Access Marketing is celebrating two years in business. Founded by Sioned Yates to provide practical, strategic marketing support for businesses across the fenestration, construction and building sectors, the business has worked with manufacturers, suppliers, trade organisations and industry events.
From delivering the first VELUX Commercial UK&I press visit to developing a growing focus on the Women in Fenestration network, Sioned reflects on the projects, lessons and industry changes that have shaped Access Marketing so far - and explains why collaboration is central to her approach.
How would you describe the last two years of Access Marketing?
Exciting, challenging and probably a much bigger learning curve than I expected!
I’d spent more than 30 years working in marketing and holding senior in-house roles, but running your own business is very different. Suddenly, you’re responsible for absolutely everything, as well as actually doing the work you love.
I’ve loved the variety. I’ve worked with businesses of very different sizes and at very different stages, from large international brands to family-run businesses and industry organisations.
I’m also really proud that so much of my work has come through recommendations and relationships I’ve built over many years in the industry.
Two years in, I feel like I’ve found the way I want Access Marketing to work. I don’t want to build a marketing agency. I want to work closely with businesses where I can genuinely make a difference.
What gap did you want the business to fill when you launched?
I’d spent years sitting on the client side of the table, so I knew there was a gap between employing a senior marketing person full-time and outsourcing everything to an agency.
There are some brilliant businesses in our industry that know they need marketing support but don’t necessarily need, or can’t justify, a full-time Marketing Director.
That’s where I wanted Access Marketing to sit.
I can come into a business, understand where it’s trying to go, look at what is and isn’t working and help put some strategy and structure around the marketing.
Because I’ve been the client, I understand the pressures too. I’m not interested in doing marketing activity just for the sake of doing it. There needs to be a reason for it and ultimately, it needs to help the business gain sales.
What types of brands and organisations have you worked with, and which projects have been the highlights so far?
It’s been a real mix, and that’s one of the things I enjoy most about what I do. I’ve worked with global manufacturers, national and regional businesses, fabricators, installers, industry organisations, events and networks across construction and fenestration.
I’ve worked right across the supply chain over the years, which gives me a good understanding of how the different parts of our industry work together. The challenges can look very different depending on the size of the business and where it sits in the market, but quite often the underlying marketing problems are actually very similar.
There have been a few projects I’m particularly proud of. Delivering the first VELUX Commercial UK&I press visit was definitely one. It was a first for the business, and being trusted to create and deliver it through Access Marketing felt like a real milestone.
Another was developing VELUX Commercial’s first brand campaign since the VELUX acquisitions in 2019. Bringing the different businesses together under one story and helping establish what VELUX Commercial stood for was a fantastic project to work on.
I’ve also loved the more strategic projects where I can really get under the skin of a business and help shape where its marketing needs to go. I’ve been delivering lots of these.
And then there’s Women in Fenestration. That’s different again because it isn’t just another project for me. It’s something I’ve become personally very invested in and I’m incredibly proud of what we’re building.
What have the last two years taught you about marketing in fenestration and construction?
Probably that we still have a tendency to jump straight to tactics.
“We need more social media.”
“We need a new website.”
“We need SEO.”
“We need AI.”
Maybe you do. But why? What are you actually trying to achieve? What does the business need?
The businesses that do marketing well are the ones that start there. Understand what the business is trying to achieve, understand the customers and then decide what marketing activity is actually going to help.
I also think businesses underestimate what they’ve already got. There are some fantastic companies in our industry with great people, knowledge, products and stories, but they’re often not very good at talking about them.
I genuinely love this industry. I’ve spent a huge part of my career in it and there are some brilliant people and businesses within it. Sometimes I just wish we were better at telling people about them.
What are the biggest marketing opportunities and pitfalls?
It’s a challenging market at the moment and when things get difficult, the natural reaction is often to cut marketing.
I understand why businesses do it. But disappearing when customers are buying less isn’t necessarily going to put you in a stronger position when the market returns.
I think the opportunity is to become much more focused.
Understand which customers and markets offer the greatest potential. Know where your enquiries are actually coming from. Measure what’s working. Put your money and effort into the things that support what the business is trying to achieve and stop doing things simply because you’ve always done them.
There’s also a huge opportunity around the knowledge we have in this industry. Fenestration and construction are full of people who really know their stuff, but we don’t always make enough of that expertise.
AI is obviously changing things too and there are some really exciting opportunities there. But I’m also slightly wary of businesses feeling they have to buy every new AI product or service because they’re frightened of being left behind.
Technology changes. The fundamentals don’t. Understand your customer, have something worthwhile to say, communicate it well and make sure people can find you.
