We work hard to get under the skin of your company and having the time to get to know you is important to us. However, after meeting Redbrooks’ new Managing Director on the 12 December 2019, we delivered a rebrand, new photography and a new website in just eight weeks.
Since it was created in 2017, Southend Care has delivered outstanding care and support services to many of the most vulnerable citizens in Southend-on-Sea.
From residential care and supported living to complex reablement and day services, the company – which is wholly owned by Southend Borough Council – has a vision to be the first organisation people local turn to for care and support services. Read More
If you were in business before the internet took off, you’ll remember how much of your marketing made it into print.
From brochures, flyers and banners through to posters, media ads, exhibition stands and even beer mats – printed materials were the mainstay of promoting your business, products and services. Read More
In Britain, we’ve a habit of being a bit shy about our birthdays.
As the big day approaches, people start asking us questions like:
“What are you up to for your birthday?”
“Can I get you a present? Is there anything you’d like?”
“Are you having a party this year?”
The answers to these tend to be something along the lines of:
“Oh, nothing special.”
“That’s very kind, but no.”
“No, I don’t want to make a fuss.”
For some reason, we have this ingrained idea that there’s something ‘un-British’ about making a big deal of our own birthdays. Which is odd, because most of us love celebrating other people’s and making a big fuss of them.
These days, just four in ten new businesses make it through their first five years. So, when you get a firm that has been going from strength to strength for a century, you know it must be doing something right.
One business that’s currently celebrating its 100th anniversary is Southend estate agent and property specialist, Sorrell. Founded by First World War veteran Harold Sorrell in 1919, the firm has weathered the storms of many recessions and seen the average local house price soar from £450 to over £300,000. Read More
Never underestimate the power of a fresh perspective.
That’s something that Professor Marc de Leval knows extremely well. In the mid 1990s, he was a physician at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH). At the time there was a high mortality rate for surgery on patients with congenital heart disease.
Professor de Leval realised that a major risk factor was the journey from the operating theatre to the intensive care unit. Mistakes in communication and equipment were much too common. The only problem was that he didn’t know how to improve the situation.
So he decided to get a fresh perspective. How? Read More
A few years ago, I was at a business event where I got talking to the owner of an Essex printing firm.
He’d built his company up over 20 years, employed over 30 people and enjoyed a turnover of well over £3 million. On the face of it, he seemed to be doing extremely well.
So I asked him whether he was optimistic about the future, and was surprised to hear that he wasn’t. He told me that he was worried because his firm was reliant on a small number of high-value contracts. If any one of them decided to take their business elsewhere it would not only mean redundancies, but also price rises – which would make his company less competitive.
I asked the owner what he was doing to attract fresh business. He said that he had recently invested heavily in PR, but it wasn’t getting him results. Read More
If you own a car, you’ll know how difficult it can be to spot when things stop working.
You can drive around for months without noticing a problem. Then, when it’s time for your MOT, you find out that your tyres don’t have enough tread, your front suspension is loose and at least one of your brake lights isn’t working.
It’s a similar story when it comes to marketing your business. It’s easy to fall into the trap of just booking the same advertising year after year. But because there’s no law that says you have to prove your marketing is ‘roadworthy’ every 12 months, the temptation is to not check how it’s performing.
At Garda, we’ve helped many businesses take stock of their marketing and get their sales figures back on the road. We help them measure the return on their existing marketing, negotiate better deals, find new avenues for online and offline promotion, not to mention create opportunities for valuable press coverage.
Take the Stage founder Amy Burrows is jumping for joy after Garda helped the company double the number of children it helps from 300 to 600 – in a single year!
The new Southend-based production company makes it affordable for performing arts schools to give children the chance to perform at nationally recognised venues.
The brainchild of actress and TV presenter Amy, she not only hopes Takes the Stage will give children much needed opportunities, but that it will help to launch some glittering careers.
However, Amy also knew that she needed help to get the word out to as many people as possible, so she asked Garda to get involved. We worked closely with her over a year to market the event and win valuable PR, as well as designing eye-catching items like event programmes.
