Founder of Magnus and The Magnus Collection | Entrepreneur | PR Event & Tourism Specialist | Event Coordinator | Graphic Designer | Marketing Consultant | Advertising & Marketing Strategist
Most successful entrepreneurs eventually tell the story about outgrowing their hometown. About the moment they realized they needed bigger cities, better connections, more impressive postcodes to build something that mattered. Ann-Marie Doggett has had every reason to tell that story. She has never told it once. Instead, she stayed in Lowestoft, a seaside town that most of Britain drives past on the way to somewhere else, and built two award-winning businesses that are reshaping how an entire region sees itself.
The Foundation: Art School Instincts Meet Real-World Impact
Ann-Marie Doggett is the founder of Magnus PR and The Magnus Collection, based in Lowestoft, Suffolk. She creates events and curated experiences that give people reasons to discover, celebrate, and invest in Norfolk and Suffolk. Her work spans councils, tourism organizations, businesses, and community groups, but the common thread is simple: she designs moments that people remember long after they go home.
Her path began with art and design studies at Sir John Leman High School and Lowestoft College, training that gave her something no business degree could provide: an instinct for how experiences look and feel before they exist. She learned to see spaces not for what they were, but for what they could become with the right composition, atmosphere, and attention to detail.
That visual training found its first professional outlet in 2016 when she joined Lowestoft Vision, the town’s Business Improvement District, as Events and Promotions Coordinator. For two years, she organized large-scale public events including Christmas lights switch-ons, summer trails, 1940s weekends, and Halloween experiences. The work taught her how to balance what councils needed, what businesses wanted, and what residents actually craved: a reason to dress up, go out, and feel proud of where they lived.
She also co-founded Knock Knock Santa during this period, an early venture that pointed toward the conviction she would carry into everything that followed: the best experiences do not just entertain people, they give them something to look forward to.
The Leap: Proving the East Coast Could Support Serious Ambition
By 2018, Ann-Marie understood the region’s potential well enough to stake her reputation on it. Magnus PR launched that September, offering marketing, events, and promotions specifically for the East Coast. She did not move to London or rebrand around a bigger city. She doubled down on Lowestoft and its neighbors.
“I wanted to prove that you did not have to leave to achieve something,” she explains. “There is so much talent and potential here, and I wanted my work to celebrate that rather than run away from it.”
The choice looked brave in 2018. It looked exposed in 2020. When the first lockdown arrived, the events industry stopped almost overnight. Many agencies went into hibernation and waited for recovery. Ann-Marie did not wait. By June 2020, she had co-founded Miami Fox Apparel, an eco-friendly clothing brand born from her love of 1980s music and Florida.
“It was a sink or swim moment,” she recalls. “I could sit there watching invoices disappear, or I could try something new and keep the momentum going.”
Miami Fox Apparel was nominated for the New Covid Business Awards in 2021 and continues to operate alongside Magnus PR today. More importantly, it proved her philosophy about adaptation and resilience.
“The businesses that survive uncertainty are often the ones willing to innovate and respond quickly to changing circumstances,” she notes. “What we can control is our willingness to listen, evolve and identify new opportunities.”
The Method: Sights, Smells, and Sounds as Business Strategy
As the world reopened, Magnus PR accelerated with a sharpened understanding of what people needed. Ann-Marie’s approach centers on what she calls the “three S’s”: sights, smells, and sounds. This is not marketing language but a practical checklist she applies to every project.
“I have always believed the best experiences engage all of the senses,” she explains. “If someone can close their eyes a month later and still picture and feel the moment, then we have done our job.”
That standard has attracted councils, tourism bodies, and organizations seeking results that match their ambition. Magnus PR has delivered recognition including the Tourism and Hospitality Award in 2024, the Encouraging Tourism Award in 2023, and naming Ann-Marie among East Anglia’s most influential women. She was Entrepreneur of the Year in 2019 and became a finalist for Best New Business the same year.
In April 2026, that contribution received recognition at a national level when Ann-Marie was invited to 10 Downing Street by her local Member of Parliament, Jess Asato MP. The event celebrated the newly established Women in Tech Taskforce, recently approved by the UK Government, and brought together leaders, innovators, and influential voices from across the country. For Ann-Marie, the invitation was less about personal recognition than what it represented: acknowledgement that meaningful work taking place in communities such as Lowestoft can have a place in conversations shaping the nation’s future.
But the metric she returns to most often is not a trophy. “One of my favourite moments is seeing complete strangers arrive at an event and leave as friends,” she says. “If something I created gave them that connection, that is powerful.”
She routinely takes on projects others consider impossible, challenging obvious solutions and pushing for outcomes that create lasting memories. “I love taking ideas that people initially think are unrealistic or impossible and finding a way to bring them to life,” she states. “Ultimately, I want every project to leave people talking about it afterwards.”
The Collection: Packaging the Region’s Best-Kept Secrets
Launched in March 2026, The Magnus Collection represents Ann-Marie’s most ambitious project yet. It is the first bespoke experience package brand for Norfolk and Suffolk, designed for people who want to celebrate milestone moments without traveling hundreds of miles for quality they can find at home.
The idea emerged from a pattern she had observed for years: people were booking corporate retreats, special celebrations, and luxury experiences in other regions, often unaware that comparable venues, coastlines, and experiences existed within an hour of their location.
“I am incredibly passionate about our region and wanted to create something that shines a spotlight on the amazing businesses, venues, attractions and experiences we have on our doorstep,” she explains.
Her curation process is deliberately selective. Before any business joins The Magnus Collection, Ann-Marie visits personally, meets the owners, and applies a single test: would she recommend it to her own family? If the answer is anything less than immediate enthusiasm, the conversation ends there.
“If I wouldn’t recommend it to my own family and friends, it won’t become part of The Magnus Collection,” she says. “Every partner has to genuinely care about the person walking through the door.”
The resulting portfolio includes hidden countryside retreats, private sailing experiences along the coast, and venues that locals have driven past for years without realizing what lay behind their doors. Each package is designed as a story rather than a schedule, creating moments of surprise and recognition that make clients proud of what their region offers.
“Success for me is when someone says, ‘I cannot believe this was here all along’,” she reflects. “If they leave feeling proud of where they are from, or where they chose to visit, that is when I know we have achieved something.”
The Conviction That Built Two Businesses
The tension that opened Ann-Marie’s story remains the one that drives her daily work: how do you convince people that the place they overlook deserves their attention and investment? Her answer has never been a single campaign or clever slogan. Instead, she has built a growing collection of events, experiences, and partnerships that quietly change what Norfolk and Suffolk mean to the people who matter most.
From her base in Lowestoft, she continues to prove that serious businesses can thrive in places others consider peripheral. In a world where many entrepreneurs chase bigger stages, Ann-Marie Doggett chose to build the stage exactly where she stood.
Ann-Marie Doggett is the founder of Magnus PR and The Magnus Collection, based in Lowestoft, Suffolk. She specializes in events, tourism, and destination marketing across Norfolk and Suffolk, working with councils, businesses, and organizations to create experiences that serve both communities and regional economies. To connect with Ann-Marie or learn more, visit https://www.linkedin.com/in/ann-marie-doggett-443804b3/
