Meet Kyle, founder of Social Nerd - a fractional marketing consultancy helping small and medium-sized businesses across the UK understand how to grow. Built on transparency, Social Nerd is proof that doing things differently pays off with a near-100% client retention rate.
Breaking away from the agency mould
Kyle spent years working across brand-side roles and agencies before going out on his own. The frustration that drove him to make the leap was not a lack of opportunity - it was a pattern he kept seeing around him.
"A lot of agencies tend to overpromise and underdeliver," he explains. "It didn't sit right with me. If I say I'm going to do something, I want to be able to deliver it. I wanted to flag the issues, understand why things aren't going well, and take learnings from it."
That commitment to transparency shapes everything about how Social Nerd operates. Kyle addresses problems directly with clients, uses failures as data points, and applies learnings across very different projects. Insights from marketing a music release, he argues, can often be applied to a construction business. The data, he says, is always the same.
A different kind of consultancy
Social Nerd is not a conventional marketing agency. Kyle works as an extension of his clients' internal teams - a fractional CMO for businesses without their own in-house marketing departments.
His service offering spans web design, data analytics, email marketing, paid and organic social, content strategy, and increasingly out-of-home advertising. Clients range from outdoor furniture brand Royalcraft and art organisation Halcyon Gallery to record labels and large organisations including Sony Music.
"People's mentality on how they want to be marketed to is identical," Kyle says. "So I find I'm not really confined to one industry - and clients are often interested in the fact that I span so many different sectors."
Social Nerd is also a Midland Startup Awards finalist, with the ceremony coming up in the summer of 2026.
The right tool for growth
Kyle went full-time with Social Nerd just over a year ago. Like many small business owners, the transition brought a familiar challenge: managing cash flow while client invoices take time to land.
"The biggest issue I had was capital," he says. "Capital on Tap gave me the confidence to focus on the work, instead of worrying about when invoices would land."
The Capital on Tap Business Credit Card gave Kyle the breathing room to invest in the tools and systems Social Nerd needed during a critical growth phase. He also values how simple the card is to use. "It's very simple. There are no unnecessary features that make it feel clunky. And it integrates into Xero seamlessly."
The benefits don't stop at cash flow. Kyle uses the card for everything he can including subscriptions, travel, and day-to-day expenses, with one eye on the rewards building up in the background. "I've got New York booked for December," he says. "I'm converting my points to Virgin Points. Every subscription I put on the card gets me a little closer."
When Kyle accidentally missed setting up his direct debit one month, a call to the customer support team resolved it. "It was nice just to be able to speak to someone, explain the situation, and for them to understand it was a genuine mistake," he says. "Being able to have someone in your corner when you're growing a business - that goes a long way."
Inspired by Kyle's journey? Discover how the Capital on Tap Business Credit Card can help you take control of your cash flow. Apply today.
