Member Article

EENW helps digital agency expand its international offer

Manchester digital agency Flipbook is putting the city’s talent on the international creative map thanks to support from Enterprise Europe Network Northwest (EENW).

Established in 2010, the agency has grown to become one of the most successful digital start ups outside London over the past four years, creating content for the gaming, advertising and TV sectors.

The company’s success is built on the experience of its co-founders, Andrew Lord and Ben Haworth, but an event in Liverpool to introduce companies like Flipbook to the support services on offer from EENW has opened up fresh possibilities at home and abroad.

Andrew Lord explained: “Ben and I had both worked for a BAFTA award-winning visual effects company before setting up Flipbook so we knew the industry and had a clear idea of where we wanted to take the company.

“As a result, while we knew of EENW, we hadn’t gone to them for support because we were so focused on building the business in our own way.

“Then, last year, we received an email about an event in Liverpool designed to introduce companies like us to the services they could provide at Europe’s largest gaming exhibition, Gamescom. That helped us to see how we can use support from EENW alongside our existing business development strategy.”

The event in Liverpool highlighted EENW’s Gamesmatch service which introduces companies to potential partners and customers via an online matchmaking service, enabling them to set up meetings at Gamescom in advance.

Flipbook’s EENW advisor, Rodolphe Soulard, helped the company to set up its profile online, which gave Flipbook access to more than 140 potential partners and customers in 25 different markets.

He said: “Gamesmatch is the ideal way to get ahead of the game before the exhibition and EENW provides a dedicated meeting area at the show for the benefit of European SMEs so that companies using the free matchmaking service can hold their meetings on site and maximise their time at the show.

“We provide a similar service for many other international trade shows and have now worked with Flipbook twice on Gamesmatch and again with matchmaking for MIPCOM, the world’s leading exhibition for entertainment content.”

In addition to helping with the matchmaking service, EENW also introduced Flipbook to UK Trade & Industry’s (UKTI) TAP Grants system, which enables UK companies to claim back some of the expense of attending trade shows abroad.

Flipbook successfully accessed financial support for attending both Gamescom and MIPCOM, which included money towards the cost of the company’s own stand on the UK Independents’ stand at MIPCOM.

Flipbook has gained new customer relationships and secured new projects thanks to its attendance at the trade shows and the meetings it was able to arrange with EENW’s support.

The company is now looking forward to building on that international presence by attending the Mobile Congress in Barcelona next year, which provides a forum for app developers, for Android and iOS content.

Andrew Lord said : “We are growing rapidly and it’s important that we maximise any opportunities. As a Manchester-based business, competing in the London market can be challenging.

“With EENW’s help, we’re casting our new business net further afield than just London and it’s already paying off and helping us win new projects.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .