Member News
A Tees Valley PR agency is aiming for continued growth and the introduction of more services after receiving a funding boost.
Harvey & Hugo, which has headquarters in Darlington, offers a range of PR, social media and content marketing services for clients across the UK and beyond.
The firm is owned by managing director Charlotte Nichols and will be investing £60,000 in sales and marketing consultancy to capitalise on its current period of growth, including partnering with sales consultant Steve Pugh.
Funding will also be spent on consultancy with SEO specialists, online advertising consultancy, further work on accessing finance and new branded clothing for the team.
Charlotte said: “Like everyone, we’ve been – and continue to be – affected by Covid, which has slowed and disrupted much of our usual activity.
“Despite this, we’re on track for our best financial year and this funding will help us to keep up the momentum and take us to the next level, including bringing on a number of new members of staff.
“Working with Steve will help us upskill in new areas of marketing, filling in the gaps to help us attract more clients, and I’m very excited to see what the next 12 months will bring.”
Steve added: “I have known and respected Charlotte and Harvey & Hugo for a long time so it is a real pleasure to get to work together.
“The team are genuine leaders in PR, social media and content marketing, and I am excited to help bring an extra focus towards business growth and sales, working hand in hand with the team, playing my part in helping them achieve that growth.”
The firm will receive funding worth 55 per cent of the investment from Tees Valley Growth Fund, and was supported in the application by Nudl, a Middlesbrough-based business support consultancy.
Chief Nudl Shak Asghar, who launched the company earlier this year, said: “There are so many firms out there who are in a great position to scale up but just need that extra injection of cash to help them reach their true potential, and that’s what we can help with.”
Charlotte added: “Being a small business, I’ve always applied for funding where I can, but it’s a time-consuming process with no guarantee of success.
“Nudl know exactly what they’re doing and are experts at this, so it gave me more certainty we’d be successful while also taking the application off my hands to help me spend more time on the business.”
The grant was accessed through the Tees Valley Growth hub at TVCA and it is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund.
Charlotte continued: “I’m so grateful to the Tees Valley Growth Fund for supporting our business and so many others in the region to come out of the pandemic stronger than ever.”
Harvey & Hugo, which celebrated its 12th anniversary in June, also recently launched its own e-commerce platform, Pay-as-Hugo.com, offering its services on a fixed-fee, flexible basis, and is currently working on a digital transformation project to be launched in next couple of months.
For more information, visit www.harveyandhugo.com
