41. Impression

Founders: Aaron Dicks and Tom Craig
Founded: March 2013 (Launched November 2012)
Website: www.impression.co.uk 

Finding digital marketing agencies lacking while working for an internal marketing team, young entrepreneur Aaron Dicks and Tom Craig decided they could do it better.

What originally started as a freelance side project then quickly grew into tech-focused digital marketing agency Impression. Today, the Nottingham-based company employs 22 people and growing, offering a service that it says goes “well beyond the norm to really get to the core” of what makes its clients’ businesses tick. By this, the company means it invests time in understanding profit margins, popular products and services and concentrates its efforts on promoting those, as well as working closely with a client’s internal marketing and communications teams to ensure both parties are focused on the same goals. And it’s an approach that’s clearly working.

Impression currently has more than 65 clients across e-commerce, manufacturing, tourism, hospitality, energy suppliers, professional services, fintech and food, charging a set day rate.

The entirely self-funded business is set to double its turnover this year to £1m as it seeks to grow its team in line with its own growth and secure both bigger clients and bigger projects. The next 12 months will also see the development of its own internal tools. With two talented young entrepreneurs at the helm and a fresh approach to digital marketing, Impression looks set to go far.