Joel Hopwood

I am the co-founder and was a board director of the UK’s biggest and most successful independent retail media agency, Shopper Media Group (www.smg.team), until my exit following a successful earn-out in June 2025. SMG was acquired by Next 15 plc.

I successfully grew the business from a 2-person startup in a bedroom to a 500-person agency operating in multiple countries. At the point of exit, SMG had £500m in media turnover, £50m of billings and £12m profit, with no external investment. Its proprietary web application, Plan-Apps, is the UK’s leading retail media platform.

Along this journey, I worked in sales, client relations, proposition development, HR, IT and software development, finishing as CTO.

I’m highly passionate and knowledgeable about building high-performing teams, creating exceptional products, and cultivating strong cultures, with a particular strength in bringing an owner-entrepreneur perspective to the challenges of scaling a business.