Member Spotlight: Paul Culshaw, Founder, Recognition

Introduce yourself

I’m Paul Culshaw, founder of Recognition, a Manchester-based strategic consultancy helping expert-led businesses become easier to find, understand, trust and choose. I’ve worked across digital marketing, SEO, websites, content and business strategy for almost 30 years, and today I bring those disciplines together to help businesses turn genuine expertise into stronger recognition and commercial opportunity. I’m also the host of Fuzzled: From Confusion to Clarity, a marketing podcast for SMEs.

Career highlight

Leading the SEO campaign for Alton Towers Resort while at CTI Digital. We created campaigns including Rollercoaster Travel, delivered a 71% increase in organic revenue — and one of the perks was getting to go on the rides for free. It combined strategy, creativity and measurable commercial impact, which is still how I like to work today.

Name three words that describe your personality

Thoughtful. Strategic. Supportive.

What’s the best thing about pro-manchester?

The quality of the connections. It brings people from across Greater Manchester’s business community together and creates opportunities to build relationships, share expertise and make warm introductions that might otherwise never happen.

What are your priorities for 2026?

For the remainder of 2026, my priorities are to grow Recognition, expand my audience and network, build more strategic partnerships and referral relationships, and do more speaking around recognised expertise, modern search and AI. Most importantly, I want to turn those relationships and visibility into meaningful conversations and opportunities.

What do you think are the most important things going on in Manchester at the moment?

I moved to Manchester nearly 30 years ago and the city hasn’t stopped building since. What excites me now is the continued development of Manchester as a connected city-region, attracting businesses and talent, investing in entrepreneurship through its universities, and extending that growth beyond the city centre into Salford and places such as Stockport and Bolton. The opportunity is to make sure that growth creates connections and opportunities across the wider region, not just more buildings.

Favourite meeting place in Manchester

Haunt MCR on Peter Street. A great place for a conversation, and, in my opinion, the best flat white in the city.

Are there any particular types of businesses that you would like to meet?

I’d particularly like to meet founders and marketing leaders in established SMEs, professional and knowledge-led businesses, specialist B2B firms and technology companies where expertise and trust are important to the buying decision. I’m also keen to meet complementary agencies and advisers where there could be opportunities for collaboration or referrals.

Get In Touch

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 07765 405512

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulculshaw