Tees Business Tees Business issue 12 | Page 7

Serving the Teesside Business Community | 7 /NEWS / ADVICE BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES READY AT COMMERCE HOUSE A n iconic Teesside building is providing businesses of all sizes with the perfect ambience and business community, thanks to a £1.2m injection. Middlesbrough’s Commerce House has had life breathed back into its Grade II Listed structure and a whole host of office space has now been released for use. There are a number of rental offers available. The building, built in 1872, is in the heart of the city’s soon-to-be thriving commercial district, right next to the train station and a stone’s throw from the A66. Available is a choice of spaces in varying sizes, all fully furnished, complete with high- class facilities and high-speed broadband included. The luxury setting boasts a contemporary feel with traditional touches, finished to the highest of standards. There is a 43 square metre boardroom complete with high- spec technology and total luxury, ideal for presentations, brainstorming or entertaining your guests. There are already a number of tenants in place and virtual office customers benefitting from having a TS1 postcode. Facilities manager Christine Huntington said: “The transformation is unbelievable, with luxury on offer, creating the right impression for visitors. “The space won’t be available for long and should be reserved quickly. There is also a large business lounge, hot desk facilities and a virtual office service. There will soon be a coffee shop too!” Call Christine on 01642 917116, visit Facebook @CommerceHouse1872 or www.commerce-house.co.uk New restaurant plans for Stockton S tockton’s Riverside is to welcome a chic new restaurant in 2018, to further complement the town’s thriving cultural quarter. Tees entrepreneur and owner of Concept Le isure Simon Hatfield – creator of two Nuthatch cocktail bars, the Townhouse pub and Tiny club in Middlesbrough – has revealed plans for a new bar-restaurant at 11 Finkle Street in Stockton, which boasts scenic views of the River Tees. Scheduled to open in April 2018 following the closure of Mexican eatery Mohujos, Finkle and Green will offer a high-quality food and drinks menu, serving up lunches, coffees and snacks during the day, as well as an evening menu and cocktails. Hatfield said: “After opening The Nuthatch in 2016, it became clear that Stockton town centre was at the start of an exciting resurgence, and we were keen to expand our business with a restaurant in the cultural quarter. “Working previously with Mark Hill at Jomast and Stockton Council, we are excited to partner with them again in the New Year on this brand new project.” Stockton has seen a flurry of new high- quality bars and micro-pubs open in the past 12 months, all of which have proved popular with the locals. The new bar-restaurant, yet to be named, will undergo a major refit by Jomast Developments and Concept Leisure in the coming months. See our feature interview with Simon Hatfield on pages 38-39. BUILDING YOUR BRAND TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS Y our brand sits right at the heart of your business and is inherently linked to business growth. Often we meet clients who are so busy building a business that their brand gets left behind. Events like new ownership, new leadership and new directions can create the need to reposition, revitalise or simply clarify their brand. Even without major changes at the top, companies, much like people, can change over time. They can outgrow their existing brand, change their purpose, or just feel the need for their company to move with the times. If you are considering developing your brand, we believe the process begins with getting to the very heart and soul of your company, your reason for being, your why. Of course, it’s about what you do and how you do it, but to really get buy-in people need to know your purpose, cause, beliefs and what really makes you different. This in turn, breathes life into your company values, which should act as a GPS for your decisions and behaviours. Your values feed into your brand story and character, and inform not only what you say but how you say it. All of this should happen before anyone starts thinking about logos, colours, typography, and image style. And you guessed it, every element you put out into the world should be influenced by the brand thinking at the core of the process. Why? Because your ‘why’ is the heart of your business and should be the heart of your brand, so before you invest in a glossy new website or marketing campaign take some time to consider your brand’s visual and verbal messaging. Getting this right will mean you’re building a key asset to support your business growth and lead to higher impact and ROI on your marketing budget. Mark Easby Better Brand Agency