FEATURE
Hearts on Teesside – Tees Business creators Dave Allan ( left ) and Martin Walker .
TEES
TEAM
Formidable team draw on community spirit and Tees pride to achieve success
Dave Allan and Martin Walker are happy to admit that with just the two of them , their business Resolution Media & Publishing “ could only have gone so far ”.
Eight years ago , the pair started publishing your favourite quarterly B2B magazine and the voice of business for the Tees region , Tees Business .
It was certainly a labour of love , with the pair of them doing all the sales , interviewing , writing and even some of the distribution !
However , both were confident in the concept of what started life as an idea from Martin , who already had a successful publication championing the businesses in his hometown of Newton Aycliffe .
So it ’ s no surprise that Tees Business has gone from strength to strength , growing both print and online audiences - in no small part due to the formidable team they have built .
“ It ’ s a hard decision to make in business when you first think about taking on staff and we mulled it over for two years ,” says Dave .
“ Our first appointment was part-time , but now we ’ re happy to say we have four full-time staff as well as a part-time writer and we ’ re also proud to support a much larger and growing freelance community .” The team includes office manager Vicky Thomas who keeps them “ super organised ”, sales duo Chris Garbutt and Carol Makepeace , marketing manager Lisa Gosnay , writer Dave Robson and non-executive director Bob Cuffe MBE , plus 17 freelance writers , photographers and graphic designer Sarah Carlton .
With their unwavering help and dedication , Martin and Dave , both former communications professionals at Middlesbrough Football Club , have not only grown a successful publishing business , they have become thought provokers and thought leaders .
They have brought businesses together , encouraging collaboration and the celebration of success through their successful awards nights and networking events .
They have also built up a number of welcoming communities where people thrive .
When Tees Business printed the first ever poll of the most inspiring business leaders – now a popular online annual event in Teesside ’ s business calendar - it only included a handful of women .
This started a conversation Tees Business ran with about the need to promote Teesside ’ s
46 | Tees Business