Make a positive difference
Leave things better.
A clearer strategy. A better product. A more confident person. A useful introduction. A new opportunity.
The work should matter.
Why GoodShip*
Where purpose, imagination and technology meet.
GoodShip* helps people and organisations turn what they care about into something real, useful and capable of creating impact.
Hover, tap or tab to explore how the three come together.
Why GoodShip*
Purpose without action is just a statement.
Plenty of people and organisations care about making things better.
The difficult part is making something happen.
Turning intent into a decision.
An idea into something tangible.
A problem into progress.
An opportunity into participation.
That’s why GoodShip* exists.
We help turn what people care about into something real, useful and capable of creating impact.
We think business can be useful.
Business can create jobs, ideas, products, services, confidence and opportunity.
Technology can connect people.
Creativity can make complicated things understandable.
Education can open doors.
A well-timed introduction can change someone’s direction.
We want to spend our time using those things to make something better.
Not every project has to change the world. But there should be a reason for doing it beyond simply making another thing.
Better. Clearer. More useful. More accessible. More human. More possible.
Purpose isn’t a paragraph on an About page.
- Purpose
- The reason something should exist, change or improve.
For GoodShip*, purpose is a filter.
It helps us ask:
Why are we doing this?
Who is it for?
What problem are we actually solving?
Who benefits?
What should be different afterwards?
Purpose should influence decisions. Otherwise it’s just marketing.
Activity isn’t the same as impact.
- Impact
- The meaningful difference created because something happened.
A website launching is an output.
A workshop taking place is an output.
An event happening is an output.
Impact is what changes because they happened.
Someone becomes more confident.
An organisation makes a better decision.
A person finds an opportunity.
A service becomes easier to access.
An idea becomes real.
The question is simple: what changed?
Our Mission
Help good people make good things happen.
We help people and organisations turn ambition into meaningful action.
We use strategy, creativity, technology, knowledge, community and experimentation to solve problems, create opportunities and make positive change possible.
The method can change. The mission doesn’t.
Our Vision
More people able to participate in creating what comes next.
Technology is changing.
Work is changing.
How people learn, build businesses, create and connect is changing.
We don’t think the future should belong only to people who already understand the tools, know the right people or have access to the right opportunities.
We want more people able to:
participate; experiment; learn; create; connect; contribute; shape what happens next.
That thinking sits behind both our client work and GoodShip* Activations such as AI Activator, KinShip, Navigate and OneDock.
People before technology
Technology is a tool.
People are the point.
We build with technology. Experiment with it. Teach it. Question it.
And AI is increasingly part of our everyday work.
But technology isn’t automatically progress.
A platform isn’t useful because it’s new. AI isn’t valuable simply because it’s AI.
The better question is: what does this help someone do?
Make something easier?
Learn something?
Access an opportunity?
Solve a problem?
Save meaningful time?
Create something new?
If the technology doesn’t improve the human outcome, it’s probably not the answer.
Start with the human problem. Then choose the tool.
Play is serious business.
GoodShip* started with permission to play.
Not play for the sake of being quirky.
Play as a way of thinking.
Try something. Question an assumption. Combine ideas. Make something before overthinking it. Ask what if?
Play creates room for alternatives. But play without direction becomes noise.
That’s why we believe in play with purpose.
Experiment. Learn. Adapt.
Play creates possibility. Purpose gives it direction.
The things we try to practise.
Values only matter when they influence behaviour.
These are ours.
Be a go-giver
Be useful before being transactional.
Share knowledge. Open doors. Make introductions. Help when you can.
Not every useful interaction needs an invoice.
Stay curious
Don't assume you already know the answer.
Ask. Explore. Research. Experiment. Listen.
Change your mind when the evidence changes.
Believe in people
Potential is everywhere. Opportunity isn't.
Create environments where more people get the chance to participate.
Be transparent
Say what you think.
If something isn't working, say so.
If we don't know, say so.
If somebody else is better placed to help, say so.
Be authentic
No unnecessary bullship*.
Clear beats complicated.
