact...

Rare Mbappé, Messi and Ronaldo Cards Could Surface During Live 2018 National Treasures Break on eBay

ANDOVER, UK, July 15, 2026 - Football card collectors could witness the discovery of some of the hobby's biggest modern treasures this Sunday when...
Subscribe to our newsletter
Business Manchester will use the information you provide on this form to be in touch with you and to provide updates and marketing.
Don't miss

Gaia Learning secures £400k to expand specialist education support for neurodivergent learners

STOCKPORT, UK. July 15, 2026 – Education technology company Gaia Learning has raised £400,000 in a new equity funding round backed by GC Angels,...

Manchester’s Construction Boom Is Exposing a Costing Problem

Greater Manchester’s regeneration pipeline is one of the most active in the country. The region’s Good Growth Fund is expanding from £1 billion toward...

Critical Cloud and Tarian Labs introduce continuous runtime security assurance for fintech organisations

CARDIFF, UK, July 14, 2026 – Critical Cloud has formed a strategic partnership with Tarian Labs to provide fintech organisations with Continuous Runtime Security...

Marllm Named Official Anthropic Partner as It Joins Claude Partner Network Amid £1m Revenue Milestone

LONDON, UK. July 14th, 2026 - Marllm, the AI growth studio founded by Jolanta Jas, has been confirmed as an official Anthropic Partner, joining the Claude Partner Network...

More News

Top Software Development Companies for UK Businesses in 2026

Some UK companies pour money into digital projects that go nowhere, often because they picked the wrong technology partner. The British software development market...

Top 10 best UK SEO agencies for small business in 2026

If you are looking for the 'absolute best UK SEO agency for a small business' right now, the short answer is Breakline. They have...

Acetic Acid: A Key Ingredient In The Textile And Leather Industry

In some chemical experiments, it’s necessary to recover a solid liquid. It’s often done to make this solution more highly boiling. However, in many...