Paul Corcoran is the founder and CEO of Agent, a full-service marketing agency and certified B Corp with studios in Liverpool and Manchester.
Founded in 2006, Agent marks 20 years this year and has been named in The Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2026, its second consecutive year on the list. In July the agency co-hosted its second Good Growth Summit in Manchester, which brought together more than 200 senior leaders from business and government. He tells Business Matters why he leads with his heart and his head in equal measure, and why founders should never pull the ladder up behind them.
What do you currently do at Agent?
I am the CEO and founder at Agent, a full-service marketing agency that has studios in Liverpool and Manchester. It is my job to set the strategic direction of our growing agency and to position us so that we can achieve our aims of doing powerfully good work for our clients.
What was the inspiration behind your business?
I was extremely keen to create something that I did not believe was already in the marketplace when I started Agent, 20 years ago. I wanted to create an agency that had a two-pronged approach: it could do good business and work hand in glove with clients, but also have a very, very clear eye on leading with purpose.
Two decades on, I feel that we continue to achieve that twin ambition of driving and creating work.
How does Agent put that purpose into practice?
Agent became a certified B Corp in July 2025 with a B Impact score of 84.6, which is independent recognition of how we treat our people, our communities and the planet. We are proud to be part of a B Corp movement that has grown significantly in the UK over the past decade.
In 2025 we co-launched the Good Growth Summit, and this July we held the second one in Manchester with vocL and the North West Business Leadership Team. It brought together more than 200 senior leaders from the public and private sectors to explore how businesses can drive growth that benefits people, places and the planet.
Who do you admire?
I admire a range of people. Principally, I admire those who use their business and their networks and their privilege for good. That could be by creating job opportunities, or by inspiring the next generation of talent, as we do with our not-for-profit sister enterprise Agent Academy, which we set up in 2014 and which has now benefited more than 5,000 young people.
It could also be just by leading businesses in the way they need to be led, which is with a mind not just on the bottom line of the annual report but on the wider impact that businesses can have on people and places.
I look to leaders like Juergen Maier, who was formerly the chair of Great British Energy, and Emma Degg, who is CEO of the North West Business Leadership Team. But I also admire the people I choose to work with, day in, day out, in my senior leadership team and the wider team at Agent.
Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently?
Of course, because no founder will ever tell you, truthfully, that they got everything right first time. Unfortunately, we do not get the opportunity to change history, so it is about how you react when things do not go to plan.
My gut instinct is incredibly important to me. Relying on your gut feeling and using it as your own personal barometer for whether something feels right or feels wrong is something that I feel should never be underestimated.
What defines your way of doing business?
Using my heart and my head in equal measure. I am passionate about trying to do things the right way. It can be something of a balancing act and you will not always get it right.
But I think it is extremely important for leaders to be able to show their working out, and at the same time be able to put their hands up and say when things have not gone the way they might have envisaged.
I want to be trusted by my team and build relationships with all of them. Whether they are the most senior or most junior person, it is really important to me that everyone feels that they have got a place in the spaces that the business inhabits. Creating cultures in work that are highly ambitious but also warm and welcoming is what I see as the key to success.
What advice would you give to someone starting out?
The gang that you build and surround yourself with is really important. Make sure that you have got lots of different people and personalities around you who will give you advice and guidance and who can recognise opportunities as they come. But they also need to feel comfortable critiquing and challenging you too.
And you also definitely need to remember to give back as much as you receive, so you are making sure that others can learn and grow in the same way that you have. Do not just send the ladder back down there once. Make sure it stays there permanently.