GoodShip* should feel like the people behind it: experienced, curious, straightforward, occasionally irreverent.
And serious about doing useful work.
How we put those beliefs into practice.
- 01
Purpose before output
Understand why something should exist before deciding what to make.
- 02
People before technology
Start with the people. Choose the tools afterwards.
- 03
Question before answer
Make sure we're solving the right problem.
- 04
Make before perfect
Create. Test. Learn. Improve.
- 05
Collaboration over ego
The best idea matters more than who owns it.
- 06
Simplicity matters
Make things easier to understand, access and use.
- 07
Measure what changed
Activity tells us what we did.
Impact tells us whether it mattered.
The idea grew.
GoodShip* began as a collaboration agency. The idea was simple:
Bring different people together. Break down traditional agency boundaries. Build the right team around the problem.
That is still part of how we work.
But during our first two years, something became increasingly obvious. We weren’t only helping clients deliver projects. We were also creating:
- programmes
- communities
- platforms
- opportunities
- learning experiences
- partnerships
- our own IP
Collaboration is how.
Purpose is why.
Impact is what we’re trying to create.
GoodShip* became a Purpose & Impact Agency.
Practise what you preach.
It’s easy to tell clients to innovate, experiment, launch, build, collaborate and try something new.
We think we should be prepared to do those things ourselves.
That’s why GoodShip* creates its own programmes, platforms, communities and products. We call them Activations.
AI Activator
Building AI confidence through real-world challenges.
KinShip
A community for people who want to connect, learn and collaborate.
Navigate
Helping founders find knowledge, people and support.
OneDock
Making opportunities, events and support easier to discover.
Fableit
New models of participatory storytelling.
AI & Tech for Good
Collaborative knowledge sharing on using AI and technology for good.
Activations are where we put our own thinking into practice.
Liverpool is our home. Purpose is our territory.
GoodShip* was born in Liverpool.
The city’s creativity, independence, community spirit and instinct for doing things differently have shaped how we think and work. Liverpool remains home and an important part of what we’re building.
But we’re curious about the world beyond our doorstep too.
We work with people and organisations across the UK and internationally, travelling wherever the right project, partnership or opportunity takes us.
That might mean building something with a team in Liverpool. Working with partners in London. Developing new relationships in Malta. Or collaborating with organisations from somewhere we haven’t visited yet.
Geography changes. Our starting question doesn’t:
What are you trying to make better?
Two years of play.
A surprising amount of impact.
GoodShip* began as an experiment.
What happens if decades of experience come with permission to start again?
What happens if an agency builds its own programmes, products and communities alongside client work?
What happens if emerging technology is used to help more people participate, rather than simply automate them?
We’re still finding out.
And that’s part of the point.
GoodShip* is still an experiment. We’d like to keep it that way.
A few things we’re not trying to be.
Not a traditional agency
We don't try to fit every problem into a predetermined list of deliverables.
Not a management consultancy
We like strategy. We also like doing something with it.
Not an AI company
AI matters increasingly to our work. Purpose comes before technology.
Not a charity
GoodShip* is a commercial business. Commercial success and positive impact can coexist.
Not limited to one sector
Interesting problems appear everywhere.
Not limited by geography
Liverpool is home. We'll work wherever the right challenge takes us.
Why GoodShip*?
Because sometimes you don’t need another supplier.
You need someone who gives a ship* about what happens next.
01
Ask a better question
Challenge assumptions before everyone races towards the wrong answer.
02
Join things together
Strategy, creativity, technology, people and delivery don't need to live in separate boxes.
03
Bring external perspective
Sometimes the most useful view comes from outside the problem.
04
Make ideas tangible
Move from talking about possibilities to creating something people can respond to.
05
Bring people with us
Involve the people who need to understand, use, shape or benefit from the outcome.
06
Stay involved
What happens after the idea matters.
07
Care about the outcome
Because if nobody gives a ship* about the result, what's the point?
What are you trying to make better?
An idea.
A challenge.
An opportunity.
Something that’s stuck.
Something that doesn’t exist yet.
You don’t need to know the solution.
That’s what the first conversation is for.