Our story
After many years working in both independent and network agencies, Mathew Cutts and Caroline Benson (brother and sister) decided to go it alone, founding Cuttsy+Cuttsy in 2011.
‘“At the beginning we took any piece of work, from branding a hair salon to running a European sales conference for a large mobile phone operator. Offering anything to everyone to get off the ground. But as soon as we could, we focused our efforts on the sector we knew best – healthcare.”
Mathew Cutts — Founder
‘“After being unable to raise any finance due to the financial crisis of 2008, it means even more to be a strong, financially independent business today. But as we reinvest profits back into the company each year, we always remind ourselves to stay true to our aim: being big enough to deliver yet still small enough to care.”
Caroline Benson — Founder
From life in a shed to the full Works
April 2011
Cuttsy+Cuttsy is founded — starting life in a shed at the bottom of Mathew’s garden. Having both resigned from long-term positions working in comms, Caroline and Mathew throw themselves into launching a company they can be proud of. It was hard at first, often taking on any project to pay the bills — imagine branded hair salons and gym layouts alongside pharma client projects — but it was soon worth it.
August 2011
Things start to take off. In the space of five months we’ve:
Secured our first MSA with a large pharma client
Completed a European sales conference
We hired our first Cuttsy+Cuttsy employee, making us officially a team
May 2012
Moving on up. We say goodbye to the shed and hello to Scutches barn — our first proper office (with a lease!) and new home to our now team of 5. It was also around this time that we delivered our first pharma pan-European launch meeting — flash mob and all.
May 2013
Unable to afford gym memberships for the team, we introduce an annual ‘free pair of trainers’ policy instead. It went down so well that it’s become a tradition that is still running (pun intended) today.
Over 200 free pairs given out to date
July 2014
On the move again as we find new residence in Abbey Barns — yep, another barn. We realise they’re pretty common in the Cambridgeshire countryside. But what a great base for what was to come.
We win our first award for a pro bono charity project
September 2016
Five years in and we’re now strong enough to focus solely on the area we love, healthcare. We also introduce our #WherePeopleMatter belief.
We must be getting other things right too as we win recognition for the career and work-life balance we offer our team.
We must be getting other things right too as we win recognition for the career and work-life balance we offer our team.
We’re awarded our first IPA CPD Gold Award
November 2018
We become the only company to win Working Mums Top Employer for two years in a row. By now we’ve also received IPA CPD Gold two years in a row too.
Give it another two years, and two more Golds, and we’re awarded the IPA CPD Platinum Award. What’s more, Caroline wins IPA and Campaign Magazine Women of Tomorrow Award and we’re listed in Campaign Magazine’s Best Places to Work. When we say people matter to us, we really mean it.
Give it another two years, and two more Golds, and we’re awarded the IPA CPD Platinum Award. What’s more, Caroline wins IPA and Campaign Magazine Women of Tomorrow Award and we’re listed in Campaign Magazine’s Best Places to Work. When we say people matter to us, we really mean it.
Caroline win’s IPA and Campaign Magazine Women of Tomorrow Award
March 2020
A date that will become imprinted on everyone’s mind for ever more as the emergence of COVID-19 changes life as we know it. Like many around the world, we close the doors to our office — not knowing that it’ll be the last time we work at Abbey Barns.
“The fact we were already cloud-based and working off individual laptops meant projects could continue almost as normal even when restrictions were introduced. In fact, we had our highest rate of growth both in the number of new starters and clients we took on. But, we also knew that juggling home-working life under those circumstances wasn’t easy, so we made a real effort to make sure everyone was supported and worked flexibly during those challenging times.”
Mathew Cutts
April 2021
We (slowly) start welcoming the team back to our new office at The Works. Looking for a new premise during lockdown had been ‘fun’ and as our biggest investment to date, was also a big decision when the future of the office seemed uncertain. But with a growing team and a creative business to run, we knew how important it was to be able to bring people together.
April 2022
Right off the bat of being listed in PM Live’s T40 UK agencies earlier in the year, we come third in Campaign magazine’s ‘100 best agencies to work for’.
“…it’s fostering an environment that people want to be part of that we know has helped us achieve this position. It’s about getting the culture right. That starts with the team being part of our recruitment process and meeting candidates, promoting professional development, our Directors and Senior Managers actively living our values (often taking time for the school run or to have a run!), to keeping everyone informed through twice weekly team meetings and quarterly company updates sharing financials, strategy and direction where everyone can contribute.”
Kate, HR Manager
Today
Today, Cuttsy+Cuttsy is a team of 45+ creatives, strategists, writers, animators, account managers, producers and more, all united by three principles that laid the foundation of our health comms business and have stayed with us ever since:
Patients and healthcare professionals matter — these are the people whose lives we affect.
Clients matter — we are their trusted advisor.
Our team matter — they deserve an environment where they can thrive.
We may be bigger now, but we are still small enough to care.
