WHAT’S the bigger challenge ... going on a big hilly walking tour or arranging the trip online?

Newcastle’s Status Marketing wasn’t a big fan of searching the internet gathering up bits of a trip, like someone picking up streamers after a particularly large Christmas party.

As a result, it’s developed more of a one-stop approach for an e-commerce site in partnership with outdoor retail specialist GO Outdoors.

Managing director Nick Salloway said: “The experience of arranging a trip can be quite fragmented. If you want to book a walking route, for example, you often have to go to multiple websites.

“We’ve created GO Activities, which is a booking system for people that are interested in all kinds of activities. It can be anything from walking holidays to distillery tours.

“The main focus is the outdoor market, and we’re taking it into the marketplace on the back of the GO Outdoors brand, which has quite a substantial customer base.

“If people are interested in particular activities, there’s also the opportunity to sell them things such as walking products through the site.”

By going through www.go activities.co.uk, users can search by location or category, and book activities such as otter-spotting in Staithe and a Scottish snow shelter adventure.

Salloway said: “We hope to get lots of providers putting their activities in one place. We spent about six months building it and the plan is to eventually start rolling it out in other countries through either partnerships or franchises.”

Status was launched in April this year when the digital team at marketing firm Different set up their own company.

It provides digital marketing services including web design and strategic consultancy and mobile web and app development. It is owned by Nick Salloway, Stuart Marlow, Neil Lewis and Graeme Wilkinson.

The GO Outdoors contract has helped Status to reach 90% of its first-year trading targets in nine months. It recently re-located into larger offices in Newcastle’s Collingwood Street and increased the number of staff from nine to 11.

It has also worked with clients including Glasgow Caledonian University, Vinci PLC and electric vehicle specialists SheerLuxe.com.

Salloway said the company was looking for “product-type opportunities”, either to develop platforms or work in partnership with other firms.