The people behind Zest+.
Zest+ is the technology arm of Zest Marketing. We build practical tools that help B2B businesses find work, win work and make the complicated bits in between a little easier.
We didn't set out to become an AI company.
Zest+ started because we kept running into the same problems ourselves. Good people losing time to work that technology could be doing for them.
So we started building better ways to do it.
- Sales teams spending hours researching prospects
- Bid teams working across enormous tender packs, spreadsheets and email chains
- Marketing teams copying information between systems
- Follow-ups that relied on somebody remembering
Not the technology
Zest has spent years working alongside sales, marketing and bid teams, particularly across facilities management and the built environment. That matters.
We understand the tender deadlines, the 47-tab spreadsheets, the CRM nobody quite trusts, the pressure to find the next opportunity before the ITT lands, and the slightly terrifying moment five people are still editing a presentation the night before a bid.
Zest+ takes what we know about that world and combines it with technology that can do more of the heavy lifting. AI isn't the strategy. It's one of the tools we use to make a good strategy work harder.
For problems we had ourselves
We wanted a better way to run considered outbound without somebody having to remember every follow-up. Then we looked at the way FM bids were being presented and thought there had to be a better way to help a buyer picture the contract they were being asked to award.
It kept growing from there. Today, Zest+ covers outreach and bids, alongside bespoke AI tools, automations and dashboards built around the way individual teams work.
The rule is simple. If technology doesn't make the job better, simpler or faster, we don't build it.
Sophie Donald, Founder and Managing Director
Sophie started Zest Marketing after working in facilities management as marketing manager on the board of an FM recruitment business, where she saw first-hand how closely marketing, sales and bids need to work together if a business wants to grow.
She has built Zest around one fairly simple belief: marketing should help a business win work. That has taken Sophie and the team everywhere from brand positioning and content to sales support, bid rooms and tender presentations.
Zest+ came from the same curiosity. Whenever Sophie finds herself asking, "Why are we still doing this manually?", there's a reasonable chance somebody will end up building something. She leads the strategy behind Zest+ and stays closely involved with clients, particularly where sales, bids and technology overlap.
- Turning a complicated problem into a much simpler diagram
- Asking whether anyone would actually read that sentence
- Coming up with another thing nobody was expecting to build
Real people, in the same room
Zest+ isn't a software platform sitting somewhere on its own. It's backed by the wider Zest team, bringing together strategy, marketing, bid support, copy, design, client success and technology.
That mix is important. A developer can build a brilliant tool that nobody wants to use. A strategist can have a brilliant idea that nobody knows how to build. A designer can make something beautiful that doesn't help anyone make a decision. We put those people in the same room.
So when we build something for a client, there are real people thinking about the audience, the process, the words, the experience and the technology behind it. And when something needs changing, you can talk to us. You won't be handed over to a chatbot.
Who you'll work with
A small, hands-on team, backed by specialist partners where a job needs them.
Leads strategy for Zest and Zest+, and stays close to every client.
Your day-to-day contact. Keeps projects, reporting and people moving.
Leads design and creative, from brand work to bid microsites.
Thought leadership, LinkedIn and the words that make people stop scrolling.
Supports client campaigns and projects across marketing and outreach.
Leads SEO and AI search visibility for Zest clients.
Specialist enough to understand
We deliberately keep Zest hands-on. You'll know who's working on your project, you'll have people you can actually contact, and we'll tell you when we think technology will help and when we think it won't.
We're particularly at home in facilities management and the built environment, because we've worked in it for years. We know our way around mobilisation plans, TUPE, SLAs, PPM, hard and soft services, social value and the realities of a live bid.
But the principle travels well. If you're a B2B business with good people spending too much time on repetitive work, there's probably something worth talking about.
How we think about AI
We start with the job that needs doing, the people doing it and the outcome you want. Then we work out whether technology should be involved.
AI is brilliant at processing, organising, finding and repeating. People are better at judgement, nuance and knowing when something doesn't feel right. We use both.
We're not interested in building something just because AI can do it. If it saves time, improves the work or helps you win the right opportunities, we're interested.
We'll explain what we've built, what the AI does, what people do and where your data goes. You should understand the tools your business depends on.
Technology should give good people more time for the work only people can do.
- Part of Zest Marketing Services Ltd, a UK business (company no. 15217156)
- Specialists in facilities management, the built environment and B2B
- Zest+ Outreach helps teams find and start conversations with the right prospects
- Zest+ Bids helps bid teams show buyers what their future contract could look like
- Custom AI builds tools, automations, assistants and dashboards around the awkward jobs unique to your team
- Zest holds Cyber Essentials
Let's talk about what you need.
Tell us what you're trying to win and we'll show you
how Zest+ could help.