This week marks ten years since SCS Agency officially became a limited company.

When I registered the business as a limited company back in 2016, social media looked very different! It was all about Facebook – Instagram was still evolving as a business platform, TikTok did not exist in the UK, AI was definitely not part of our everyday working lives and many brands were still figuring out where social media even sat within their wider marketing strategy! I was also a new mum, raising a young daughter alongside the business…

Fast forward ten years and almost every part of the industry has changed but one thing, however, has stayed consistent: SCS has always been a social first agency. We have never tried to become everything to everyone and looking back, I genuinely believe that has been one of the biggest reasons we are still here. Social media is not something we added to a list of marketing services, it is what the business has been built around from the beginning for a decade – and that focus has allowed us to keep evolving to consistently stay ahead of the game – with creating beautiful content always at the forefront.

Being lean and founder-led has also shaped the business – one thing I have always been grateful for is that SCS has been able to move quickly, make decisions with confidence and adapt when the industry changes. In a sector that shifts as quickly as social media, that agility definitely matters! It has meant we could adapt and respond to new platforms, new formats, new client needs and new opportunities at pace, without losing sight of why the agency was created in the first place.

Over the last decade, we have achieved things I would never have imagined when I first started. We have moved offices multiple times, grew in numbers then honed, gone from solely office based to embracing remote working life and worked with businesses ranging from ambitious start-ups through to multi-million-pound brands in sectors ranging from luxury goods, travel, hospitality, FMCG and confectionery. We have filmed at events such the Monaco Yacht Show, headed across Europe to Prague, Majorca, Seville and Athens to create content – been featured in national press and editorials (both as an agency and for our work), become a Meta agency partner and worked with TikTok, jumped out of planes for charity and rebranded from what was South Coast Social to SCS Agency.

We have, of course, over this time, also generated hundreds of millions of views for our clients across social media, driven huge volumes of sales and built many impactful communities for the brands we have worked with over the years, creating long-term relationships and very long standing clients – which are, I think, in this evolved digital landscape, really what tells you whether an agency is doing genuinely good work.

As social media became increasingly driven by original content, it became clear that brands needed that content created specifically for social platforms rather than simply repurposing traditional marketing assets. SCS Studio was our answer to that, creating a sub brand that allows us to create social first photography, video and campaign assets that are designed for the way people actually consume content on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and beyond.

Like every agency, COVID tested us. It was a period of uncertainty for businesses in every sector, and there were plenty of difficult decisions to make. For me, the focus was always on working with our clients, not against them. We offered advice, adapted where we could and tried to be genuinely useful at a time when many businesses needed support and reassurance. I am proud of the way we handled that period and I do think it ultimately strengthened the business in the long run –  we actually came out stronger, with clients we still work with today.

The rise of AI feels like another defining moment for the industry. Every major shift brings a level of uncertainty, and AI is no different, but I see it as a tool rather than something to fear. We use it to improve efficiency, support thinking and remove some of the more repetitive parts of the job. What it does not replace is creativity, experience, judgement or relationships – more things that make great work, great.

If I could give myself one piece of advice ten years ago, I think I would tell myself to be brave, always have confidence in my decisions and to stick to my guns when I believed in a decision I was making for the business. I have always believed in what I was building at SCS, but when you are running a sole founder-led business, you are constantly making choices without a map in front of you. Looking back now, the moments where I trusted my gut, although they were often tough decisions at the time, were usually the moments that actually moved the business forward.

I would also remind myself that the industry will keep changing, probably faster than you ever expect, but that does not mean you have to chase everything. You have to stay curious, make educating yourself about running a company as important as your knowledge of your sector, keep learning and always keep evolving, but you also have to truly become an expert in your field to last a decade – something we can say with certainty after so long immersed in the industry.

Ten years on, I am incredibly proud of what I have built and the milestone we’ve reached as a business, in such a competitive landscape. I’m proud of the fact I have helped launch many careers in social media and digital marketing, proud of the brilliant colleagues I’ve had the privilege of working alongside as we’ve grown and proud of seeing them flourish. SCS wouldn’t be SCS without the people who have helped me nurture it over the years, especially my amazing current team, who work so hard and I so appreciate.

I’m proud of the work, the clients, the opportunities and the way the agency has continued to adapt. But more than anything, I am proud that SCS has become a social first agency people can trust.

Thank you to every client, team member, freelancer, collaborator, supplier and friend who has been part of the journey so far over the last 10 years!

Clare Groombridge
Founder & Managing Director

July 2026