Business Connect always like to get into the story behind businesses, and developing growth in new markets is the sort of story everyone wants to follow. For any business to do well, the ability to identify and take action on available opportunities is crucial in ensuring growth. It’s a natural process for any business to seize those opportunities, and with that in mind, we chatted to Owner and Sales Director, Dave McEvoy, from Dmac Media, about their own story of their expansion from Ireland to the UK:

Dave, tell us about Dmac as a business, and why the decision to expand to the UK?
“We’re an Irish web development firm that have built a strong brand in the Irish market. In 2022 we decided to open our first international office in Manchester. We’re now servicing close to a thousand customers across the UK & Ireland. Coming off the back of some very strong years in the Irish Market we had an opportunity to expand. We aren’t driven by growth for growth’s sake, but there were two factors which led to us taking the leap.

“Firstly, no matter how strong you are in a market, you’re at the mercy of the overall economic strength of that market. Growing our business in another market would make our company more robust in the long term. 

“Secondly, we knew we had a solid business, but if we stepped back from it we did not know if the business model would hold up without our support. In the long term this makes an exit strategy more difficult to implement. If you want to develop your business model rather than your business, you have to look at creating a situation where you are not hands on with the day-to-day operation. A new market forces us to work on achieving that sustainable model for our business.” 

 Why go to Manchester?
“With the decision to go international made the burning question to be where to start? We spent a little over a year researching international sales development, and devised a set of metrics for analysing different regions. The UK was an obvious choice as our nearest and largest trading neighbour, but ultimately it was the shape of the web development sector and its similarity to the Irish sector that made it our first choice. Once we focused on the UK, the decision came down to where we would find a fertile area for business development. There was no need for us to reinvent the wheel here, so we took a simple Supply v Demand approach. 

“Through researching the market we found that the North of England had a similar volume of demand for web development and digital marketing services, but unlike London, there was a significant undersupply of on-the-ground providers. From there Manchester gave us the greatest geographic spread in the Northwest and became the front runner.”

How did you find your feet?
“It was a lot simpler than we expected if I am honest. Thankfully Manchester was just as keen to have us as we were to be there. From finding locations to availing of network supports there were a multitude of options. In particular, I have to give credit to MIDAS (Manchester’s inward investment promotion agency), they were so proactive about getting setup in Manchester and introduced us to many key organisations and people across the region.

“In addition to government backed supports, we also found a really strong networking group in South Manchester, headed up by Simon & Win Edmondson (The Business Network, South Manchester). Simon made some key introductions in our early days and has been an ongoing support in terms of our business development.”

What were the major challenges?
“The most challenging aspect of opening in a new market was managing our own expectations. The strength of our brand in Ireland, coupled with a solid customer base, meant that we had grown used to a solid pipeline and lots of inbound leads. In a new market you have neither the customer base nor the brand recognition, so it was a case of going back to tactics and strategies we used in our early days. The first year was a massive amount of effort for very little return, the second year was better, and now heading into our third year we are starting to see real growth. 

“More specifically we faced a daunting challenge with recruitment. Finding people that you can trust with your company’s reputation is challenging, and we have had a lot of trial and error. But again, our network connections introduced us to people who understood the challenges, and in particular Owain Wilson from Hug Recruitment has been instrumental in overcoming the recruitment problems we have had.”  

Where to from here?
“As we embark on our third year in Manchester the future is bright. We have a growing network of customers and partners who trust us to deliver good websites within their budget, and coupled with solid advice on how to grow their digital footprint, we are quickly gaining the same level of reputation we enjoy at home. Our next steps will be focused on growing the brand further in the UK and expanding our team of experts. We’ve also recruited Craig Thompson as Head of UK Sales. Craig’s got a fantastic reputation in business development and client retention, we know he’s going to be a massive asset to our growth plans across the UK.”

Craig Thompson
Head of UK Sales, Dmac Media

Dmac Media are based in the heart of MediaCity UK. To find out more contact Craig on: 0161 710 2094
cthompson@dmacmedia.com
dmacmedia.com

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