28 Shining | Tees light Business – Utility Alliance, based at Hartlepool’ s picturesque Marina, has experienced huge growth in 2017.
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Utility Alliance turnover expected to treble to £ 18m after huge year of growth
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It’ s fair to say 2017 has been a good year for Hartlepool-based energy consultancy Utility Alliance. The company moved into new premises in the first week of January, they’ ve taken on more than 100 new staff, they’ ve expanded the operation elsewhere in the UK and they’ ve picked up regional and national honours along the way.
As success stories go, this isn’ t a bad one. But don’ t expect the directors at the firm to rest on their laurels as we go into the New Year.
With their financial year ending in February, the Utility Alliance number crunchers predict that last year’ s £ 6m turnover will at least treble to a staggering £ 18m, and plans are already in place to open up another office in the south to add to the branch which opened in Sheffield in September.
It’ s been an exciting time for everyone connected with the business, as PR and marketing manager Ian Willis explains.
“ It’ s difficult to know where to start when it comes to describing how 2017 has been for Utility Alliance as a company,” he said.
“ I joined the firm in the first week of January, on the day they officially moved into the new building. I sensed a real buzz about the place, and as we all got settled in to the new surroundings, that buzz continued.
“ You would have expected the novelty to wear off as the weeks wore on, but hand on heart there is still a real sense of excitement around the place as we approach the end of the year. It’ s a target-driven operation, people know what is expected of them on a weekly and monthly basis, and there is a determination to end the year on a high and go into 2018 looking to keep that growth going.”
Led by directors Bob Moore, Darren Sutherland and Phill Moore, the Hartlepool workforce now stands at 276. The Sheffield operation currently has a 40-strong team in place, and an ongoing recruitment drive will see that rise to 150 in the first quarter of 2018.
Negotiations are underway to open a third office, while field sales teams are also growing to spread the word across the nation.
Willis added:“ We’ re in the business of sales, and if people don’ t know who you are then they are unlikely to buy from you. For that reason, when I was brought in I was effectively given a free reign by the directors, other than the instruction to raise brand awareness.
“ I’ ve used various tactics to do that, and to be fair to the bosses they’ ve backed pretty much everything I’ ve suggested. I got them into negotiations to sponsor Hartlepool United after the club had been relegated from the Football League.
“ I think they thought I’ d lost my marbles at first, but they eventually went for it and we got a lot of good PR from the deal from the local community for backing the club when others were walking away.
“ The media coverage from that led to Burnley Football Club contacting us. They’ re in the Premier League and before we knew it we had struck a deal where we had our logo on their kit and advertising boards around the stadium which were popping up on Match of the Day and Sky Sports every weekend.
“ But the good thing about how we operate is it’ s not just about throwing money about to get our logo out there. We do a deal where we will provide the utilities, and from the money we make on that deal, a pot of money is created from which we can pump back in through a commercial deal.
“ It’ s not just football clubs, we deal with