A NORTH East businessman is seeing double as his two latest ventures are hailed as successes thanks to local authority support.
North East media entrepreneur Chris March, who set up and subsequently sold successful publishing house Room501, has set up two new businesses in the last year in Sunderland’s Evolve Business Centre with support from Sunderland City Council.
The innovative business centre at Rainton Bridge is now home to March’s new publishing company Remember Media, specialising in luxury magazine and book publishing. The centre also hosts recently established digital marketing business, Digital Allies.
Chris March, founder of Remember Media and chairman of Digital Allies, said: “It’s been a whirlwind year for Remember Media since we set up in December last year, and we’ve worked on some fantastic projects during this period, including a beautiful book “Faith, Hope, Luck & Love” for the Lakes Distillery and a luxury magazine for Rockliffe Hall, the region’s only 5 star hotel.
“Part of what made starting up Remember Media so easy was the support from Sunderland City Council and its business investment team. We were able to access financial support to set up the physical office at Evolve – for desks, computers, chairs – the basics that no business can really operate without.”
Councillor Paul Watson, leader of Sunderland City Council, said: “As a council we do everything we can to ensure that businesses can thrive in our city. The support we can offer businesses setting up in some of our state-of-the-art buildings, like the Evolve centre, is just one of many benefits that businesses can enjoy when they choose Sunderland as their base.
“We have a thriving community of digital and creative businesses in Sunderland that are creating a sense of collaboration and innovation throughout the city, and with success stories like Chris March’s, more and more businesses are realising that it’s a great time to be a part of Sunderland.”
March’s businesses are both set for further success as Remember Media looks towards it’s one-year anniversary and Digital Allies, though only recently formed, has already signed contracts worth £100k.
March added: “The team that we worked with at the council was exceptional, and thanks to the support we received through the Remember Media set-up process, there was never any doubt in my mind that Sunderland was the perfect place to set up Digital Allies too.
“As someone who has now successfully set up three businesses in Sunderland, I truly believe that this city is one of the best places to start a business in the North East, and that is in no small part down to the great spaces and fantastic support available.”
For more information about Sunderland as a place for software and digital businesses, visit www.makeitsunderland.com, follow @MAKEitSund, email info@makeitsunderland.com or call +44 (0) 191 561 1194. You can also find MAKE it Sunderland on LinkedIn.