About Simon Larkin
More than twenty years inside marketing, from hands on delivery to board level leadership
I am Simon Larkin, founder of Hiddn Marketing, a Chartered Marketer and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
I have worked in marketing for more than 20 years, moving from hands on creative and digital roles into senior responsibility for marketing teams, agencies, budgets, CRM, customer data, reputation and commercial performance.
I have worked across financial services, investment, property, technology, ecommerce, automotive, mergers and acquisitions, travel and hospitality. Some of those businesses were growing quickly. Others were restructuring, changing leadership or dealing with difficult commercial and reputational issues.
That experience now shapes how I work as a Fractional CMO. I understand what founders and boards need from marketing, but I also understand what it takes for a team to deliver it.
More than 20 years of experience | Chartered Marketer | Fellow of the CIM | UK and international experience
I have worked across the whole marketing function
I did not begin my career as a consultant advising other people how to run marketing.
I started much closer to the work itself. I designed campaigns, built websites, produced sales and marketing materials and worked directly with the systems behind delivery. As my career developed, I became responsible for wider strategy, internal teams, external agencies, budgets, performance reporting and the relationship between marketing and the rest of the business.
That background still matters because marketing decisions rarely sit neatly within one discipline.
A board may want to know why lead conversion is falling, but the answer could involve the advertising, the website, the CRM, the speed of follow-up, the quality of the data or the way sales and marketing are working together.
I am used to looking across those areas rather than treating each one as a separate project.
I also understand the practical consequences of the decisions being made. A recommendation may look sensible in a presentation, but it still needs the right people, information, systems, budget and time behind it. If those things are missing, the strategy will remain a document rather than becoming a meaningful change.
Much of my experience has been earned when things were not straightforward
I have led marketing during periods of growth, leadership change, restructuring and commercial uncertainty.
I have inherited teams that needed direction, reporting that senior leaders did not fully trust and systems that were making the work harder than it needed to be. I have also worked in environments where marketing activity had to be considered alongside legal, regulatory, compliance and reputational concerns.
In those situations, launching more activity is not normally the first priority.
The first job is to understand what is actually happening. What is working? What is not? Which numbers can be trusted? Who owns each decision? What needs immediate attention and what can wait?
Once that is understood, the business can begin making sensible choices rather than reacting to the latest problem.
I am comfortable working in that kind of environment. I do not need everything to be perfectly organised before I become involved, and I do not expect a founder or board to have already diagnosed the problem.
Very often, helping the business understand the problem properly is the most important part of the work.
I understand the boardroom and the work underneath it
Senior marketing leadership needs to connect business objectives with what is happening inside the marketing function.
At board level, that means being able to discuss revenue, conversion, cost, capability, risk and the level of investment required. It also means being honest when the available reporting does not support a confident conclusion.
Underneath that, there are teams, agencies, campaigns, platforms, data, workflows and customer journeys that all affect the outcome.
My experience includes CRM architecture, automation, websites, digital platforms, reporting, customer data, integrations, search, content and creative delivery. I do not claim to be the specialist in every area, but I understand enough to ask useful questions and challenge recommendations that do not make sense.
That can be particularly valuable when several agencies or suppliers are involved. Each may be reporting on its own area, but the business still needs somebody looking at how those parts work together and whether they are contributing to the same objective.
It also means I can recognise when the business genuinely needs new technology and when somebody is trying to solve a leadership or process problem by purchasing another platform.
How I work with people
I take time to understand the people already involved before deciding what needs to change.
Marketing teams are often working within priorities, systems and structures they did not create. If the function is underperforming, that does not automatically mean the people are incapable or unwilling.
Sometimes they need clearer direction. Sometimes they need better information, stronger processes or more authority to make decisions. Occasionally there is a capability or performance issue that needs to be dealt with directly.
I will support good people and make sure they understand what they own. Where somebody is doing strong work, they should receive the credit for it. Where something is not good enough, I will address it honestly and professionally.
The same applies to agencies.
A good agency should receive a clear brief, sensible access and a fair opportunity to deliver. It should also be challenged when the work is not supporting what the business needs.
