Ton’s up for Nettl as network expands
Nettl, the network of neighbourhood web studios, has announced that it has now reached 100 locations in the UK, following the addition of a number of partners this month.
Tuesday, 28 Feb 2017 11:27 GMT
The new Nettl Academy has already staged its first class and received plenty of positive feedback from those that were in attendance
New partners to have joined the network in February include sites in Inverness, Hereford and Sunderland, although it was Nettl of North Shields that secured the milestone figure.
Peter Gunning, chief executive of Grafenia, which oversees the running of the Nettl network, said: “We’re really pleased to welcome so many new businesses to the Nettl family, we’re proud to bring so many talented and interesting characters together and to grow our businesses together.”
However, despite reaching the impressive figure, Nettl is on the lookout for more new partners and plans are in place to double the size of their network, with exclusive territories still available in most regions.
Gunning explains: “We speak to potential partners all the time. We see the same common problems. Some have tried to do web in the past and got their fingers burnt. Some have hired a web developer, only to see them leave and take the knowledge with them.
We’re really pleased to welcome so many new businesses to the Nettl family, we’re proud to bring so many talented and interesting characters together and to grow our businesses together”
“Others have built successful businesses, but are turning down entry-level web work because they can’t do it cost-effectively. And some have got really far on their own, but lack the skills to tackle things that clients want like inventory management, Epos integrations or ecommerce.”
Gunning adds: “Some people still say to us, ‘you’re a franchise aren’t you?’ No. No we’re not. Nettl takes the best bits about being part of a branded network, without having the restrictions.
“Our partners can keep their identity. They get geographic exclusivity. They use our marketing to sell more web, print and display. They use our software and systems to deliver web projects more quickly. And they use our training to teach them how to do it all, with their existing team. It’s entirely up to them how much they adopt.”
The big 100; the Nettl network now stretches to 100 sites around the UK
Meanwhile, in a further boost to its overall setup, Nettl has launched the ‘Nettl Academy’ for design students.
The academy forms part of the recently opened Nettl of Birmingham Business Store and will provide design graduates with an opportunity to gain valuable, commercial experience, while at the same time benefitting from knowledge and experience of leading professionals from within the Nettl network.
The first class has already taken place at the new facility, with the first intake of Cadets mostly hailing from Coventry University, where they have typically studied Illustration and Graphic Design and have an average age of 21.
We have launched the Nettl Academy to give these talented graduates a helping hand”
Chris Lowe, director of Nettl and unofficial ‘head professor of Nettl Academy’, comments: “Every year, 10,000 students graduate from university with a design qualification. Yet, on average there are only 800 design jobs available.
“Of those 800 jobs available, businesses often prefer to hire designers with experience, but getting that experience is tough. Many designers resort to freelancing and building their portfolio through doing work for friends and family while many more end up working in an unrelated field.
“We have launched the Nettl Academy to give these talented graduates a helping hand. The academy is a place where design graduates can gain experience, get on-the-job coaching and real-world training. It gives them a leg-up and teaches them how to do the job in a busy and funky design studio.”
Lowe adds: “We hope that the experience a Cadet gets from Nettl Academy will make them more employable. We might keep one or two for ourselves and we’ve already had interest from other Nettl studios in our network.”
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