Southport BID feature by Stand Up For Southport
A pioneering digital marketing agency is enjoying its new home inside one of the Liverpool City Region’s most impressive digital and creative start-up spaces.
Hatter’s, which was founded five years ago, is the first business to move into the brand new Eastbank Enterprise Arcade in Southport town centre.
The practical completion of the £1.5 million venture on Eastbank Street was achieved on 19th May.
The building overlooks Southport Market and the surrounding area, where millions of pounds of investment is currently taking place to improve the public realm and attract even more visitors and businesses.
Part of the Southport Town Investment Plan, the 8,000sq ft building provides high-quality workspace and modern amenities for entrepreneurs and start-up businesses in the digital and creative sectors.
Eastbank Enterprise Arcade aims to become a central hub for these businesses, providing a strong foundation to grow this vital sector of the region’s economy while creating new jobs, developing skills, and opening opportunities for the local community.
Since Hatter’s arrival, immersive technology company Holovis has announced its intention to open its latest offices, development and innovation centre there as well.
Talks are ongoing with other prospective tenants, including an anchor tenant on the top floor, and a food and beverage outlet on the ground floor.
This is a time of exciting change and new beginnings in Southport town centre, and Hatter’s Digital Agency is enjoying being at the epicentre.
The business, owned by Sarah Jackson, works with clients across the UK and beyond, and offers the benefit of over two decades’ worth of experience helping brands to better connect with their audiences.
Sarah said: “Hatter’s was set up almost five years ago as a response to my frustrations with how clients were typically treated by agencies.
“It felt that there were a lot of poor practices and smoke and mirrors, employed for the express purpose of taking money from clients without delivering on promises.
“I wanted to do things differently; so I set up on my own from my house. The first 10 months was just me with a laptop on my knee in my living room.
“Then I got to a point where I needed some support, so I advertised for an apprentice and one of our clients offered me office space in their attic. I still have fond memories of that place, and it’s where Hatter’s really came into being. Our team grew alongside our client base and I realised we’d created something special.
“Everything we do is about people, whether that’s making sure our staff can do their best work in a place they feel supported, seen and respected, or ensuring our customers are getting value and transparency at every stage, or helping to develop the next generation of local talent through our partnerships with schools, colleges, and universities.
“We’ve grown quite a bit since the early days, but our values haven’t changed, and they never will; because we wouldn’t be Hatter’s any more if they did.”
Looking for marketing or social media marketing can be a daunting prospect for some firms, and Sarah is happy to advise.
She said: “Surprisingly, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend outsourcing right away. That only makes sense when there’s real value in it for the business.
“Often, in the early days, it’s more than possible to manage things in-house.
“There are brilliant tools out there that can help you create and schedule content, and most business owners already have more resources at their fingertips than they realise.
“The real challenge for smaller businesses usually isn’t time, it’s confidence and clarity. Marketing moves fast, and unless it’s your full-time job, it’s easy to fall behind on the latest changes.
“That’s why we built our White Rabbit platform. It was designed to give small businesses the knowledge, tools, and support they need to market themselves well without needing to hand everything over to an agency. Because when you understand how to show up in the right way, that’s when your content starts to work harder for you.
“There’s more details at whiterabbit.memberful.com.
“It’s been launched as part of our commitment to helping businesses reduce unnecessary spend on marketing, and protect small businesses from unethical practices by arming them with the knowledge and tools to do things properly.”
Hatter’s has now made its mark in history as the first ever tenant inside the new Eastbank Enterprise Arcade.
Sarah said: “It has been a great move for Hatter’s, and not just because there’s air con!
“The concept of Eastbank isn’t just a nice building with a few offices in it; it’s the start of something special here in the town, and it fits right in with our values around skills generation and creating new opportunities locally.
“We need more young people to stay here after they finish school, and to do that they need to view Southport as a viable place to live and raise their families. That starts with creating additional jobs beyond the traditional career paths in tourism and hospitality etc.
“At the same time, attracting new business investment into the town relies on infrastructure and talent, and Eastbank offers a clear opportunity to build on both of those.
“It will be largely up to the business community to support Sefton’s vision to support that and make it happen.
“We’re delighted that Holovis are set to become our neighbours. This is important news, because it shows the confidence of those outside the region in this project, and it also sets the stage for future outside investment.
“I want to see this grow and flourish, and extend beyond Eastbank. I believe that will be the case with the right people working towards a shared goal.”
There are plenty of exciting developments underway in Southport. On the Promenade, work is taking place to build the £73 million new Marine Lake Events Centre.
The Government has recently announced its intention to fund the restoration and reopening of the landmark Southport Pier attraction, while also providing £10 million for the creation of a new family-friendly Town Hall gardens events space.
Millions of pounds of public realm improvements will complement the £1.5 million transformation of Southport Market into a thriving food, drink and events space.
There is lots of new energy in Southport; and lots of opportunity for more businesses to invest and join what’s happening.
For more details about Hatters Digital Agency visit www.hattersdigitalagency.com
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