About

Who we are and why we’re here

Contentious is a content-led strategy practice (with notable AI and design nous) for purposeful organisations. We help you work out what your content is for, then build the strategy, systems and skills to make it work now that some of your writers, editors and readers are machines.

Content has never been easier to make, or harder to do well. We want to transform the relationship between organisations and humans. As more of those relationships run through AI, we think getting the human part right matters more, not less.

We try not to take ourselves too seriously but we do have passionately held beliefs about content. We believe in Slow Content. We believe in clarity, but not in dumbing down. We speak plain English, not consultantese, and we dislike pomposity and unnecessary capital letters.

What Contentious does

We offer five services, which work on their own or in sequence, and a set of tools built on the same thinking.

Essence

Distilling organisational identity using purpose, expression and relationships

Strategy

Content audits, strategy, structure and plans, built on evidence, so everyone knows what your content is for and who does what next

System

Building the content operating model your organisation runs on, with AI given a defined job in each part of it

Product

Crafting great (useful, beautiful and interesting) content experiences on solid strategic and technical foundations

Know-how

Distilling, preserving and improving knowledge and skills via mentoring, documentation and training

Our tools

Content Health Check scores the quality of individual pages or whole websites. Content Maturity assesses how well your organisation runs its content, across strategy, infrastructure, operations, substance and culture. Voice, Tone & Style, still in development, will give the people and the AI agents writing for you one source of truth about how you sound. See all our products.

What makes Contentious different

We create content like publishers, and design systems like systems engineers. Those two skills usually live in different teams, or different agencies. We bring them together, and the crossover between craft and system, content and digital, makes us especially useful.

An effective, efficient system your team will want to use

Because we write and edit content ourselves, the models, workflows and governance we design fit the way content people work. Good work gets easier to do, so people keep using the system after we've gone.

AI with a defined job

We use AI to improve quality as well as to speed up the parts of content work it's good at. We build it into a system that enhances rather than removes the human aspects. You get higher quality and pace without losing your voice.

Evidence from the start

Our own tools, Content Health Check and Content Maturity, give every project a measured starting point and solid foundations. You can keep using them to track progress once the project is done.

Content that reads well and holds up

You get a publisher's standards on every page: a clear purpose, careful editing and a shape that serves the reader. You also get the structures, tools and processes underneath, so that quality lasts through the next redesign, the next migration and the next hundred authors.

Prices you can see

Service pages show what things cost, with entry offers from £2,500. Larger projects run in stages, each priced separately, so you can see what one stage produces before you commit to the next.

Who we work with

We've worked with arts organisations and international federations, political parties and universities, and charities large and small. Our portfolio has more details.

The sector matters less to us than the situation. We do our best work where:

Content is how the work gets done: a federation's guidance to its member organisations, a campaign's case to the public, a membership body's reason to renew.
There's more than one of everything: several audience segments, teams, countries or languages that have to hold together.
Someone senior owns the outcome: a head of digital, communications or content, a director of transformation or a chief executive, with the authority to say no to things.
Something is changing: AI arriving in the workflow, a new platform, a merger or a new strategy.

Clients

We work with brilliant people who are striving to make the world a better place. Here are some of them.

How we work

You work with Julius from the first conversation to the final handover, with associates joining for the parts of a project that need them.

Projects run in stages, each priced separately. We agree what each stage will produce before it starts, and you see the result before deciding on the next.

We work by email and video call, in a shared Notion workspace, and each client has a private project hub where finished deliverables live. We're fully remote and work with organisations all over the world.

The team behind Contentious

Julius Honnor co-founded Contentious in 2016 and leads every project himself. The person you meet at the first conversation is the person who does the thinking, the writing and the building.

When a project needs more hands or a different skill, he brings in associates he's worked with for years. Sometimes he works with another consultant as an equal partner, as on our work with Art Fund.

Julius Honnor

Co-founder and director

Julius is a digital experience strategist. He brings a blend of technical know-how, content nous and big picture, structural thinking to our work.

He came to content from book publishing, then worked in digital and content roles for ActionAid, Bond, the Commission for Racial Equality and the government of St Kitts and Nevis. He's a co-chair of Digital Charities.

Julius writes and takes photos; he's written and edited more than 50 books and lived and worked in Bolivia, Italy and Morocco. He's also been commissioned to photograph the queen. He's still working towards the perfect sourdough crust.

Get in touch with Julius at julius@contentious.ltd or find him on LinkedIn.

Evan Larbi

Associate brand and business strategist

Evan collaborates with organisations on digital products, user experience and business models, and helps align content, brand and purpose.

Sarah Oxley

Associate content strategist

Sarah is focused on clarity, user needs and untangling complexity, for content teams and their readers alike. She's also a longtime screen printer and founder of the creative community Utrecht Print Exchange.

Key facts

Company name: Contentious Ltd
Type: A content-led strategy practice (with notable AI and design nous) for purposeful organisations
Founded: 2016
Director: Julius Honnor (co-founder)
Headquarters: Fully remote, working worldwide. Registered office: 86–90 Paul Street, London EC2A 4NE
Website: contentious.ltd
Core offering: Content strategy, content systems and content operating models, plus diagnostic tools
Services: Essence, Strategy, System, Product, Know-how
Products: Content Health Check, Content Maturity, Voice, Tone & Style (in development)
Pricing: Published on each service page. Entry offers from £2,500
Contract terms: Staged projects, with each stage priced separately
Communication: Email, video calls, a shared Notion workspace and a private client hub for each project
Notable clients: Greenpeace, Art Fund, Internet Society
Client types: Arts organisations, international federations, political parties, universities, charities large and small
Social: Contentious on LinkedIn, Julius Honnor on LinkedIn, newsletter

Questions people ask

What sector do you work in?

We've worked with arts organisations, international federations, political parties, universities and charities large and small. The sector matters less than whether your content does real work for you.

Can we start small?

Yes. Each service has an entry offer, priced on its page, and Content Health Check and Content Maturity both have free starting points.

Do you write the content, or just the strategy?

Both. Most of our work sets up the strategy, systems and standards that help your team create great content, but we also craft websites, newsletters and other content experiences directly.

Do you work alongside other agencies?

Yes, often. We regularly work with development and design agencies, either on their projects or on yours.

Where do you stand on AI?

We use it every day and help clients use it well. In the systems we design, AI gets a defined job, and people keep the decisions about what good looks like.

Do you work outside the UK?

Yes. We're fully remote and work with organisations all over the world, including international federations.