“WHEN I TAKE ON AN APPRENTICE, I ENVISAGE THAT THEY WILL BECOME PART OF THE BUSINESS AND I’M INVESTING IN THAT PERSON AND DEVELOPING THEIR ROLE AND SKILLS.”
ANDY MARSHALL
Digital company ina4 specialises in web design and development, software development marketing and SEO and e-commerce. Director Andy Marshall joined the business seven years ago after looking for a change from the corporate world where he had been sales director at Virgin Media Business.
He explains: “Our customers come to us when they want to generate results from their website or maybe they want to sell something. They know that we provide a quality experience, value for money and good customer service.”
Andy managed the merger of two companies in 2016, which saw the successful growth of the business. The team, which is based predominantly in Wigan with a small office in Leeds, has now gone from seven to twelve staff and turnover has more than doubled from £450k to over £900k.
Wigan may not be the obvious choice for a digital company but Andy knows it has advantages.
“If we were based in a city, then we would have more competition. Our company is our staff. We have a great team, who are local to Wigan and are very loyal to us.
“We’ve made this a good place to work and we are continuing to grow. We’re looking at relocating in the next 12 months as we expand, but we will stay in Wigan.”
“WE’VE MADE THIS A GOOD PLACE TO WORK AND WE ARE CONTINUING TO GROW.”
Recently ina4 has worked with Wigan Council to find an apprentice in digital marketing. Having recruited an apprentice Connor Britton three years ago, who is now trained and runs the service desk, they wanted to recruit another candidate.
Andy added: “We struggled to find the right person for the role. When I take on an apprentice, I envisage that they will become part of the business and I’m investing in that person and developing their role and skills. We reward them with a good salary and they do a day at college per week.
“It was Wigan Council that helped us to find an exceptional candidate in Mia Mather and we’re really looking forward to developing her role.”
The company has a variety of customers with around thirty per cent of the revenue coming through property clients such as Countrywide. They have also completed a project for Michael Bublé perfume, developing a multi-currency, global e-commerce platform to launch the singer’s new perfume.
“We were referred from one of our existing clients. They recommended us saying that we were good value and provided an excellent service. We beat off strong competition from London agencies and are delighted with the results.
“It’s great for our portfolio and hopefully it will have leverage with other global brands.”
