Into the Spotlight, sponsored by Huddersfield-based Scriba PR, is a weekly business feature – online every Thursday – which highlights lesser known businesses that generally go under the radar. Here we highlight digital marketing agency The Bigger Boat.
Travel down a winding road in a leafy village and you’ll soon come across the idyllic Wheatley Park in Mirfield – home to many vital organisations that are helping transform the local economy.
One of those high-achieving companies is none other than The Bigger Boat – a thriving crew of 20 shipmates who are together building a culture full of creative marketers and boasting an impressive client portfolio, complete with award-winning results.
What started out as a three-man vision, founders Andy McCaul, Doug Main, and Lee Boothroyd continue to establish a business that’s responsible for driving the digital comms strategies for some of the biggest global brands and UK leading enterprises – from global toymakers Little Tikes and Zapf Creation, to manufacturers Deuren and Celloglas.
Effectively fusing creative marketing techniques and online return for clients, despite its vast success, The Bigger Boat isn’t your typical ‘big city’ digital agency. Instead, it’s a force to be reckoned with that’s proud of its Yorkshire roots and is now celebrating its 11th anniversary in business. It possesses the northern soul, grit and determination that gets critical results in a saturated market.
The crew’s exceptional and engaging work can be seen on a worldwide scale having successfully launched websites across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. It also continues to work with organisations in Poland, Netherlands, and Germany, to name a few.
Additionally, despite the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic, 2020 proved to be The Bigger Boat’s most profitable year-to-date – in terms of new global and UK market-leading client wins and internal recruitment. The team kicked-off last year with a Northern Digital Award win for ‘Best Ecommerce Website’ following its innovative work with Little Tikes.
The group doesn’t have to look far for inspiration when they enter their nautical-themed headquarters either. Bursting with colour and classic wooden features, the premises in The Watermill provides the perfect space to help get the creative juices following.
Recent times have seen the business expand its services to include copywriting, content marketing and social media management, and The Bigger Boat is always on the lookout to nurture the next generation of innovative minds.
As a result of its ongoing commitment to developing skillsets and giving back to the local community, the team provides brand mentoring opportunities to young entrepreneurs from the University of Huddersfield and The Enterprise Team.
“We’ve taken on a senior web developer, digital account manager, a copywriter, an SEO manager and a one-year placement student since July 2020. We’re recruiting further and continuing to develop shipmates too – for example, our account manager, Ruby Ribbons, has passed her Level 6 CIM Marketing qualification,” said managing director, Andy McCaul.
“It’s important for us to continue to upskill our employees so they stay motivated and eager to learn more. To assist in their personal development, every crewmate takes an EQ-i emotional intelligence assessment and they each receive one-to-one expert coaching. As a result, we’ve seen an immediate return in strong team dynamics and client relations.”
With 2021 already shaping up to be another exciting year, The Bigger Boat has set its sights on growing marketing retainers and supporting clients with specialist services they can’t do in-house. Additionally, the team is focused on building even more commercial relationships with Yorkshire companies to further bolster the local economy. To find out more about this award-winning Huddersfield brand, visit: www.thebiggerboat.co.uk
