FEATURE
Dean ’ s firm Visualsoft has offices in Newcastle , Manchester and Dubai as well as Teesside
Still determined to be independent , Dean supported his studies by earning £ 3.33 an hour at a Food Giant supermarket , where he was swiftly plucked from the checkouts to help with Excel spreadsheets in the manager ’ s office .
The third year of the course was another placement , this time closer to home , at ICI . He thrived in the practical experience but hated the academic side , and “ scraped by ” with a 2.2 degree .
After graduating , his first job was with a digital company , creating an early ecommerce site , but he quickly realised he wanted to work for himself . He returned to ICI as a selfemployed contractor and started building dynamic websites for additional clients .
During his time at ICI , he met two other “ like-minded lads ” and their collaborations led to the foundations being laid for Visualsoft . The company was officially launched in October 1998 , with the three partners working from home . One critical meeting – with law firm , Dickinson Dees – memorably took place in Dean ’ s bedroom .
The company grew quickly . Its first major project was supporting the establishment of freeskills . com – taking paid IT training content and turning it into the world ’ s first free online training website . Other early customers were Williams Music , and shoe retailer Charles Clinkard , who remains a loyal client .
Dean became CEO after a management buyout in 2014 and , six years later , another milestone was reached when Livingbridge , one of the UK ’ s leading mid-market private equity investors , announced a significant investment .
Today , Visualsoft is an industry leader , providing retailers with e-commerce solutions , including initial site development and ongoing support , alongside a range of digital marketing services .
As well as encouraging customers to “ Think Bigger ”, Visualsoft is also an employer that thinks more flexibly , with a pivotal moment coming when Dean was dropping off his children at school and saw first-hand how stressed one of Visualsoft ’ s female employees was .
“ She ’ d got stuck in traffic , so she was late dropping her kids off , and fretting about clocking on at work on time ,” he recalls .
It led to the introduction of flexible working and unlimited holidays at Visualsoft . “ If people have used up their holidays but need to be somewhere , like their child ’ s sports day , for example , then that ’ s where they should be ,” says Dean . “ They still get paid , as long as the work gets done .”
And the work is clearly getting done . Visualsoft is now a national company , processing more than £ 1bn of transactions for clients . The company also has offices in Newcastle , Manchester , and Dubai and 1.2 per cent of all e-commerce traffic goes through a site built by Visualsoft .
“ I want some kid on Teesside , who wouldn ’ t have had a computer , to have the chance to become the new Elon Musk ”
“ I want us to become synonymous with e-commerce and to help more companies succeed online ,” he declares .
Meanwhile , Dean is also busy with outside interests , such as being a governor at his old university . “ Teesside University is run by an exceptional group of people and I ’ m proud to be part of it ,” he says .
He ’ s also formed a business partnership with Mark Leader , originally a client and now a close friend . Together , they launched Northern Stable , an incubator company for tech businesses . Successes so far include Salesfire – enabling online businesses to convert more visitors to customers – and Hive HR , which helps companies engage with employees .
Dean ’ s latest passion goes back to his own roots , and a deep desire to make sure the young people of Teesside don ’ t miss out due to not having computers at home .
“ After lockdown , I kept hearing the phrase ‘ digital poverty ’, and it reminded me of the privileged position I was in when my dad bought that first computer when I was seven . Imagine if I hadn ’ t had that opportunity ?” he says .
Dean ’ s response was to kickstart a fund with a £ 20,000 donation , which grew to £ 100,000 with contributions from elsewhere . His aim now is to launch a charity to tackle what he prefers to call “ digital inequality ”.
“ I want some kid on Teesside , who wouldn ’ t have had a computer , to have the chance to become the new Elon Musk ,” he declares .
Now 46 , there is clearly a lot more he wants to achieve . That includes Visualsoft , the company he launched from his bedroom , becoming a “ unicorn company ” – valued at more than £ 1bn . “ It ’ s a matter of when ,” he insists , matter-of-factly . It ’ s a fair bet that Dean Benson will always be thinking bigger .
24 | Tees Business