LDC Top 50 2025
Mike Brennan
Founder and CEO
Outdo
Mike Brennan entered outdoor advertising as a salesman in the Nineties before buying into Community Partners in 2012. The Halifax-based business, now called Outdo, works with public and private sector clients, managing ads on 30,000 outdoor media sites, including billboards, banners, roundabouts, transport interchanges and airports.
In five years, turnover has tripled and the business employs 75 people. He says: “Many are remote workers, including single parents and people who want flexible working.” Brennan’s loss of his two youngest children, along with support from his wife Sue and son Dan, have driven him forward. “You always have a choice: give up or carry on.”
My Mum told me to build a company where people look forward to coming into work and treat people how you would want to be treated.”
Q&A
Where does your ambition come from?
I’m one of six children and we didn’t have a lot growing up. Go to any council estate and you’ll find lots of entrepreneurs because they want to change their lives and know the only way is to work for it. I spent the first part of my life in hospital and was very poorly. But what it taught me was resilience – I have chosen to be a very positive person. I always say, if you can affect it, then do something about it. If you can’t then move on.
What impact have you had on the people and communities around you?
A lot of the revenue we generate goes back to local councils, which helps them invest in public services. During the Covid-19 pandemic, we let the NHS use our office space as accommodation. All our employees have shares in the company through an Employee Benefit Trust and the average age is 50, so we are a different type of media company.
I lost my son, aged three, and was approached to become a trustee at a local charity. It had been going for several years and employed three fund-raising people. By the time I left five years later, Forget-Me-Not Trust had built a children’s hospice, had a princess as a patron, and had pioneered care-at-home for children. I didn’t know when I took that role that my son Alex would develop a tumour aged six, becoming one of the first children we cared for at home.
Where will future growth come from?
We’re the biggest player outside London in terms of sites but we want to be the biggest in people, turnover and profit. We also plan to move into London, and we are already tendering for rail and TfL contracts. I’m looking at acquisitions right now and just one of those could immediately double our turnover. But we will also continue our successful organic growth strategy, taking on new contracts and working closely with our clients to develop the revenue in their contracts, so everyone should benefit.
