Member Article

South Shields design agency celebrates 10 years business

Urban River, based in South Shields town centre, creates brands, creative campaigns and websites and after a decade in the industry they are still going strong.

Although ten years may not sound a long time, in relation to the web, it’s a lifetime. To put things into perspective, back in 2002 when Urban River was set up, only 9% of the world was online, today that figure is now 33%. The membership of Facebook today is 1.5 times larger than what the entire online population was in 2002!

So how does a design agency survive in an industry which is ever-changing? Managing Director Carl Buckley, who has been with Urban River since the early days, believes the key to success is keeping up to date with new trends and advances in technology.

Carl commented “There is a relentless push to further technology and it is very easy to be left behind regardless of which sector you operate within. Urban River constantly moves with the times and has recently launched a number of new services and products which help businesses to stay ahead of the competition.”

He also added “Businesses need to identify what makes them special, what their key message is and promote it like mad - don’t follow your peers, lead them.”

The success of Urban River has also been down to excelling in customer service and building great long-term relationships with clients. Creative Director Carly Carrahar said that “As an agency we want to fill a gap by delivering great service, really understanding our customers’ needs and producing ideas which work.”

Urban River’s customer focused approach is as important today as it was at the outset and they must be doing something right as over the past ten years they have enjoyed working with a range of clients across all sectors both large and small including the NHS, manufacturers of all kinds, the Tyne Tunnel, various colleges and many professional service businesses.

The company show no signs of stopping just yet and have already got off to a great start in 2013. They have recruited new staff, secured several new contracts and the Urban River office mascot Henry (also known as Urban Rover), a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, has just the won North East Dog of the Year competition!

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Urban River .