COMPANY
Oak Creative
WEBSITE
www.oakcreative.co.uk
INDUSTRY SECTOR
Creative Design
NLR PROGRAMMES
Scale Up Programme
“We’ve always been fortunate to have lots of customer referrals, which means we’ve never actually spent much time actively promoting our own business. But working with our New Level Results business coach has meant we’ve secured a marketing budget and we’re preaching to our clients. We’re already seeing the benefits and we’ve won several high-profile accounts as a result.”
Jessica Banks – Marketing Manager
Design Business Scales To New Heights
Oak Creative has more than three decades of experience creating exceptional designs for some of Kent’s most prestigious brands. The impending retirement of Managing Partner Caroline Butterfield meant the team faced a period of change as the agency transitioned from a partnership to a limited company.
“It has been incredibly useful to have access to all of New Level Results business coaching resources while we have been going through a period of fundamental change for the business. When the partners announced the switch to a limited company there was some uncertainty about what this would mean in practice. From the outset, the programme has helped to bring the team together, improved communication and transparency, and brought a strategic focus to our plans.”
Jessica Banks – Marketing Manager
A number of exciting changes have taken place at Oak Creative since joining the New Level Results programme in March 2019. The agency has undertaken a comprehensive rebrand, creating a suite of dynamic new logos, marketing collateral and signage to reinvigorate Oak Creative’s image and improve visibility to potential customers.
In addition to its head office in Newingreen, plans are moving forward to open a second studio at the new Coachworks in Ashford, which will give Oak Creative a base in central Kent from which to appeal to new businesses and fresh audiences.
“Our goal is to become the best Kent-based design agency. While we know the sort of businesses that we want to work with, one of the key outcomes of New Level Results coaching has been to improve our confidence, with the result that we now value our work more accurately. Our New Level Results business coach has provided a vital sounding board and his external perspective on our business has proved invaluable. We’ve also put a raft of new procedures in place to improve efficiency. For example, we are taking a much more datacentric approach when it comes to tracking our enquiries and monitoring studio productivity of the team. We’ve also refreshed our appraisals system and introduced monthly one-to-one catch-ups with all team members to discuss concerns and set goals for personal and professional development.”
Laura Bevan – Studio Director
Scale up can mean different things for different companies. Each business that embarks on the exemplar rated Scale Up Programme in Kent has complex needs and challenges, but the common denominator is the leadership of a passionate and ambitious management team. Oak Creative signed up to the programme in order to benefit from support and guidance from a New Level Results business coach during a management buyout and handover of control of the business.
Both Laura and Jess have benefitted from the step-by-step approach to setting clear goals and objectives to move the business forward. During what might have been an overwhelming transition they have learned to develop a successful business model, communicate that to their team, and build a strong foundation to secure the long-term sustainability of the business.
“Scale Up has been fantastic for the agency; the programme is delivered in a logical, step-by-step way which sets overall strategy, and then breaks it down into manageable monthly actions and objectives.
Changing a business takes time and it would be easy to get overwhelmed, but our coach has always kept us focused, determined, and above all positive about where we are headed. We’ve all really grown in self-confidence and we’re looking forward to the future!”
Laura Bevan – Studio Director
