A Yorkshire entrepreneur has launched a new business to tackle one of the biggest frustrations facing agency owners after spending 15 years battling the problem himself.
Steve Pritchard, former owner of a SEO and digital PR agency It Works Media, has developed a new B2B referral platform to help agencies grow through trusted recommendations, rather than having to rely on expensive and ineffective lead-generating methods.
During his agency career, Steve worked with brands including GoCompare, giffgaff and BrewDog, but also experienced first-hand the challenge of building a consistent pipeline of quality opportunities.
“Like most agency owners, we tried just about everything,” he said. “We invested thousands in cold outreach, appointment setting, paid advertising and lead generation services, but the only leads that consistently delivered were referrals from people who already knew and trusted us.”
Leadquity has been designed to formalise that process by linking agencies with freelancers, consultants and other well-connected professionals who are happy to recommend businesses they genuinely trust.
It is also more than just a business. Leadquity has charitable giving built into its DNA, with 30% of all profits going straight to good causes in a bid to continue the legacy of Steve’s daughter, Matilda, who died suddenly from an undiagnosed heart condition in 2024.
The family has already raised more than £42,000 for Keep Britain Tidy, inspired by 11-year-old Matilda’s love of litter picking and the environment.
Steve said: “When Matilda died, I desperately needed something positive to focus on. The fundraising became a channel for my grief. It gave us something to work towards as a family and helped us feel that, despite everything, we could still make a difference.
“As the fundraising developed, I realised I didn’t want that impact to stop once we’d reached a target. I wanted to build something that could continue generating support for children’s charities every single day.
“Leadquity is that next step. It’s a business that solves a genuine problem for agencies, but it also enables us to help other children and families in Matilda’s name. The charities we will support are directly related to Matilda’s passion for the environment, and the challenges she faced as an autistic girl.”
The idea behind leadquity had been brewing for some years, due to the constant struggle of generating leads and building pipeline.
“We had a referrals page on our website, as many agencies do, but it was impossible to scale,” Steve said. “The best leads always came from people who knew and trusted us, but we needed to make that more formal and more reliable. So I’ve now created the platform I always wished had existed.”
In the early days after Matilda’s death, Steve was straight back into work, servicing major global clients and making sure his team got paid. But he admits he was just avoiding his grief.
“At the end of 2025, I reached a fork in the road. I had to make the decision that I couldn’t carry on as I was or I’d be no good to anybody. I had to give up the agency,” Steve said.
After a few months off, he contacted a developer and finally put the idea for leadquity into practice.
Rather than paying monthly retainers or large upfront fees, agencies create profiles, set the value they’d place on a qualified lead and only pay when a lead meets the quality criteria they have defined. Referrers receive up to 80% of the lead fee, creating a transparent and performance-based model that rewards both parties.
Steve believes the model reflects the changing landscape of business development.
“A cost-effective new business pipeline is vital whether you’re a growing agency or an independent consultant,” he said. “But lead generation has become more expensive, more competitive and, in many cases, less effective. Ghosting has become commonplace, appointment no-shows waste valuable time and businesses are paying significant sums without any guarantee of results.
“I’ve also watched the rise of influencer marketing in the consumer world and thought there had to be a way of applying the same principles professionally in B2B. There are thousands of consultants and freelancers with trusted networks who regularly recommend agencies anyway. Why shouldn’t they be rewarded for helping businesses connect?”
Crucially, leadquity will also serve as another vehicle to continue Matilda’s Legacy, supporting charities in the SEND sector and environmental causes that reflected Matilda’s passions.
“I wanted to build a business that does much more than make profit,” Steve said. “leadquity solves a genuine problem for agencies, but it will also create opportunities to support charities that mean something to our family.
“Charitable giving isn’t something we’ve bolted on for show. It’s built into the DNA, because business can be a force for good too.”
leadquity is currently welcoming registrations from early agency and professional referrer adopters ahead of its official launch in September. Freelancers and consultants can also earn additional rewards for recommending the platform to agencies they work with.
The long-term ambition is for leadquity to become the UK’s most trusted referral community across a variety of B2B services.