Creative agency in European expansion
Oct 2 2008 by Chris Knox, The Journal
NORTH East creative agency bgroup has opened its first European office as it looks to grow its turnover and create jobs.
The Newcastle-based firm, which specialises in advertising campaigns promoting enterprise in the community, has set up a new office in the Dutch city of Maastricht as part of its plans to gain a stronger foothold in mainland Europe.
The company has already worked on a number of overseas campaigns, with managing director Siobhan Bales recently completing a two-year spell as an ambassador for youth enterprise education, representing the United Kingdom in a European Union Commission on Entrepreneurship.
The firm will also help launch the EU Commission’s first European SME Week next year, which is the equivalent to Enterprise Week in the UK, which bgroup also helps to promote.
Set up in 2000, bgroup offers a range of services, including marketing, design, copywriting and website development.
It now hopes to grow its turnover from £1.3m to £1.7m by next year and believes it can continue growing with the help of the new office.
The firm, which has an office in London, wants to grow its 22-strong workforce to around 30 in 12 months.
Bales said: “The particular strengths that we have in areas such as entrepreneurship and communicating with young people align extremely well with the aims of many pan- European projects, and it made a great deal of commercial sense for us to establish a presence on the ground.”
