Why we chose Nottingham for our digital startup

28 July 2015

Impression is a digital marketing agency that has been based in Nottingham since its inception. In the last 20 months, Impression has grown to a team of 15 talented digital marketing consultants, all but 3 of whom live within walking distance of their city centre office.

Managing director of Impression and Business School alumnus Aaron Dick explains why he chose Nottingham as the base for his digital start up and the benefits for other entrepreneurs in the city.

The story so far

My co-founder Tom and I had studied together in Leeds and both took graduate jobs here in Nottingham. In 2012, around the time we were discussing our business venture, the Nottingham growth plan launched. We saw the investment into growth and regeneration and felt this was an exciting time to be starting a business in the city. We’ve been proved right and thanks to the support available to businesses like ours, we’ve grown substantially in just 3 years.

We launched Impression in November that year and specialise in providing a full-range of digital marketing services, including search engine optimisation (SEO), paid search advertising (PPC), digital PR, content marketing and website design and development.

We’ve since moved our business from a share space on Woolpack Lane in the Lace Market to a dedicated 2,500 square foot office on Stoney Street in the heart of the Creative Quarter. As well as growing our team from 2 to 15, we’re on track to deliver very positive financial growth again this year too, and we feel much of this is down to the support available to businesses here in Nottingham.

Nottingham support

In the last year, 2,138 businesses launched in Nottingham (according to Nottingham-based data company Company Check). This is almost three times the national average, and I believe this is largely down to the amount of support which is available to businesses here.

We’ve been very grateful to receive financial support from local city grants, which have helped us to invest in tools and technology which make it easier for us to do our jobs and to attract local talent.

I was also part of the Growth 100 scheme at the University of Nottingham and through this learned a lot of the techniques and processes involved with running successful business - which I still use today.

Recruitment

Another huge benefit to being here in Nottingham is the talent right on our doorsteps. We employ a number of local university alumni and recently started our first graduate scheme with University of Nottingham graduate Lauren Wilson, who’s already doing a fantastic job for us. She’ll be undertaking a full training programme, which include internal on the job training as well as professional qualifications.

We’ve also found the active networking communities to be highly beneficial in helping us to meet more experienced local talent. It’s a bit of a misconception that people in the digital industry tend more to go to London in their careers but we’ve found Nottingham to have a wealth of talent, in design, development and marketing.

I think as new business growth continues, there will be even more exciting companies to attract local graduates to stay and experienced professionals to move into the area.

Contribution

We’re very proud of our Nottingham roots and actively seek to support local growth in any way we can. We’ve already hosted a number of events at our office designed to share knowledge and provide support to local businesses.

Working with local clients is also important to us and we have a growing portfolio of clients right here in the city.

What’s next?

Impression is a Nottingham company and that’s where we intend to stay. We see the growth of our city continuing and see it becoming a very important player particularly in the digital and creative industries.

One of our key growth strategies is to continue to build our presence locally, through events and through working with local businesses and associations. Nottingham is on track for an exciting growth period thanks to the support of local institutions such as the University of Nottingham and we intend to be at the forefront of it.