What does Access Marketing offer that clients may not have in-house?
Experience, probably, but also perspective and a huge amount of passion for the job and for business.
I’ve spent more than 30 years working in marketing, all of it in construction and building products. I’ve sat on senior management teams and been responsible for strategy, budgets, agencies, campaigns, product management and launches, websites, exhibitions and events.
So, when I go into a business, I’m not just looking at the marketing. I’m looking at what the business is trying to achieve. I’m also independent enough to ask questions that perhaps don’t always get asked internally.
But I don’t want to be the consultant who comes in, produces a lovely document and disappears again. I like getting involved. I like understanding the business and the people in it. The relationships that work best for me are the ones where I become part of the team.
How does your PR and social media partnership strengthen the offer?
One thing I’ve always stood by is that I’m not an expert in every single area of marketing. Nobody is! I know what I’m good at and I also know when I need a specialist.
My role is often to understand the business, work out what we’re trying to achieve, build the strategy and then bring the right people around that.
That’s where working with trusted specialists for creatives, PR, social media and paid activity works really well. I can bring in the right people depending on what the client actually needs.
It means clients can access a wider range of expertise without having to build a large in-house team or manage several disconnected suppliers.
I think that’s probably how Access Marketing will continue to grow. Not by trying to become a big agency, but by having really good people around me who are brilliant at what they do.
Why has Women in Fenestration become such an important focus?
I’ve worked in this industry for a long time and it’s given me a fantastic career. I suppose Women in Fenestration feels like an opportunity to give something back.
But it’s also about creating something I wish I’d had access to earlier in my career.
For me, it isn’t about creating a women’s “club”. It’s about connection, development, mentoring, visibility and opportunity.
There are some incredibly talented women working across the fenestration industry and I’d like to see more of them progressing through businesses, taking senior roles and having the confidence and opportunity to put themselves forward.
I’d like to see the network make a real impact as it develops. For example, someone saying, “I went for the promotion because I got the confidence to go for it after attending a Women in Fenestration event.”
That would be a fantastic outcome.
I also feel very strongly that men need to be part of the conversation. We’re not going to create positive change by excluding half of the industry. It has to be something we do together.
I’m really proud of where Women in Fenestration is heading and I think there is so much more we can do with it.
What does positive change look like in the industry?
For me, it’s an industry where good people can progress because they’re good at what they do.
Where young people look at fenestration and construction and see a genuine career.
Where women don’t just enter the industry but progress through it into management, technical, operational and board-level positions.
It’s also an industry where businesses invest in their people and where we’re better at bringing new talent into the sector.
I’d love us to get better at talking about ourselves too.
This industry has changed massively. There is so much innovation, technology and expertise within it and the products we manufacture and sell have a real impact on people’s homes, buildings, energy use and everyday lives.
I’d like more people outside our industry to understand that.
What are you most excited about over the next two years?
Growing Access Marketing definitely, but not just getting bigger for the sake of it.
I want to work with businesses where I can genuinely make a difference. I’d like to do more of the strategic work where I can become part of the senior team, understand where the business wants to go and help shape the marketing around it.
I’d also like to continue building the Access Marketing model, with trusted specialists around me who I can bring in when they’re needed.
I’m incredibly excited about Women in Fenestration too. I genuinely think we’re only scratching the surface of what it could become.
And personally, I probably need to get a bit braver about putting myself out there!
I’ve spent most of my career promoting other people’s businesses and brands. I’m very comfortable doing that.
Talking about myself? Not quite so comfortable.
But maybe, after two years of Access Marketing, it’s time I got a little better at that too.
What would you say to a business that doesn’t know where to start?
Don’t start with the marketing. Start with the business goals and objectives!
What are you trying to achieve? Where do you want your growth to come from? Who are your best customers? Why do they buy from you? Where are your enquiries coming from now? What’s working and what’s not?
Then look at the marketing.
You don’t always need to spend more money either. Sometimes the first thing I find is that a business is already spending money in lots of different places, but nobody has really stopped and asked why.
Marketing shouldn’t just be a collection of social posts, emails, adverts, websites and campaigns.
It should be helping the business get where it wants to go.
Two years in, Sioned’s focus remains on helping businesses communicate with greater clarity, consistency and confidence. Whether through strategic marketing, PR, thought leadership, event activity or the Women in Fenestration network, her approach is centred on creating meaningful connections and giving good businesses the visibility they deserve.
“The best work happens when you become a genuine extension of the client’s team,” she says. “It is about understanding what they are trying to achieve, finding the strongest story and then making sure it reaches the people who need to hear it. That is what I want Access Marketing to continue doing over the next two years - and beyond.”
