Entrepreneur brings work to unemployed of Middlesbrough

A Middlesbrough entrepreneur has recruited over 20 staff in just 11 months to his web consultancy business.

Stephen Hall, 32, has recruited from Teesside University graduates and the unemployed to build DLH Web Consultancy.

Formerly-unemployed staff make up over half of the company’s workforce of 24 and the business has just expanded into bigger premises at DigitalCity Business’s flagship Boho One building.

Mr Hall is from Linthorpe, Middlesbrough, and his dad, Ken Hall, is a former civic mayor of the town.

He said: “DLH helps everyone, from small businesses to larger companies, to manage their websites and social media.

“We look after over 600 websites from across the country. Most people recognise they need a web presence but a lot of them don’t know how to set up their own websites.

“So we build and maintain websites for them to help them to grow their businesses.”

Mr Hall is a media graduate from Teesside University. After working in call centres he moved into web consultancy before deciding to set up on his own firm.

He said: “I understand the need for a good web presence for all businesses and I’ve recruited an excellent staff with the expertise needed to deliver the results my customers are after.

“People find their services from ‘Googling’ these days. We help everyone from builders to window cleaners to have a web and social media presence that means customers can discover them.

“My workforce is essential in making the business a success. I’ve worked for a number of call centres over the years and the atmosphere could be tense, I knew I needed to build a different kind of work environment.

“We are a diverse bunch at DLH that work well and happily together.”

Stuart Smith, 25, from Marton in Middlesbrough, was unemployed when Mr Hall gave him a position at DLH.

Mr Smith, a Computing Science graduate from Teesside University, is now a Content Writer for the company.

He said: “I heard about the job when I went into the Job Centre and was told a good opportunity had come up. I’d been unemployed for about five months and was looking for a position that used my skills so this job was perfect.”