Our greatest asset:

A team of complementary talents.

Our Founder and the 
driving force behind Crush.

Crush is one of the remarkable 1% of creative agencies founded by Women. Natalie, our founder, will tell you it’s just determination and pure hard work that sustains a successful studio, but we know it’s a bit more than that.

An enterprising Creative Director, it’s Natalie’s intuitive understanding of a client brief that helps deliver exceptional creative solutions on time and on budget every time. Her exacting standards are second-to-none and often out-perform our project management software.


Crush celebrated its 20th birthday in 2023, proving that great relationships and a gold-standard work ethic is the secret of both successful brand projects and design agencies.

Natalie Burkinshaw
Natalie Burkinshaw
Founder / Creative Director
Natalie Burkinshaw

Natalie Burkinshaw Founder / Creative Director

Natalie graduated with a visual communication degree at the prestigious SIAD in Surrey (now KIAD) and was swiftly snapped up by top London agency Clarion, with the World Wildlife Fund being one of her first accounts. After years in London, Natalie moved to Nottingham, but was frustrated with the work ethic and sub-standard service given by the design agencies she freelanced with, so in 2003, Natalie founded her own.

In the early days of Crush, Natalie was invited to work for clients including IHG, Alton Towers, Holiday Inn, Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studios and Cisco. Jonathan Worsley joined forces in 2009 to add a digital specialism and business strategy offering to an already thriving small business.

As the Crush team has grown, so has the agency’s impressive partner list – clients like the NHS, GSK, Ordnance Survey, Chesterfield Borough Council, CoStar and Imagineear, to name a few.

Natalie is the driving force behind Crush’s success. Her determination, attention to detail and ability to fully listen to a client’s need enables Crush to deliver exceptional creative solutions on time and on budget every time. In 2023, Crush celebrated it’s 20th anniversary – proving that great relationships and a gold-standard work ethic is the secret of both successful brand projects and design agencies.

Why it works

A Powerhouse of Expertise

In-house

We have the in-house expertise to deliver the best Brand, Design and Digital solutions. ​Our team sits together to collaborate and resolve challenges.

In-sync

Acting as long-term partners for our clients, we offer technical advice, lead improvement and respond swiftly to urgent needs.

In-depth

Strategic planning is one of our superpowers. We take a big picture perspective to deliver on time and on budget.

THE TEAM

Crush as a whole is greater than the sum of our parts. We’re not robots, we are an analytical, multi-talented team that works together to enhance and improve everything we do.

Our clear picture of an impactful end result is what drives our success.

Talk to us
Jonathan Worsley
Jonathan Worsley

Jonathan Worsley Technical Lead / Business Strategy

Jonathan’s 20+ years of director-level experience make him an invaluable member of the Crush team – providing big-picture thinking across projects big and small. With one foot in tech and the other in marketing, Jonathan is our interpretive guru – overseeing the creation of digital products and experiences that give businesses a competitive edge.

Jonathan has his finger on the pulse of all the latest trends and forecasting, providing real-time industry insights that allow clients to stay ahead of their competitors, unlocking value and fuelling sustainable growth.

He has exceptional commercial nous, able to quickly comprehend a client’s challenge, ensuring the digital delivery perfectly suits both users’, and clients’ needs.

James Burkinshaw
James Burkinshaw

James Burkinshaw Design Lead / Environments

With nearly 30 years experience working in marketing and design agencies, James is a multi-disciplinary design lead, inspiring the Crush design team and, together with Natalie, guiding the overall direction of creative.

His superpower is shaping, adapting and implementing ideas across all channels, (sometimes at breakneck speed) bringing a brand story to life for all audiences, be they stakeholders, customers or employees.

James’ technical craftsmanship and attention to detail ensures the design standard of output at Crush is exceptional. Be it brand identity, exhibitions, campaigns, digital and print – all projects are consistently on-brand, on time and on budget.

Jen Jacobs
Jen Jacobs

Jen Jacobs Brand Design & Strategy

A brand consultant and graphic designer with over 20 years experience in Canada and the UK, Jen’s passion is building brands with a clear story and a big brand idea.

Having spent 17 years working in London agencies (six years as a Creative Director at FutureBrand London), Jen gained an array of corporate branding skills in design management, governance, strategy and copywriting.

Jen has worked on the successful rebrand of corporate giants such as Natwest and Western Union, mergers like Ahold Delhaize and complicated brand transitions like Philips Lighting to Signify Lighting. Within the public sector, Jen worked for clients like More London (Mayor of London’s Estate), Team London Bridge, City University, Kings College London and Newham Council.

