North West festive focus: Richard Heyes, Tecmark

As the North West’s business leaders tie the bow on a frenetic year and prepare for a hard-earned festive break, Bdaily North West has asked movers and shakers in the region to give their verdict on 2016 and tell us their hopes and fears for the new year ahead.

Up today is Richard Heyes, managing director of Manchester marketing agency Tecmark, says, who gives us his views on the last 12 months and reveals what goodies he’s hoping to find under his tree.

What are you most proud of achieving in 2016?

Launching our Digital PR service, we pride ourselves on re-inventing our agency. The new team have been getting amazing results right from launch of this new department.

Which was your busiest month, and why?

August was the busiest month. It was definitely the beginning of a really busy period for us. We had lots of new clients come on board, and lots of our existing clients seemed to launch new projects.

What are your thoughts on Brexit so far?

Still too early to form an opinion on impact as it has created lots of uncertainty, and more questions than answers. It’s pretty shocking that we are still working out how we invoke article 50.

What are you most looking forward to in 2017?

Really looking forward to moving into a new office space, which we are currently planning. Also we are leaving the year with some real momentum, so I am looking forward to getting started on some of the projects in the pipeline.

What will be your biggest obstacle next year?

Finding specialist talent quick enough to keep up with new client wins. As a service business this can be a real problem. We have experienced this issue previously, most of our best people start out in more junior roles and that takes longer. Some of our techniques are pretty unique so we can’t necessarily expect people to have experience.

What’s the outlook like for your sector over the next 12 months?

Much better! During the second half of 2016 we have definitely seen more budget being released for digital PR and content marketing. Organic search has finally been properly reinvented and linking digital PR and content marketing together carefully, underneath a solid search strategy has now thankfully replaced old school SEO.

Tell me about your staff Christmas night-out

Eating and drinking alcohol responsibly with the odd activity or two…

What’s the best date in December to put decorations up? How early is too early?

It is only ever acceptable in December, and never put a real tree up unless you are sure the needles will make it to Christmas Day.

What are you hoping to get from Father Christmas? What’s your Tracy Island/Buzz Lightyear this year?

Serious gadgetry!

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