EF News
Tell me about your background in business
I originally worked for a major marketing agency in the North West, where I gained a great deal of experience and the necessary confidence and desire to consider setting up my own agency.
How was r//evolution formed?
Having returned to the North East, I set up r//evolution in 2003 – working from the family home in Corbridge before renting office space in Hexham, where I took on my first two members of staff. Having emerged from the recession of 2008/09, I decided to relocate to Gateshead’s Northern Design Centre to both raise r//evolution’s profile and recruit talent.
What attracted you to the Scale-up Leader’s Academy and how did it help?
I was looking to develop a blueprint to grow the business and the academy allowed me to do just this through a combination of delivered teaching, peer discussions and the sharing of business experience.
r//evolution achieved month on month growth due to the strategies and systems put in place as a direct result of the Scale-up Leader’s Academy. It helped me to embed these within the business to bring about long-term change.
One of the key things I learnt was the fundamental importance of attracting the right talent to the business. We have a stringent process for ensuring our staff possess the right attitude, in addition to the requisite technical skills.
A great example of this is director Adam Blenkinsopp, who has been instrumental in helping achieve sustained growth and is always available to provide an invaluable second opinion.
In your own words, what is it that r//evolution does?
We’re revenue growth specialists, working with ambitious businesses throughout the UK to grow both faster and better.
What is your proudest moment with the company?
I’m proudest whenever I see a member of the team excel in their role. I’m a great believer in nurturing people and allowing them to flourish.
What is the USP of r//evolution?
We accelerate business growth by identifying both growth opportunities and growth barriers, or friction points. We then scope and implement solutions to maximise growth. That may be around digital transformation, customer acquisition or customer nurturing.
How has the firm grown and what do you attribute this to?
We’ve grown the North East team and opened an additional office in Manchester in 2019. We have clients throughout the UK operating in every sector, but probably the strongest growth areas for us are tech and software.
The introduction of our ‘Lift Off’ Growth Sprint programme has contributed to our success. It focuses on revenue growth strategy, digital transformation, customer acquisition and customer nurturing to deliver accelerated performance in days instead of months.
Do you live by/do business by a certain motto?
Honesty and transparency are non-negotiable.
What are the future plans of r//evolution?
In the current circumstances, businesses are having to look very carefully at their markets and at new revenue streams. We can help them to bounce back faster and stronger by identifying their best-fit opportunities and positioning themselves to penetrate new markets strongly, or to rebuild market share. So, certainly in the short term it’s all about focusing on what we do well - and helping our clients to recover quickly and, beyond that, to thrive.
