Growing again

We are now making moves to grow the team during the year ahead. The demand for on and off-line marketing services did not drop off during the recession for us so we were fortunate but it now seems that demand will increase further and we need to gear up for that. We have noticed a shift in the type of work we are doing towards websites and away from print media over the past three to four years and last year, for the first time, we employed our own programmers to work alongside the graphic designers in the studio. It is important that the websites we create for our clients are as functional and search engine friendly as they are visually appealing - and by having technicians working together with designers, we can achieve this much more easily than when we were outsourcing development.

For the first time ever we have employed a general manager with an IT background as opposed to a creative or print background. This will lead to a cultural change within the company and a cross fertilisation of skills which we are excited about. Our www.alphalaunchpad.co.uk initiative was set up to combat the recession and it was so well received last year that we've decided to continue with it. It allows clients to get a good deal, which is important for the types of clients it's aimed at, ie start-ups and older companies with new products or services to launch. But also it enables us to bring trainees into the business to learn on live projects. We are therefore welcoming applications from graduates and potential apprentices who will receive training under Launchpad as they begin their careers.