Thrive Marketing is based in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, 33 miles outside of Newcastle city centre.
In a past life, we were Echo Graphics, with our office based in Consett, 13 miles from Newcastle city centre.
Either way, we've always made the decision to stay away from city centre locations.
Not that we haven't discussed it. It has often come up in conversation through the years - surely we'd be better off in a city centre location?
Surely, a slick, modern office in a prime city centre location such as Newcastle, Durham, Middlesbrough or Sunderland would...
- Be a better first impression for clients, suppliers and would be more 'dominating' to the competition?
- Allow our team to enjoy lunch breaks, with high street shops, chain eateries and supermarkets all within easy reach?
- Improve our general standing in the UK as a city-based agency, as opposed to out-of-town offices?
- Attract new staff and faster growth with all of the aforementioned city centre benefits?
Some days, when we wish we had a Greggs on our doorstep or a Wetherspoons nearby for Friday afternoons (hey, don't judge!) a city centre marketing agency sounds like perfect sense.
So why haven't we moved Thrive Marketing into city offices?
Although there has been discussion regarding moving into a 'prominent' area, particularly when we moved into Xcel Centre, 18 months ago, Newton Aycliffe has a lot of positives, that arguably outweigh the benefits of a city office.
Why we love our Newton Aycliffe office...
All of our team come from various locations across the North East - nobody's commute is longer than an hour. If we moved to any city, that average commute time would increase - particularly if we moved our operations to Newcastle.
Even public transport - which has been used by staff - has good links to Aycliffe Business Park. Darlington Rail Station is 20 minutes away, but Heighington Rail Station which connects to Darlington and Bishop Auckland, is a 4 minute walk. The A1, A19 and A66 connections are all just a short distance from our office - helping hugely with the commute for our clients and staff!
Parking isn't an issue - both our team and our clients make use of a 100-space car park at the Xcel Centre, completely free.
It also goes without saying that rent is much more affordable in out-of-town offices, but our decision to move from Consett to Newton Aycliffe, before we expanded to become Thrive Marketing was invaluable.
Newton Aycliffe's business park is an exciting and prosperous location, with new expansions and offices in the pipeline in the next few years.
This overall reduction in costs for rents and parking, means we can pass on lower costs to clients and invest our financial savings into our staff. This is a crucial 'benefit' for us, as we recognise these two parties - clients and the team - being the most important elements of what makes Thrive 'thrive'.
So, we're happy being 'out-of-towners' and one thing for certain is that, to our knowledge, we've never lost work because of our location. We have clients from all of the major North East cities and what have we learnt?
Being in Newton Aycliffe makes no difference if a client is based in Newcastle, Manchester or London. In fact, over the years, we've found it can be simpler to get to London than it is to visit clients in Newcastle!
A lot of our contact is via email or phone, but we're never too far away should we need to brave the hustle and bustle of Newcastle or otherwise, so don't let our location put you off - although we know you wouldn't!
Why not learn more about Thrive and what we do, or discover the exciting opportunities on Aycliffe Business Park?