I do not believe leadership requires unnecessary drama. Most problems are dealt with more effectively when people understand what is expected, why it matters and what will happen next.
Experience across different sectors and business models
My career has covered both business and consumer marketing, from high volume transactions to services where trust, regulation and reputation are central to the buying decision.
At Britannia Hotels and Pontins, I led marketing across six holiday parks and a wider portfolio of more than 60 hotels. The role covered digital, contact centre activity, campaigns, brand, customer experience and commercial performance.
Within mergers and acquisitions, I led group marketing across several brands and worked closely with the wider sales operation. This included improving reporting, lead generation, customer journeys and internal production processes.
In technology and ecommerce, I have worked across acquisition, retention, websites, search, email, CRM and customer data.
More recently, I held senior responsibility within an international investment business, leading marketing, digital infrastructure and teams across the UK and Dubai during a significant period of leadership and commercial change.
The sectors have been different, but the recurring questions have been remarkably similar.
Is marketing focused on the right priorities? Does the team have the support it needs? Can the leadership team trust the reporting? Are the systems helping or creating more work? Is the money being spent in the right places?
Those are the questions I continue to help businesses answer.
Chartered Marketer and Fellow of the CIM
I am a Chartered Marketer and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
Chartered status reflects maintained professional standards and continued development. Fellowship recognises senior experience within the marketing profession.
I do not expect the letters after my name to win work by themselves. Experience, judgement and the way I work with people matter far more.
They do, however, provide independent recognition of the level at which I have worked and the professional standards I am expected to maintain.
Marketing continues to change quickly, particularly around technology, data, automation, AI, privacy and regulation. Remaining professionally current is part of the responsibility that comes with advising businesses at a senior level.
Why I created Hiddn Marketing
I founded Hiddn Marketing in 2020.
The original idea behind the name was that businesses often already have more value within their marketing than they realise.
It may sit within customer data that is not being used properly, a capable team that lacks direction, a customer journey that is losing opportunities or a marketing budget that has never been properly challenged.
Hiddn Marketing has developed around the work where my experience is most useful.
That means providing Fractional CMO and senior marketing leadership, independently reviewing marketing functions and leading defined projects where the systems or infrastructure need to change.
I am not trying to build a traditional agency with a long menu of services and a large delivery team.
Clients work directly with me. I become involved at the level where decisions are being made, but remain close enough to the work to understand whether those decisions are being implemented properly.
What you can expect from me
You can expect me to ask questions, review the evidence and form my own view rather than simply agreeing with the loudest person in the room.
I will be honest about what I think is working, what needs attention and where the business may be spending money without enough evidence behind it.
I will not recommend more activity simply to create more work for myself. I will also not promise that every marketing problem can be fixed immediately.
Some changes can happen quickly. Others require better information, stronger leadership and enough time for the team to build a more effective way of working.
My approach is straightforward. Understand the situation properly, agree what matters most and make sure the decisions lead to practical action.
Based in Southport, working across the UK
Hiddn Marketing is based in Southport in the North West of England.
I work with businesses across the UK, combining remote leadership with planned time on site where it adds value. I can also consider international engagements where the scope and working arrangements are practical.
What people say about working with me
He’s approachable, thoughtful and methodical, the kind of leader who builds confidence and helps teams grow. His input brought structure, focus and real momentum to our marketing.”
He was always available to help, took pride in his work, and delivered exactly what I wanted. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him.”
He’s a great problem solver, always encouraging collaboration and confidence across the team. His guidance made a genuine difference to how we work.”
Whether it is CMO level strategy, crisis management, or website design and copywriting, his expertise is never in doubt.
Simon manages his workload and his team effortlessly and he is never afraid to get stuck in whenever help is needed. What always struck me most was his genuine nature. He always has a positive word for everyone and he really looks after his team. It was a total pleasure working with him and I cannot recommend him enough. Any company would be lucky to have him on board.”
An effective communicator and great when backs are against the wall, I'd be happy to recommend Simon to any organisation looking to take their marketing to the next level.”
If you're looking for a strategic thinker to move your business into the next arena Simon is a perfect fit.”