Intake update, March 2013

The Sharp Project welcomed 2013 to the sounds of vans reversing and IKEA-inspired head-scratching as a refreshing flurry of newcomers settled in Red, Gold and Blue. On the whole they’re established companies who are either expanding, relocating or taking advantage of the infrastructure and contacts available behind the sliding doors. It’s proof that The Sharp Project isn’t just a haven for start-ups – it’s a place where the aspirations of ambition, consolidation and continuity are equally well served. Welcome CloudSMART (below), SEONext, Neilson Reeves and Common Good.

CloudSMART

The cloud has been crackling through the media for a few years now; many of us will have been floating in it for years, perhaps without realising it, by using web-based email and photo sharing services. Gone are the days when we had to be at our desktops to retrieve email – we can get it on the street, in bed or literally in a cloud.

The realm of search engine optimisation can seem like an impenetrable jungle to outsiders. Its blend of science, mathematics, creativity, marketing and intuition certainly make it easy for the unprepared to fail – whether they are companies optimising their own sites or businesses set up to provide optimisation to others. The basics of the trade are just basic enough for anyone to think they can do it, but in reality, successful optimisation and marketing requires a hand on the tiller and an eye on the charts. And that’s where SEONext comes in.

The company traces its origins back to two ex-university colleagues – one, Justin Blackhurst, working from a bedroom in Manchester; the other, Vaibhav Kakkar, operating from a garage in India. Both were attempting to create successful, honest, effective SEO companies that built on their rich experiences, but it was when they decided to join together that SEONext began to crystallise. A large part of the business is based on being the technical outsourcing partner of web developers and even other SEO companies, which is a novel and bold way to enter the marketplace, but it works.

As the company grew and took on more staff in India and the UK, clearly bedrooms and garages would not suffice, so they decided to set up offices in their respective locations. After a thorough search of the area, their Manchester opted for The Sharp Project because of its competitive charges, availability of space and being in the heart of a thriving digital community. As SEONext’s Mark Blackhurst puts it, “It’s a bit like a university campus”, which is a vibe many techy people are comfortable with. Currently, 14 work in SEONext’s spacious Sharp Project office. There’s room to grow without moving, but they could easily double or triple in size without having to relocate too far. Their staff are easily recognisable around the building thanks to their branded tee-shirts, a cute tactic for generating a few probing hits from the concentration of digital media folk that work and visit here.

Neilson Reeves

Photography is a peculiar trade. The basic kit is available to anyone, but it takes talent and learning to make the end product pack a punch. In a world of downloadable stock photos and a camera in every pocket, it would be easy to think that the pro photographer is under threat an element of our image-hungry media. But the results speak for themselves: if you want to guarantee good, unique and imaginative pictures, you need to hire a professional.

Neilson Reeves has calibre. He’s built up his business over two decades and works in the corporate, entertainment, PR, press and advertising sectors. For Neilson, the move to The Sharp Project represented something of a shift in his business model. He had always maintained a studio, but nowadays he considers that a little inefficient as it’s only used for a small proportion of his work. Plus, The Sharp Project has an abundance of studio space which he can take off the shelf when he needs it.

He’s already employed fellow tentants InventID to do some logo design and apply a little personalisation to his container. He’s also collaborated with SEONext, taking pictures for their own website. As the only stills photographer currently on site, there’s a fair chance he’s going to be in demand rather a lot.

Common Good

Common Good are using their first months at The Sharp Project wisely. Fresh from stints at top UK advertising agencies working on major campaigns and the odd national spectacle, John Keiller and Charlie Meachin decided to go it alone, setting up a digital innovation agency and playing by their own rules; focusing on what they were great at, what they felt clients needed most which has resulted in some already great client wins and projects.

The two founders used their vast resources of strategic nous in the digital realm to seize a gap in the market. As John says, “There was a gap for an agency with the sole purpose of creating common value for brands, businesses, customers and society. This purpose is realised through the design and development of innovative, sustainable and simple digital products, services, experiences and even businesses. Common Good has a firm belief that creating common value unleashes huge opportunities for innovation, creates more sustainable customer relationships and nurtures business growth – hence the name. Its not about CSR but about having a human-centric, adding value to people’s lives.”

At the moment they are helping large corporations incubate a startup to create new disruptive innovations and revenue models without having a negative impact on the existing business model to designing digital brand strategies for some already super innovative brands.

So they’re currently beavering away on some select projects, getting their own website up and running (http://common-good.co/) and have already worked with other Sharp Project residents SEONext and InventID. Common Good operates with built-in values of design, simplicity, innovation and sustainability and are “running lean” to quote Ash Maurya, enabling them to build value into their brands more quickly and effectively than the competition. “In a sentence,” says John after the inevitable question, “Common Good helps brands to innovate and grow through digital strategy, creativity and technology; it’s all about turning the status quo on its head.” And it seems they’re uncommonly good at it.

Charlie Hankers is a freelance copywriter in Manchester, UK