Talking Point: Location, location, location
There are few bigger factors to think of than location when setting up a business. It can be the difference between success or failure, make or break – especially in these times.
I believe we got it right. Optima has this year moved into DesignWeek’s prestigious list of top 100 agencies in the UK. Coming in at number 85 and jumping a massive 22 places makes us the fifth largest growing agency in the UK – a massive achievement… oh yes, and we’re in Lincolnshire.
Now it’s a sad fact that Lincolnshire has been neglected when people are talking about the East Midlands. It actually has a lot to offer.
Historically we’ve been seen as slightly off the beaten track, we don’t have a motorway network right on our doorstep and we are, in parts, a rural county. We may be known for potatoes and peas, and for Skegness and kiss-me-quick hats… but Lincolnshire has a burgeoning business community and is a great place to live and work.
Fifteen years ago we set up Optima in the heart of Lincoln. Around the same time, the University of Lincoln was born and has since grown into a well-respected and forward-thinking institution, bringing a huge surge of talented, bright young people into the county.
Over the years we have also grown and developed, working with a wide range of national and international clients including Corus, British Gypsum, Branston Limited, WWF and the International School of Geneva. Optima today work with the University of Lincoln get the best graphics graduates to stay in Lincoln – and myself and my colleagues have lectured there regularly.
As a result, many of the Optima team are University of Lincoln graduates – specialists in graphic design and screen-based graphics. At present Optima has six graduates from the university in the team of 13. We work hard to keep our home-grown talent – rather than letting talented students leave the county. We have also brought back to the city fantastic designers who studied or spent time working in other cities. Optima has given them a place to work on creative projects with great clients in the city they want to live in a thriving community of like-minded designers.
Our Top 100 status is high praise indeed, not just for us; but for Lincolnshire, and the people who have studied at the university and now work with us. We genuinely believe that we are putting the city of Lincoln onto the design map, and showing that today, Lincolnshire is an attractive and viable place for businesses to be successful. Optima’s continued growth during the downturn has come from retaining and looking after the excellent client base we have, whilst also bringing in several new heavyweights.
The professional links we have built with the University have not only resulted in a talented studio team; our partnership working on the University prospectus this year won a Silver Award at the HEIST Awards in Manchester, another success for the region.
Few people realise that Lincolnshire is England’s fourth largest county. Food and agriculture is worth £1.6bn to Lincolnshire with tourism a close second when it comes economical importance. Big employers in engineering and food processing amongst others mean that Lincolnshire is a major force in the East Midlands – but often the county is overlooked.
So why does Lincolnshire get overlooked? (And no that isn’t because lots of the county is as flat as a pancake!)
Yes, Lincolnshire is vast and it can take a couple of hours to drive from one end to another, but with substantial investment in road and rail infrastructure Lincoln is becoming more accessible. London is just over one and a half hours away by train, and from 2012 the expansion of the A46 will lead to the M1 being a mere 40 minutes drive away.
Not that Optima has ever had a problem with location. We have some impressive local, national and international clients and when they visit our Lincoln offices, they say it’s like visiting a buzzing, creative London agency dropped into the heart of Lincolnshire. The people at Optima love living and working in Lincoln because the city delivers a unique combination of really good stuff that you simply don't get anywhere else.
The lower cost of living means we have smaller overheads than many other agencies, allowing us to be competitive with clients nationally and internationally. The city is large enough to have everything you need, small enough to have a community, with wonderful countryside on our doorsteps. It is a perfect mix of modernity and tradition; a great place to invest.
So why Lincoln...? Why not Lincoln?
Lincoln is exciting, innovative and forward-thinking and yet inherently and deeply connected with tradition, history and provenance. It has a truly authentic character. We are proud to work here, and proud of our growth and success. Lincolnshire is a diamond in the rough, a best-kept secret, a needle in a haystack, and that is just the way we like it.
Simon Shaw, managing director, Optima
