Newcastle digital marketing group N21 is preparing to double its headcount as it prepares to launch its first office in the US.
N21 is expanding its Silverbean brand into the US, where the business will open an office in Chicago at the start of February.
The office will be headed up by Sarah Beeskow Blay, a marketing specialist who has previously worked as vice president of performance marketing firm ShareASale. Once the office is up and running, Silverbean will then hire a team of four or five members of staff to work in its Chicago base.
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But the vast majority of Silverbean’s growth will be made in Newcastle, where the company plans to hire 30 members of staff over the next three years to support its international growth. The new starters will work for clients from the Chicago office and the firm’s existing site in Sydney, Australia.
Commenting on Silverbean’s growth plans, CEO Neil Robbins said: “What we have developed here is an interesting delivery model for clients. We do two-thirds of the client delivery from Newcastle.
“We think we will create 30 jobs in Newcastle to support our international services over the next three years, then five or six jobs in the US. We have a team of four in Sydney that will grow to eight this calendar year.”
N21 has undergone a major restructure over the last two years after Mr Robbins made the decision to split the business into three specialist brands in order to cater for clients whose marketing needs had grown more sophisticated.
The first move saw Silverbean evolve into a niche brand specialising in affiliate and partner marketing. The company then created AGY47, which promotes its clients’ products through paid social and search content.
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As part of the firm’s ongoing growth strategy AGY47 is now relaunching under the name Ortus. It will be led by associate director Sarah Williams.
N21 is also creating a new agency called North, which will be a digital PR-led search agency under the purview of head of digital Bethanie Dennis.
Across the two new brands N21 is planning to hire dozens of new staff, allowing it to double its headcount.
Mr Robbins said: “For Ortus and North over the next three years we are looking to create around 40 to 50 jobs between them. We are looking to double the size of the business over the next three years at least.
“It’s about trying to scale the business up as a group.”
N21 had initially planned to expand into the US last year but was forced to push back its plans due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, Mr Robbins says the business is now performing well and has acquired just under 30 new clients as more and more companies look to drive revenue through eCommerce.