Member Article

Reach Higher HR gets social with local Chamber

One year ago Reach Higher HR Founder, Mark Butterick, was finding his feet using Twitter for business.

Today he has social media to thank for unlimited access to a range of business benefits through his local Chamber which has lead to a well established, growing business.

The Brighouse-based business, Reach Higher HR was set up by Mark Butterick in 2012 after identifying a need for SMEs in HR services.

The Mid Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce marketing team visited Mark to hear how social media has made a difference to his business.

Mark says: “I first heard about the Mid Yorkshire Chamber through social media. I went on a social media course at the Chamber offices after hearing about it through #YorkshireHour on Twitter.”

When joining the Chamber Mark was hoping to develop Reach Higher HR’s presence within Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield: “The Chamber is a logical partner for us to work with in terms of increasing our presence in the three main areas.

“Since becoming a Chamber member we’ve certainly been able to raise the Reach Higher HR profile, we’ve gone from a non-existent brand to one that is becoming increasingly recognised.

“Chamber membership has been very important to us, nobody else really does what the Chamber does. There are organisations that offer networking to varying degrees at a higher price with no other guarantees. The Chamber is unique in bringing together people from a range of business backgrounds from SMEs like Reach HR to larger employers within the area, to anything in between.”

Mark utilises many of the Chamber membership benefits saving money in the process as an SME and explained: “We certainly look at the return on investment of being a Chamber member, membership as a whole is 30-40% of the cost of running certain adverts we’ve been offered, and membership is inclusive of Close Up for Business magazine editorial, coverage on the website, social media and much more.

“We’ve hosted a Chamber Member Offer of the Month, assisting us in articulating the offer with free coverage on the website and in Close Up for business; this offer doubled our website traffic. Membership has been very valuable to Reach Higher in its first 12 months.”

Mark continued: “We’ve hosted a 60 Useful Minutes training event as well as attended many and we’ve gained some really constructive feedback from other members at Chamber networking events for example regarding our website. “We have utilised the free legal helpline and we could look into developing use of the Chamber childcare vouchers. We understand there are further benefits that we’ll be able to access as we develop and move forward.”

Reach Higher HR has also gained much welcomed business through Chamber membership: “We’ve done an associate piece of work through meeting somebody at the Chamber and we’ve definitely seen an increase in our business contacts in the area.

“I couldn’t improve on Chamber membership, everything we’ve hoped for from membership we’ve realised and enjoyed the benefit of. Chamber staff are helpful and supportive also. “The Chamber isn’t a pressured environment it is a not for profit company, there’s no underlying objective of the organisers it is all about the benefit of the commerce in the area which I feel is really important.”

The Mid Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce is a membership organisation offering support to local businesses throughout Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield, contact 01484 483660 or 01924 311600 for more information.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Mid Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce .