Social Progress – 6 years old and going from strength to strength!

Nov 3, 2017

Can you believe it we’ve been in business now for SIX whole years. Where has the time gone?
 
We’ve grown from being just Janet to now a team of five: Janet, Esther, Mel, Georgia and our latest team member who started this week, Rebecca.
6 Year Anniversary Graphic

Our Journey

It’s been an interesting journey from starting out in a home office in 2011 and going out to deliver training in hotel lobbies, to moving to a small office in Honley, Huddersfield shared with a branding specialist agency on the first floor. Then moving downstairs to a bigger space but shared with our friends Creative Analysis for the next three years and now having that space all to ourselves.

Esther

Esther came to join us in December 2014 and has helped to put processes in place so we can work smarter and better with our clients. With her background and Degree level education in graphic design Esther has a very keen eye and excellent attention to detail in all that she does. Esther also developed her own skills in social media training and before going on maternity leave last month was delivering some of the open workshops and the one-to-one training sessions as well as managing a portfolio of clients which included a Wedding Venue, Restaurants, Water Cooler Suppliers, Sales Coach, Jewellery Concierge, Windows & Doors Fitter, Electrician, Plasterer, Plumber, Wedding Cake Maker, Paper Crafting Business and more.

Mel

Then Mel came to join the team in February 2016. Mel is our analytical ‘girl geek’. Educated to Degree level (and very clever at that – look her up on LinkedIn to find out how!), she loves all the stats, insights and metrics that social media can give us for clients to see their social media develop and grow. Mel also has a portfolio of clients which include a builder, a bathroom supplier & fitter, life coach, pain recovery specialist etc. She’ll also get on in there to complete Social Media Reviews and does the odd digging around to learn new innovative solutions when it comes to making social media work even harder for our clients.

Georgia

More recently we had Georgia join the team. Georgia, like Esther, has a Degree in graphic design and can whip up a cool graphic or creative collage in next to no time. She’s never happier than when creating interesting and eye catching imagery for social media on behalf of clients. Georgia has taken over Esther’s client portfolio whilst Esther plays with baby Orridge.

Rebecca

And only this week we’ve had Rebecca join us. Rebecca has worked in telecoms in recent years but has a Degree in Media and Marketing. Perfect for what we do! She’s already fitting into the team and bringing yet another different dimension to the team. Watch this space!

So what are some of the milestones in the past 6 years? 

Year 1 (2012): Social Progress was set up and our first PAYING client was in January 2012 for one-to-one social media training
Year 2 (2013): We won a contract to deliver Pre-Start and Start Up Support through Bradford Chamber of Commerce
Year 3 (2014): We were successful in being selected to deliver full day social media workshops as part of The Skills Enhancement Fund through Calderdale College
Year 4 (2015): Janet named as one of the Top 50 business advisers in 2015 with Enterprise Nation
Year 5 (2016): National Finalists in the UK Blog Awards 2016 in London, we became one of only a handful of founding Kirklees Hub Advocates and our social wall software, Big Screen Social was launched
Year 6 (2017): Finalists again in the UK Blog Awards 2017 and Janet selected as one of eight digital and social media experts to invited to visit Facebook, Dublin as part of the #SheMeansBusiness programme in partnership with Enterprise Nation
We know there’s so much more we can tell you but these are just a few of the highlights.

Thank You

We’d love to take this opportunity to recognise and thank all the people we have met along the way….from clients to contacts, cake bringers to brew drinkers, networkers to introducers. We value and appreciate you all. Thank YOU for making Social Progress the business it is today.