Stuart Lindley
Stuart Lindley

Stuart Lindley Full-stack / Software Development

Writing code is simply second nature for Stuart. For him, it comes as naturally as breathing. Although much of what he does can’t be seen by the naked eye, Stuart is meticulous (some may say obsessive) in generating the most up-to-date, efficient code.

With over 20 years of experience as a Full-Stack, Software Developer, he takes particular delight in the most comprehensive and complex – the intricacies of which are enough to make the average person’s head explode!

The successful delivery of most of Crush’s large-scale digital projects can be attributed to Stuart’s un-phase-able approach. He’s our go-to for every mega-glitch, trouble-shooting, obscure and un-fixable technical challenge we’ve ever had.

Craig Murphy
Craig Murphy

Craig Murphy Design / Motion Graphics

10 years ago, Crush nabbed Craig as a rising star straight out of college. Starting out as Junior, Craig swiftly evolved into a multi-faceted graphic designer with a keen interest in animation – bringing brand touchpoints to life with the magic of movement.

Craig has had a hand in most of our large-scale projects, working on detailed, comprehensive roll-outs like the Chesterfield Borough Council re-brand and the creative brand development of non-profit SheDecides – taking particular pride and attention with their lively social media campaigns.

Besides providing some light comic relief in the studio, Craig takes pleasure in having a job that allows him to be creative and considers himself lucky to be able to do that at Crush.

Paul Bamforth
Paul Bamforth

Paul Bamforth UI / Back-end Development

Having studied Language at University, Paul utilises his interpretive skills to clarify the complex and create digital interfaces that are human and user-friendly for all.

With over ten years experience, Paul’s greatest asset is the attitude he brings to any project. Creative and methodical, he’ll troubleshoot his way through any challenge with calm and confidence.

Paul is most proud of the projects he’s built for clients who are making a positive impact on the world. Work like the innovative donation application for Ashgate Hospice Care, the interactive interface ‘Starry Night Sky’ for International Planned Parenthood and an interface to help guide NHS staff career progressions.

Will Gilberthorpe
Will Gilberthorpe

Will Gilberthorpe UX / Front-end Development

Starting out as a web designer, Will’s primary love is creating beautiful digital experiences with smooth and joyful user journeys.

An experienced pair of hands, Will takes exceptional care in the details of digital design. To him, the first impressions of a page are crucial – how the elements load, build and animate, the proportion of white space to type and imagery and how it all adapts across different devices and browser sizes.

Will enjoys the sheer variety of work at Crush. In collaboration with the design team, he helps to work out what can be improved, how the code can be made more efficient and keeps us up-to-date with ever-changing standards. His experience with E-commerce has proved useful to our clients – creating more bespoke and complex sites than that of Shopify and the like.

Rebecca Hoskin
Rebecca Hoskin

Rebecca Hoskin Studio Management / Team Coordinator

With a wealth of experience in administrative management, Rebecca’s superpower is to pro-actively provide the assets, information, spreadsheets (and biscuits!) at the precise moment they are required. Besides managing the day-to-day running of the office, liaising with suppliers and organising events for both the team and external clients, Rebecca also assists with our environmental and sustainable outputs.

After 22 years working in dentistry, Rebecca is relishing working for a team of fellow-dog-lovers, within a creative team and environment – attending to the Crush team and the ever-evolving list of client requirements.

Naomi Ashcroft
Naomi Ashcroft

Naomi Ashcroft Design / Illustration

Naomi started at Crush as an intern and quickly earned her place on the team as graphic designer.

Having graduated from University in 2022 with a degree in Illustration, Naomi brings a fresh outlook and a useful skill-set to the Crush team. With more and more brands looking be more distinctive and memorable, Naomi’s talents add to the Crush arsenal with illustration that brings ideas to life and articulates abstract concepts.

Bea Poole
Bea Poole

Bea Poole Copywriter / Content

A keen marketer who loves to read, write and investigate stories, Bea is passionate about how language can be used to shape audiences. Coming from an in-house marketing role, Bea joined Crush with a background in writing, content creation and social media management, but with an appetite to learn more about the agency-side of creative marketing and design.

In her role as Copywriter, Bea creates clear, concise and compelling messaging for our clients, writing thought-provoking blogs, content for marketing campaigns and social media posts. 

WHAT OUR CLIENTS AND PARTNERS SAY

“Crush are an outstanding partnering creative agency who get to know your organisation and truly work with you. Natalie and her team worked with us to create our most successful campaigns. Her personal commitment and attention to detail is remarkable and she has a solution for everything.”

ESTHER PRESTON, DIRECTOR OF FUNDRAISING + MARKETING, ASHGATE HOSPICE CARE