Securing opportunities with larger customers
Supporting a design agency’s growth and client confidence
Industry
Client
Creative
Studio Resolve
We worked with Studio Resolve through the Tees Valley Innovation Challenge, funded by Tees Valley Combined Authority from the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund. Studio Resolve is a Redcar-based design agency with a focus on working with clients who are driven to make the world a better place. The business responded through the TV Innovation Challenge to a challenge from Thirteen Group, a large housing provider managing over 35,000 homes across the North East, Yorkshire and Humber areas. Thirteen were looking for ways to better communicate and engage with their delivery teams, who are often field-based and with limited connectivity with the central office.
Studio Resolve came up with a simple but innovative idea to enable internal communications and bring teams closer together. Having facilitated concept development and connected the two organisations, we were able to secure a grant from Tees Valley Combined Authority and funding from Thirteen to progress Studio Resolve’s work. These amounts were relatively small but led to two major additional benefits: providing confidence to other potential customers that Studio Resolve had the proven ability to work with large organisations and boosting the founder’s own confidence through validating her approach.
Beyond the work with Thirteen, this has now led to three significant project wins. These projects are for Middlesbrough Council, an established charity (Middlesbrough Environment City) and a national sustainable coffee brand. Studio Resolve is now thriving and is on track to double its turnover this year.
Key Objectives
Collaborative working between large organisations and small innovative businesses can be hugely valuable for both partners. For large organisations, accessing innovative ideas and challenging current best practice helps to overcome issues and identify new opportunities for efficiencies and growth. For small businesses, success can mean accessing a large market that otherwise would not be attainable. However, such partnerships are difficult to set up and often fail, due in large part to the differing cultures, financial standing and timescales operating in very large and very small organisations.
Through work with Thirteen Group, we identified an opportunity for innovation and worked with Studio Resolve to respond to this opportunity.
Our Approach
Working with Studio Resolve and Thirteen enabled the development of a novel idea and supported implementation in a large organisation.
Impact
Studio Resolve won work with a major new client (Thirteen Group)
Studio Resolve also won three substantial new projects following the work with Edge
The company will double its turnover as a result
Small businesses like Studio Resolve can successfully innovate and grow if they have the right customer relationships and support. Edge was able to provide this, leading to significant year-on-year growth and a bright future.
