What do you do when one of your top members of staff tells you he’s leaving Newcastle to go and live in Edinburgh?
Simple. You refuse his resignation and open up a new office north of the border just for him.
The daring move by Newcastle digital media agency boss Justin Turner is already paying off. Carrot Media Ltd has won several new clients in the Scottish capital, including a leading jewellery designer on the Royal Mile.
Carrot Media Ltd, based on Newcastle Business Park, is a digital media agency specialising in web design, development, ecommerce and marketing training.
Originally set up as a Young Enterprise company in 2003 while studying at Newcastle University, Justin’s business now has clients ranging from sole traders to large multi-national companies.
“Carrot Media has been in business more than seven years and in that time we have learned what businesses need. We’re not just another company turning out the same solution to every client. We tailor our work to give clients exactly what they need and they love our friendly, no-nonsense approach.
“One of our secrets is recruiting the best young graduates. A lot of our staff comes from Newcastle University; Tom Harnasz was one of these. He joined us after finishing his degree in Information Systems last year and has quickly become a key part of our team, one of our experts on ecommerce systems. I was gutted when he handed in his resignation to move to Edinburgh with his girlfriend.
“Setting up a new office in Edinburgh was the obvious solution. I didn’t want to lose Tom and I’d been thinking of expanding the business. It’s working like a dream and now I’m considering opening another office in London as well.”
New client Gordon Young, whose jewellery firm Hamilton & Young commissioned Carrot to create a website allowing online sales to both trade and public using different pricing structures, likes the company’s consultative approach.
“These days it’s not enough for businesses to trade only on the high street. Ecommerce was a whole new confusing area for me but Tom and Justin helped steer me through it and designed a website that suits our business perfectly,” he said. “It’s been great working locally with Tom and he’s settled in well in the city.”
Tom has moved into an apartment in the West End Village and is enjoying living in Scotland’s capital city.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for me to establish Carrot Media in Edinburgh, it’s a privilege to live and work in such a thriving and prestigious city.”
Other current Carrot projects include work for Northern Rock Foundation, award winning beauty salon City Retreat, Wallsend People’s Centre and bestselling business author & top motivational speaker Michael Heppell.
Justin, from Gosforth, has entrepreneurship in the blood with a string of successful businesses under his belt including buy-to-let properties, fashion accessories and printing. He is committed to helping start-up businesses and offers training sessions in his specially-designed suite at Carrot’s HQ.
I would walk 500 miles: Digital media boss Justin Turner (centre) opened a new office in Edinburgh just to hang on to employee Tom Harnasz (left) and has already attracted new clients like Gordon Young, of Royal Mile jewellery firm Hamilton and Young.