Member Article

Teesside digital agency plans expansion following record turnover

A Tees-based website design and development agency is celebrating its fifth year in business with record turnover, plans to grow its design team and a re-branding.

Itchyrobot, based in UK Steel Enterprise’s Innovation Centre on the Kirkleatham Business Park at Redcar, has doubled its turnover year on year since it set up there in 2010.

The company is now planning to expand its current team of five to cope with the growing demand for its range of services that include brand identity, web design and development, marketing, graphic design and technical services.

The re-branding includes establishing separate divisions for the agency’s business-to-business clients and the substantial niche market it now has in the education sector.

Parallel will provide the full range of agency services to businesses with the name chosen to emphasise the agency working alongside clients to help them achieve their business objectives.

“Itchyrobot will be dedicated to the education sector as the robot has proved to be a really big hit with schools,” said Commercial Director Rebecca Lambton, who has wide experience in marketing and business management and joined the company last year.

“We are in a competitive sector so have to stand out as different and provide the new and additional services that clients need. All our clients have a dedicated account manager who becomes thoroughly knowledgeable about their business and its objectives.”

Itchyrobot is now looking for additional graphic designers, web designers and developers to join the team and also plans to invest in apprenticeships.

“We are really bursting at the seams in our current office at the Innovation Centre so will need more space soon but all the facilities, such as the meeting rooms and parking and the support from the UK Steel Enterprise team are great for us,” said Rebecca Lambton.

Working with a large number of schools, colleges and universities has created a strong niche market for Itchyrobot and it has built up a highly valuable bank of expertise covering compliance, Ofsted requirements and other regulations.

“We have undergone a number of changes in the past year and the growth in both our education and business client list made establishing Parallel, still under our Itchyrobot umbrella, the best way to continue our expansion,” said co-founder and Technical Director Rob Adams.

“Our business clients are involved in the training, clothing, transport, charity and other sectors right across the UK including Northern Ireland. They include Zenith Leisure, GCA UK, Faraday Centre, Cleveland Containers and a number of our neighbours in the Innovation Centre.”

Peter Taylor, UK Steel Enterprise’s Area Manager, said: “Itchyrobot is just one of a number of our Innovation Centre tenants growing successfully and currently looking to take more office or workshop space. Our Centres are specifically designed to support smaller businesses as they grow and it’s great to see them doing well.”

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