From an early age Lewis Lindsay was obsessed with football.

All he ever wanted to be was a professional footballer.

Lewis (right) pictured with Steve Fletcher and fellow players at AFC Bournemouth in 2012.

His talents secured him a two-year scholarship at AFC Bournemouth.

He was Captain of the youth team in his first year.

His future path looked clear with a one-year professional contract.

And then injury struck.

Patellar tendonitis, often known as Jumpers knee.

It brought his dream career to a sudden and crushing end.

Poole-born Lewis was out of action for 18 months.

And when he returned, things had changed.

Lewis, now 25, said: “I was just not the same.

“Although I went on to play at Poole Town, football had lost its appeal.

“It was always my goal but now I had an identity crisis.

“What was I going to do?”

The answer came in the shape of former AFC Bournemouth Chairman Eddie Mitchell.

He had sold the 50 per cent stake in the club owned by himself and his wife, Brenda, and become involved with Poole Town FC.

The Sandbanks developer was also part-owner of Elite Skills Arena, which had developed a 360-degree football training arena designed to help players sharpen their skills.

Lewis initially worked three days as a product demonstrator before going full-time and, ultimately, becoming a shareholder and director.

And it was while at Elite Skills Arena that he found his new passion which was to set him off in a new direction.

Social media.

Lewis said: “I just caught the bug.

“I quickly discovered the limitless power of digital marketing for businesses in today’s age.

“It was clear that this was the future.”

Just 22, Lewis first established marketing agency Numinous Digital in Canford Cliffs, Poole, before joining forces with Josh Mitchell, Eddie’s son, to launch Silver Arrow Agency in 2018.

The latter has now been rebranded as Public Nectar with Lewis as Managing Director.

“We specialise in Facebook and Instagram ads and achieve spectacular results,” said Lewis.

“We always start with the end in mind – reverse-engineering the ideal approach to achieve our clients’ goals.”

The results include:

• A £37,500 spend by Warehouse Clearance Outlet on Facebook advertising in May generated £1.412m worth of business, a Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) of 37.6x.
• A £132,000 return on a £9,980 spend for London Comic Con Spring with a 13x ROAS.
• The sale of £37,000 worth of tickets for Replay Events, double the sales of the previous year, and a 3x ROAS for one of the UK’s biggest gaming conferences.

Lewis said: “We’re very big on the creative side and it is this emphasis which is helping us achieve great results for our clients.”

Last year Lewis attended a ‘game-changing’ digital marketing course in New Zealand as one of just two people from the UK.

“Revenue doubled as a result of being on the course. For someone comparatively new to the business it was a complete eye-opener,” he said.

As with so many businesses, the pandemic has had its effect on the rebranded Public Nectar.

But Lewis said: “In a strange world where Covid-19 has forced many communities apart, it’s also been social media that’s kept those communities together and more connected than ever.

“We’ve had to pivot our message but it’s been a minor set-back.

“One thing I’ve taken from sport, and my time being injured, has been resilience.

“I’ve had so many setbacks but I keep going. That’s a good thing to have in business.

“My aim is to build a close-knit team with clients I really want to work with, developing and growing with them.

“I’m really excited about the future and the prospects it holds for both me and Public Nectar.”