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Red Blaze - Case Study
From founder-led business to employee owned future
How a 14-year partnership with Firestarter has helped Red Blaze build a stronger, more scalable business.
When Firestarter first started working with Red e2 in 2012, founders Stephen Pope and Peter Jackson had already built a highly successful business with an enviable reputation for delivering outstanding events and experiences for major brands.
Like many founder-led businesses, however, much of that success was dependent on the knowledge, relationships and experience of the people who had built it. The business was growing, but future growth would require greater structure, stronger systems and a framework capable of supporting the next stage of its evolution.
What began as a project to improve business development processes would ultimately become a fourteen-year partnership that helped Red e2 evolve into Red Blaze, develop the next generation of leaders, successfully transition to employee ownership and create a business capable of thriving long after its founders stepped back from day-to-day operations.
Reflecting on the start of the relationship, founder Stephen Pope explains:
“When we first engaged Firestarter, we were looking for help bringing structure to our business development activities. What followed was a relationship that helped transform virtually every aspect of the business and ultimately prepared Red Blaze for its next chapter.”
Building the foundations
The relationship between Firestarter and Red e2 began with a practical challenge.
The business had developed strong relationships with major organisations and generated opportunities through a combination of reputation, referrals and personal networks. While highly effective, much of the commercial activity relied on knowledge held by a small number of individuals, making it difficult to scale consistently.
Sales data was held across multiple spreadsheets, reporting lacked consistency and there was limited visibility of the overall pipeline.
The initial objective was therefore simple: create structure.
For founders Stephen Pope and Peter Jackson, improving process and visibility wasn’t simply about becoming more organised. It was about creating a platform that could support future growth.
“At the time, we were generating opportunities through relationships, reputation and experience. It worked, but much of that knowledge lived in people’s heads rather than within the business itself. We knew that if we wanted to grow sustainably, we needed stronger foundations.”
Working alongside Stephen and Peter, Firestarter helped introduce greater discipline into business development activities, CRM implementation, improve data quality and establish a clearer understanding of the product offering and commercial performance.
While the work initially focused on sales and business development, it quickly became apparent that the underlying challenge was much bigger than process improvement. The business needed stronger foundations that would support long-term growth while reducing reliance on individual knowledge and relationships.
What started as a tactical engagement began to evolve into a much broader strategic partnership.
Looking back, Peter believes this was the point at which the relationship began to change.
“The original project focused on sales structure and business development, but it quickly became clear that the bigger opportunity was helping us build a stronger business. Firestarter brought challenge, perspective and a level of long-term thinking that influenced far more than the sales process.”
Becoming a strategic advisor
As Red e2 continued to grow, Firestarter’s role expanded far beyond business development support.
Regular involvement in leadership discussions created opportunities to challenge thinking, introduce greater accountability and provide an external perspective on the opportunities and challenges facing the business.
Over time, Firestarter became a trusted adviser to the leadership team, helping shape decisions around commercial planning, organisational development and long-term strategic direction.
As the business matured, so too did Firestarter’s role. What had started as external consultancy support increasingly resembled the role of a Non-Executive Director, helping the founders navigate growth, organisational change and strategic decision-making.
Stephen reflects:
“As the business became larger and more complex, having someone who could challenge our thinking objectively became incredibly valuable. Firestarter wasn’t simply helping us make decisions. They were helping us make better decisions.”
Reflecting on the value of that relationship, Managing Director Gaby Ayres explains:
“Over the last few years, the strategic side of our relationship has become paramount. It’s been integral to the growth of the business.”
The ability to provide objective challenge became particularly valuable as the business evolved.
“Having that external perspective is invaluable. We can get very deep into the details of the business and our clients, but Firestarter helps us step back, put things into context and think at a higher level.”
As market conditions changed, Firestarter also supported the consolidation of multiple operating brands into a single unified business, helping create the platform that would eventually become Red Blaze.
At the same time, the relationship helped professionalise many areas of the organisation, introducing improved reporting, forecasting, financial visibility and stronger governance.
The result was a more mature, more resilient business with the ability to make decisions based on data, insight and long-term planning rather than instinct alone.
Building a scalable growth engine
With stronger foundations in place, attention turned towards creating a more predictable and sustainable approach to growth.
Historically, new opportunities had largely come from referrals, repeat business and existing relationships. While this model had served the company well, the leadership team recognised the need for a more structured approach to generating future growth.
Over several years, Firestarter worked with Red Blaze to develop a modern sales and marketing infrastructure that connected business development, digital marketing and commercial reporting.
This included the implementation and optimisation of HubSpot, improved forecasting processes, enhanced reporting dashboards and greater visibility across the entire customer journey.
For Sales & Marketing Manager Ed Moore, this represented a significant shift in the way the business operated.
“We can now see what’s working and what isn’t. We’ve gone from relying on assumptions to making decisions based on data.”
For Peter, one of the biggest changes has been the shift away from intuition and founder experience towards a more structured and measurable approach to growth.
“For many years, success came from experience, relationships and instinct. What Firestarter helped us build was a system that gave us greater visibility, better forecasting and a much clearer understanding of what was driving growth.”
