Accessing the talent pool
Site Visibility is a specialist internet marketing company based in Brighton.
In 2004 company director Jason Woodford was looking at options for growing his internet and search engine marketing business, and he identified that the two key issues he faced at the time were access to talent, and technology. The company was also considering its corporate responsibility strategy, and it became clear that there might be synergies between these issues.
"I realised that there was a great talent pool right on my doorstep, at the University of Brighton" said Jason. He set about looking at ways the university could help his business. Through the University of Brighton’s business services office, Jason was introduced to staff in the School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics.
The company started to offer placements to students on the digital media course, so that they could learn about search engine optimisation in a real-world environment, and then take their new skills back to their course at the end of the placement. The company is now taking this a step further by sponsoring a scholarship, which Jason believes is an ideal way to bring high calibre people into the business. He also sits on the Computing Industrial Advisory Board for the digital media course, which ensures that the course content is in line with the requirements of industry.
Jason had already employed graduates through the University of Brighton careers centre and now eight of the company's 25 staff are University of Brighton graduates. "The careers centre has been really helpful and goes way beyond the call of duty to help us find the right people for the job" says Jason.
The company has a Knowledge Transfer Partnership underway, to review and revise its systems in order to achieve ISO accreditation. This project aims to make the business more scalable, and contribute significantly to the bottom line in generating £1million extra profit over the next four years. "Moving forward, it’s really about being able to deliver a high level of quality control, alongside a pioneering attitude to new products in a fast-moving market place" says Jason. The associate is currently researching and developing new products for the company with the support of senior lecturers from the University of Brighton's Business School and the School of Computing, Mathematics and Information Sciences.
Site Visibility: www.sitevisibility.co.uk
