Digital agency Thrives at Tanfield
- catherinegordon8
- Sep 18
- 2 min read
One of the best things about Tanfield Lea Business Centre has been the flexibility it offers businesses, according to Thrive Marketing owner, Johnny Woods.
“The flexible set up is really important if we decide to expand, or vice versa, if we decide to take a step back,” he says. “It can be incredibly useful when you’re just starting out and for staff who might want to work from home for parts of the week.”
Johnny started out with a small design business, Echo Graphics, in 2007 before joining forces with Rachel Townsend Green and launching Thrive Marketing in 2014, a full-service digital agency offering branding, website design and building and digital marketing to clients across the country.
Like many others, the business faced challenges following the Covid pandemic but has since emerged leaner and stronger. With Rachel having retired and the company under Johnny’s ownership, the business model has changed with a number of permanent staff members and a fleet of trusted outsourcers they have worked with for years.
Says Johnny: “We had to pivot and change the business model and how we work following Covid. It feels like we’ve come full circle from a staff count of 16 to a smaller team leveraging strong relationships and partnerships.
“Being based at Tanfield, the management team are really helpful and it’s nice to know there’s a friendly face if you need anything. We know a number of the businesses within the centre, and we have good relationships with them too.”
Johnny says his staff have flexibility too, some of whom appreciate the opportunity of hybrid working and work from home on certain days.
“I like them to spend a couple of days in the office but apart from that, as long as the work is done, I’m happy to allow them to fit work into their lives,” he says.
“But the office is a lovely place and when I’m recruiting it’s nice for them to see that this is a great environment to work in.”
The location of the Business Durham-managed centre, near Stanley, is also an advantage, being only ten minutes from the A1 and 15 minutes from the centre of Newcastle. The company’s clients include Ebac Limited, on Aycliffe Business Park, the SIXT Van and Truck vehicle hire company and Stiller Warehousing and Distribution.
“Although it’s semi-rural at Tanfield, there’s lots of really nice restaurants around if we do want to entertain, which is good as the strong relationships we have with our clients are our unique selling point,” says Johnny. “We’re like a member of their team, a trusted advisor.”
And having somewhere light, airy and modern to bring clients certainly helps when building relationships.
“The business centre is a nice, tidy impressive building with free parking which is great when we’re bringing visitors in,” adds Johnny. “It’s important that it gives the right impression and Tanfield certainly does.”
Find out more about Tanfield Lea Business Centre here and more about Thrive Marketing here.
