Member Article

£150k investment to help fuel Newcastle digital agency expansion plans

JUMP, a digital brand strategy and design agency, is gearing up for expansion following a £150k investment from the Finance For Business North East Growth Fund.

The Newcastle-based firm, founded in 2007 by graphic designer Lucy Batley and software developer Robert Brown, JUMP has since developed particular expertise in the industrial/commercial and education sectors.

To help provide the working capital required to fund expansion plans of doubling its turnover, JUMP has worked with NEL Fund Managers to secure the £150k Growth Fund investment.

Well-known names in JUMP’s client portfolio range from the National Trust, Kilfrost and technical outdoor clothing manufacturer Montane through to Newcastle’s Business Improvement District company NE1, Northumberland development company Arch and the recent Newcastle Motor Show.

JUMP’s workforce has grown by a third over the last year to reach its present total of 16, and the company is now actively looking to bring in specialist staff for a number of further roles, including PHP developers, digital marketers and a studio manager, with a view to having at least a 20-strong team by the end of 2015.

Lucy Batley says: “JUMP was established to be a truly full service brand, design and digital offering that we don’t believe is matched anywhere else in the North East, and we’ve grown by providing clients with access to a package of high-quality commercial services that are available from a single point of contact.

“We’ve had particular success in the user experience and search engine optimisation sides of the business, which reflects the emphasis that business now place on the digital side of their operations.

“Much of our recent growth has come through expanding the range of services we provide to existing clients, and we now want to grow the business by increasing both the number and size of regional and national clients that we have on our books.

“Having the right number and calibre of staff in place is crucial to servicing clients’ requirements in the right way, and we’re actively looking to continue creating new positions for people who offer very specific digital skills.

“Working through the investment application procedure with the very professional NEL team helped to give us new insight into our financial structures, and what we learned will be very useful in relation to our future development.”

Simon Johnson, senior investment executive at NEL Fund Managers, added: “The JUMP management team has a clear strategy in place to secure sustainable growth over the long term, and their vision, commercial acumen and passion for their work shone through during our discussions.”