Member Article

Growing South Tyneside consultancy takes on new apprentices following contract wins and best performance to date

Sales and Marketing consultancy Far North has doubled its turnover, taken on new staff and expanded operations from its South Shields base.

The company, which was set up by Ian Farrar in 2016, took an office at One Trinity Green in 2019 and since then has moved to larger offices at the business centre several times.

Far North offers a range of services from business coaching and training to website development, social media management and SEO to help its clients ensure its sales and marketing strategies are aligned and deliver lead generation.

Ian Farrar, who previously spent 15 years as a global sales professional in technology and engineering organisations also sits on the Board of South Tyneside Homes, and is host of the popular Industry Angel podcast which has more than 100,000 followers.

Far North has gone from strength to strength over the past 12 months, having doubled turnover, won two major contracts and increased its employee count to five.

Through MTC Training, a commercial unit of the University of Sunderland, the company recruited apprentices Mischa Steele and Sharlize Sowden, and has enlisted support from associates to increase training and coaching capacity.

The recruitment comes on the back of a two-and-a-half-year contract win to deliver business coaching, business advice, social media training, event management and Sales and Marketing training for the University of Sunderland.

Through networking with tenants and moving to the same floor at One Trinity Green, Far North initially started working with the Health Insurance Group on a small project – one which was so successful that workload tripled within two months.

Far North MD and founder Ian Farrar said: “Mischa joined us in June 2020 in the midst of the pandemic and we moved to bigger premises in January 2021, with Sharlize joining in April of this year.

“Our financial year ends in June and it’s amazing to think that over the last year, despite the circumstances, that we’ve doubled turnover and have expanded our team and client base.

“We’ve moved to larger premises on a floor dedicated for technology businesses and we’re committed to driving forward the business over the next year.

“We deliver monthly live streamed podcasts for South Tyneside Council from their content suite - which has facilities for businesses to use video, podcasting and live streaming equipment - and we see our relationship with the council as a true partnership.

“The beauty of being based at One Trinity Green is that we feel looked after in a safe environment with a great managed workspace where everything is done for us. It’s a really lovely supportive community here, with networking events with beer and pizza and we’ve even held meetings on the rooftop gardens during the current nice weather.”

Cllr Mark Walsh, Lead Member for Regeneration and Economy at South Tyneside Council, said: “I’m delighted to see Far North expand its operations.

“This company started in the borough and continues to grow in the borough, it’s a real homegrown success story.

“I’m particularly pleased to see that each time they have needed larger premises they have looked no further than One Trinity Green, because of the unrivalled benefits that the business centre offers.

“We would encourage any other businesses which are looking for new workspace to get in touch with our team.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Gardiner Richardson .