“Great things in business are
never done by one person,
they’re done by a team
of people.
– Steve Jobs
Hayley Williams,
Founder and Managing Director
“On a mission to encourage businesses to think about the strategy first, before undertaking marketing activity.”
Keystone was founded by Hayley in 2013 on the back of a long career in both agency and in house marketing roles. Hugely passionate about the impact marketing and engagement principles can make to a business or organisation, Hayley set up Keystone to offer high level marketing expertise to organisations that had no access to it otherwise. Initially starting Keystone as a freelance marketing service, Hayley quickly saw that organisations didn’t always have a strategy to work from. Either that, or they were solely focussed on creating marketing outputs rather than identifying ‘the why’ or building strategies to make activity work to the greatest effect. Hayley pivoted Keystone to embed marketing strategy and community engagement principles into its offer; providing the very best approach to their clients and to achieve the most effective results.
When not working in the business (which she loves!), Hayley likes nothing better than a Friday night gin and adventures with her young family, mixed with a fair amount of running (although in no way as fast as Katherine). Hayley is also a trustee for Hunts Forum and sits on the committee of the Huntingdonshire Chamber of Commerce.
Katherine Hesketh,
Head of Communications
“Creating marketing activity without strategy, is like building a house without foundations”
After graduation, she began her career in educational publishing before joining a specialist consultancy responsible for producing educational resources for a range of clients. A new adventure took her over to Sydney, Australia where she primarily worked for a global asset management company, in a purely online role. Returning to the UK she joined a specialty insurer and reinsurer in an online communications role.
Originally joining Keystone as a Marketing Executive in 2015, Katherine’s exceptional marketing skills saw her promoted to Marketing Manager soon after – before stepping up to Head of Communications in 2021. With her key role overseeing all Keystone client activity, each and every campaign and project benefits from Katherine’s ability to get to the heart of a message and to drive activity that truly engages with an audience.
Outside of the office, Katherine finds herself outnumbered in a house full of boys. She’s often spotted running in and around St Neots. Usually it’s because she’s training for a race, but she’ll admit that sometimes it’s just an excuse to escape another Lego* building session.
Ruth Dutton
Content Manager
“Producing engaging content and clear communications that tell a strong story and showcase a fluid writing style.”
Ruth is an experienced communications strategist and copywriter, who project manages campaigns and writes copy for many of the Keystone clients. With an exceptional ability to translate complex ideas into plain English, Ruth is passionate about ensuring that her work delivers a commercial benefit to our clients as well as informing and enticing the reader.
Ruth’s marketing experience comes from a blend of agency, in house and entrepreneurial roles – all of which complements the make-up of Keystone’s client base. Her career started in B2B publishing; working on scientific and medical journals before heading to New Zealand where she edited and managed advertising for several construction and design titles. On her return to the UK, Ruth managed internal and board communications, and put on some amazing events in 5* venues for a global hospitality brand – before joining a global oil company. Here, Ruth was responsible for creating and activating communications for a cross-business, global transformation project which impacted staff, customers and suppliers.
Outside of work, Ruth is a keen reader and historian who also loves the theatre. She enjoys long walks with her dog, Juno, when she’s not being a part-time chauffeur for her children.
David Mallinder,
Marketing Technologist
“Using exceptional marketing software knowledge to deliver advice and tools that increase impact and effectiveness.”
A business and marketing graduate, David cut his teeth in marketing roles for big brands and membership bodies. Having seen first-hand the difference the right software tools could make to marketing success, David specialised – and now offers software, automation and systems advice and solutions for Keystone clients to support business growth.
The discovery sessions facilitated by David and the recommendation reports he presents are followed with exceptional project management throughout implementation and onboarding. In the knowledge that technology continues to evolve, David will also closely work with clients post project to make sure the embedded solutions continue to deliver to the initial vision.
Uncovering tech opportunities, implementing CRM systems and developing automated marketing campaigns are big focusses at work. Running around after four year old twin boys at home keeps him even busier!
The Keystone Marketing Team worked with us to develop a social media campaign to raise the profile of the successes of an EU funding programme we had been running. They supported us to scope out our requirements, understand our key audiences and consider the overall impact we wished to achieve.
I was very impressed at how quickly Keystone got to grips with a complex project, helping us devise key marketing messages and content for social media posts.
The level of engagement on-line has been far greater than we ever expected and through this work, we have achieved our desired outcome of creating local and national awareness to our programme’s successes.
We would not have been able to achieve this impact without Keystone’s professional support, knowledge and expertise.
