A Tyneside trend forecasting agency is aiming for future expansion after investing in its own Newcastle offices for the first time.
TrendBible delivers products and services that give clients a detailed insight into how the future of life at home will be in two to five years’ time, enabling them to develop and shape their future customer offerings in response. The company has been based in rented space in Ouseburn for the last 10 years, but has now purchased a three-storey office on Leazes Park Road in Newcastle city centre.
TrendBible works across the 海角视频, US and northern Europe with household names including Lego, Target, Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury’s, and specialises in the homes and interiors, gifting and family sectors. It recorded a £1m annual turnover last year, taking it back to pre-pandemic business levels, and is looking to treble this figure over the next three years, with an increased focus on new markets including the US and the Middle East.
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Over the last three years, TrendBible has pivoted from providing physical trend forecasting information to a digital offering, making it easier for client teams to access information, and it has also launched a subscription-based model for its services.
Its new city centre 2,000 sq ft space has been designed to provide a flexible base for members of the growing, 22-strong TrendBible team to use when they need it, while also being big enough to accommodate the team when it comes together for quarterly company ‘connection’ events. The business is also planning to use its new base to provide more opportunities for local young people to break into the industry.
Joanna Feeley, founder and CEO of TrendBible, said: “We have a fully flexible working model, with our team members often working from home or from outside the region, but we still needed a space that could accommodate some or all of them as the need arises, as well as provide room for future new recruits. Buying our own office gives us a solid base from which to grow, and also underpins our position as a North East born-and-bred business that’s here for the long term. I had to move away from the region to get my start in forecasting, and with a huge regional talent pool for us to access, we want to make sure there are opportunities for talented local young people to stay here and still build careers in an exciting and ever-changing industry.”
Julie Cuthbertson, corporate finance manager at long-term advisors RMT Accountants and Business Advisors, worked with the TrendBible management team to find the new property and bring in the capital to complete the purchase.
She added: “TrendBible is successfully applying North East knowledge and insight in markets right around the world and has built up a client base that any competitor would envy.”