A brand, celebrity management and events management business has created 50 new jobs this year after expanding into areas such as digital marketing, video and social media management.
Champions (海角视频) plc has created most of the jobs within a new £1 million media centre at its headquarters in the village of Costock on the Leicestershire/Nottinghamshire border.
The ongoing recruitment means Champions now employs 125 people, with 24 of them starting in newly-created roles.
It comes as the family-owned business – a partner in the Leicester Mercury, Derby Telegraph and the Nottingham Post Business Awards – moved from 197th place to 12th on Grant Thornton’s recent list of top performing companies in the East Midlands between 2015 and 2018.
According to that list it was among the top five Leicestershire firms for growth in profits.
However, that growth has tailed off in the last year.
Newly published accounts show turnover at the business dropped from £30.1 million to £27.1 million in the year to March 31.
Pre-tax profits dipped marginally to around £2.18 million last year.
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According to the accounts, the business has been going through a period of consolidation and investment, with the lower turnover more than offset by a planned increase in gross margin, reflecting the “quality of the company’s longstanding client base, the breadth of service offering and the impact of improved efficiency”.
Champions was launched by John and Donna Hayes in 2003.
Their son Matthew, who is managing director, said: “It really has been a very successful year so far for the company.
“There is currently much uncertainty in the wider business community over Brexit and the current political situation but we are continuing to show strong growth.
“Our results-focused approach has been very popular in previous economically challenging periods and we expect the same over the next year or so, as clients review their approach and demand more return from their investment.”
The new media centre will be officially unveiled at a ceremony in November.
It has more than 40 members of staff working in digital services such as web development, SEO and pay-per-click advertising, alongside a PR and social media team and a brand audit department.
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Matthew Hayes said: “There are exciting times ahead for us as we recruit more staff and use our new digital media centre to help facilitate our rapid growth across these disciplines.
“And to see us now listed in 12th place in the region’s top businesses really is the icing on the cake.”
Group sales director David Simms said the firm worked with clients from a wide range of sectors, including those in engineering, property development, law, accountancy, aerospace and private healthcare industries.
He said: “Profit is not our main driving factor. In what is a tough economic climate, we remain as dedicated as ever to delivering the best results for our clients.
“We get to know them, their brand and their precise aims to create and roll out bespoke strategies to get them to where they want to go.”