Ex-employee marketer sets up own operation

Sally Oddy, who previously worked as senior marketing manager for the North at accountancy firm RSM Tenon for two years and was at law firm Eversheds for eight years prior to that, has set up Opal Marketing in Roundhay.

For Mrs Oddy, this marks her first foray into providing an outsourced marketing service.

She started her career as a legal secretary before working her way up to hold a range of in-house marketing roles in professional services. Mrs Oddy, who was brought up in South Africa and moved to Yorkshire in 2000, previously worked for legal firms DLA Piper and Squire Sanders.

Mrs Oddy said: “The professional services sector is in flux. The uncertainty brought about by the economy has resulted tighter budgets and higher expectations.

“Keeping existing clients has become a full time job and winning new work a more difficult task, with many firms finding themselves competing against their much larger rivals whose resources they cannot match. Firms need to decrease costs while increasing their competitive edge.”

She said she has made contact with 70 senior manager-level partners at law firms and accountancy firms in Yorkshire via LinkedIn, adding that she has nine meetings lined up for August and September.

Mrs Oddy, who has worked in the professional services sector for 17 years, and in Yorkshire for around 12 years, said: “Taking the decision to set up on my own in this economy has been the biggest and scariest thing I have ever done. However, I do strongly believe that the economy also brings with it lots of opportunity and you need to be brave and get out there and grab it with both hands.” She said that providing an outsourced marketing service to firms has its benefits as in-house marketeers can find themselves “bogged down by red tape and internal reporting”. Yesterday marked Opal Marketing’s first day in business.