At the same time, Firestarter supported the development of a comprehensive digital marketing strategy, including website redevelopment, technical SEO improvements, content marketing, conversion optimisation and organic growth initiatives.
The impact went far beyond website traffic.
“We’ve built a machine that works really well in terms of generating organic traffic and new enquiries.”
More importantly, the quality of opportunities improved.
“The enquiries coming through organic search tend to be larger opportunities, with higher budgets and better conversion rates. They’re more aligned to what we do because people have already researched us and understand our services before they get in touch.”
The result has been a more predictable pipeline of opportunities, stronger commercial visibility and the creation of a sustainable growth engine capable of supporting the next phase of the business.
Creating an employee-owned future
While improved systems, stronger reporting and enhanced marketing performance delivered measurable commercial benefits, perhaps the most significant challenge facing the business was succession.
For many years, Stephen and Peter had been central to the organisation’s success. Like many founder-led businesses, much of the culture, knowledge and decision-making capability sat with the founders.
The long-term challenge was clear:
How could Red Blaze preserve everything that made the business successful whilst building a future that did not depend upon its founders being involved in every decision?
Together, Firestarter and Red Blaze developed a long-term succession strategy focused on strengthening leadership capability, building commercial maturity and reducing founder dependency.
Over time, this became a structured programme designed to prepare the business for life beyond its founders. Multiple exit routes were explored, including trade sale and management buyout options. Ultimately, an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) was identified as the approach most closely aligned with the values of the business and its leaders.
Peter explains:
“The move to employee ownership was one of the most important decisions we’ve ever made. Firestarter played a significant role in helping us evaluate our options, develop our future leaders and create a roadmap for a successful transition.”
The transition required a clear roadmap. Internally, this became known as the “Thousand-Day Plan” – a structured programme focused on leadership development, operational maturity and organisational resilience.
The plan was not simply about changing ownership. It was about creating a business that could thrive independently of its founders.
Stephen sees this as one of the partnership’s most important achievements.
“One of the greatest achievements of the partnership has been creating a business that is stronger, more structured and less dependent on its founders than ever before.”
A key part of that journey was the development of the next generation of leaders.
For Ed, this meant developing a more strategic mindset and broadening his commercial capabilities.
“Firestarter has definitely made me more strategic in my thinking. It’s helped me understand why things work, how to analyse data properly and how to make better decisions.”
For Gaby, the impact was even more personal. Having progressed from project support to Managing Director, she became central to the future of the company.
“The support has been really strong throughout the whole process. It’s genuinely been part of my personal development journey.”
She describes Firestarter Managing Director Chris O’Riordan as both mentor and adviser.
“He’s realistic, relatable and compassionate. He brings real-life experience and never suggests leadership is easy. That perspective has been incredibly valuable.”
The successful transition to employee ownership and the appointment of Gaby as Managing Director represented the culmination of years of planning, development and collaboration. As Peter explains,
“Our goal was never simply to step away. It was to leave behind a business capable of continuing to grow and succeed without relying on Stephen or me being involved in every decision. Firestarter helped us build the foundations to make that possible.”
What began as a project focused on improving business development had evolved into something far more significant: the successful transition of an entire business from founder-led ownership to a new generation of employee-owned leadership.
More than a supplier relationship
Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the relationship is not any individual project, initiative or commercial result.
It is the fact that, after more than fourteen years, the partnership continues to evolve.
Throughout that time, Firestarter has supported Red Blaze through market changes, organisational restructuring, commercial transformation, leadership development and succession planning.
The relationship has endured because it is built on something far stronger than a typical supplier agreement.
Stephen and Peter have seen the entire journey unfold, from the first CRM and business development projects through to the successful transition to employee ownership.
Reflecting on fourteen years of collaboration, they both arrive at the same conclusion:
“Over fourteen years, Firestarter has been there through growth, change, challenge and success. They haven’t simply supported the business; they’ve helped shape it. That’s why we view them as trusted advisers rather than external consultants.”
When talking to Gaby, she goes one step further and sees Firestarter as an extension of the leadership team:
“Firestarter has become more than a supplier. They’re an extension of our team. Their understanding of our business, their consistency, their strategic thinking and their genuine investment in our success have helped us build a stronger, more scalable business and enabled us to prepare for the future with confidence.”
Ed shares a similar view:
“The communication is excellent. The flexibility is excellent. There’s always a plan, there’s always support, and there’s always someone willing to help.”
Results at a glance
Looking ahead
Today, Red Blaze enters its next chapter with stronger foundations, greater commercial visibility and a leadership team equipped to drive future success.
The ambitions are clear: continued growth, greater operational efficiency, enhanced use of technology, stronger business development performance and long-term success as an employee-owned business.
For Gaby, the goal is simple:
“I want us to reach a point where we’re strategically choosing the opportunities we want to pursue, rather than simply chasing numbers.”
For Firestarter, the objective remains unchanged from the day the relationship began in 2012: helping Red Blaze continue to evolve, grow and achieve its ambitions.
After fourteen years, the story is far from finished.
