Sue Keogh

Experience and expertise

Sue Keogh is a recognised specialist in communications whose career has spanned radio, print, digital, TV, and social media, working closely with the BBC, ITV, University of Cambridge and Government Digital Service, and leading a highly successful communications consultancy for 18 years.

A Fellow of the RSA and Chartered Institute of Marketing, an Enterprise Nation advisor, and National Business Women’s Awards judge, Sue draws on her extensive industry and business experience to support senior leadership teams in solving critical communications challenges now, and in the future.

Full biography

Sue started her career in radio, joining independent radio production company Smooth Operations and helping to produce specialist music documentaries, series and live events for BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 4, before becoming editor of the BBC Country website and managing forums for Soaps.

As Project Manager for ITV.com, she oversaw the 50+ websites for Europe’s largest broadcaster, including flagship programmes like Coronation Street, Pop Idol, and I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, then became website editor for Heat magazine and Magic FM.

As a freelance homepage editor for Yahoo! and AOL she produced entertainment, sports and breaking news content about Big Brother, the World Cup, and the London 7/7 bombings. At the launch of GOV.UK she was part of the Government Digital Service training team, building editorial skills and sharing best practice in writing for the web.

In 2008, Sue founded Sookio, building and scaling the business as a digital marketing agency delivering strategy, content and training to clients including the University of Cambridge, Alzheimer’s Society, the NHS, numerous District Councils, and 100s of SMEs.

Her instinctively positive style of leadership led to a highly motivated team and supportive company culture which helped the business stay resilient through challenges like a pandemic, a recession, and a fire that nearly destroyed the building. As well as winning awards for Service Excellence and Website of the Year, Sue has regularly been recognised for entrepreneurship and impact herself.

In 2024 she pivoted the business to become a communications consultancy.

Based in the thriving Cambridge innovation ecosystem, she works closely with senior leaders in mature organisations where quality, trust and brand reputation are critical, improving marketing performance across every tier of the organisation – see case studies with the East of England Cancer Alliance, Trinity College, Cambridge, THIS Institute, and more.

Sue is regularly invited to share her marketing expertise (BBC 5Live, Stanford University, Digital Leaders, Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, Small Business Charter) and hosts the Communication Untangled podcast, a finalist in two categories at the National Podcast Awards 2025.

More than 10k people have taken her Skillshare courses in digital marketing, and her webinars, online and in-person training have given 1000s of people valuable new skills. She is always banging the drum for accessibility and digital inclusion and is proud to have launched the Sookio Bootcamp initiative, giving 150+ young people a leg-up into careers in marketing and the creative industries.

Behind the scenes, Sue’s studies are focusing on studying behavioural science and ethical approaches to AI, with institutions including the University of Glasgow, Durham University and UCL.


Awards

  • Judge at the National Business Women’s Awards since 2020

  • Finalist, Digital Communications Business Owner, British Business Awards 2019

  • Finalist three times in the Best Business Women Awards for Marketing & PR

  • Silver, Business Person of the Year in the SME Cambs Business Awards 2020

  • Silver, Business Person of the Year and Gold for Sookio for Service Excellence in the SME Cambridgeshire Business Awards 2022 (pictured)

  • Medals! Sue has also raised funds for Motor Neurone Disease Association through various 10k running events, and Arthur Rank Hospice Charity when she ran the London Marathon in 2017

Education

BA (Hons) in Communication Studies with Spanish from Anglia Ruskin University.

Courses and certifications:

  • University of Leicester’s School of Business Help to Grow: Management

  • Royal College of Art: Ethical Practices to Guide Innovation

  • UCL: Behaviour Change Interventions: Introductory Principles and Practice

  • 42 Courses and Cannes Lions: AI for Marketers; Behavioural Economics

  • University of Glasgow: AI Ethics, Inclusion and Society

  • Durham University: Behavioural Science at Work

  • FutureLearn with LSE’s Professor Paul Dolan: Employee and Customer Behaviours (Behavioural Economics, Cognitive Psychology, Social Psychology)

Networks and membership

  • Advisor, Enterprise Nation

  • Cambridge Wireless, Cambridgeshire Chambers of Commerce, Cambridge Network

  • Fellow of The Chartered Institute of Marketing

  • Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce

  • Active in The Agency Collective for 6 years

  • Sue works closely with multiple divisions of the University of Cambridge and within the Cambridge biotech cluster, and gets how it all ‘works’

Board roles

  • Advisory Board, Green Light Audio AI startup

  • Non-Executive Director, Secure Connect to Cloud cyber security startup

  • Director, Cambridge 105 Radio 2019 to 2022

Community and careers

With an ethos of ‘lift as we climb’, Sue developed work experience initiatives which have supported hundreds of people in getting a leg up into the industry. See more on our Impact page.

  • Agency Bootcamp (our annual week of remote work experience which ran for 5 years with 150+ people taking part)

  • Mentoring partnerships with Anglia Ruskin University

  • The Long Road Sixth Form Marketing Challenge

  • Sessions with the Homerton Changemakers programme

  • Speaker at careers fairs and in schools

She helped homelessness initiative It Takes A City when it was first getting off the ground in Cambridge, helped run CamCreatives in the early years and set up sister group, Creative Ely.