Flashtalking, a UK-based global online advertising technology provider, has expanded into new office space in the city following a series of clients wins internationally and the launch of a San Francisco office which opened in September.
The Leeds address is the technology hub for all six offices which also are located in London, Cologne, New York and Chicago. The company designs software which integrates and monitors online advertising campaigns for its clients, which include BMW, Marks & Spencer and Virgin Atlantic. All software development takes place in Leeds with each office then providing local support to its international client-base.
This global expansion has meant that in just six years the Leeds office of Flashtalking has grown from a one-man office ‘pod’ in the Round Foundry Media Centre, graduating to several larger spaces within the building, before the recent move to a fully fitted out floor in the recently refurbished Marshall’s Mill development. Marshall’s Mill is managed by the same company that manages Round Foundry Media Centre so this was seen as the natural choice.
This move from one redeveloped industrial heritage building to another, just a stone’s throw away, has enabled the Leeds team to remain in Holbeck Urban Village on the southern edge of the city centre, home to many creative, digital and media companies. The 3,906 square foot office space on the third floor of Marshall’s Mill comfortably accommodates the Flashtalking tech team of 27, complete with the bean bags and games consoles that have become standard for young digital companies in the 21st century.
The Mill’s digital infrastructure has recently been completely modernised by Igloo Regeneration, the developer of Round Foundry and Marshall’s Mill, in collaboration with Creative Space Management, the managing and lettings agents. A new fibre internet connection allows tenants instant access to 100Mb broadband speed and was a deciding factor in the decision for Flashtalking to relocate into the building, as maintaining internet connection is vital to the running and monitoring of its clients’ campaigns across the globe.
Dan Freeman, technical director at Flashtalking, who started the company from home with managing director Paul Cunningham in 2001 and moved to the Round Foundry Media Centre in 2005, commented: “The developments here are ideal for companies like ours, offering a range of spaces in which we can grow and internet capabilities which accommodate the needs of a modern-day media company. The only time the computers were unplugged was for the short walk taking our belongings from one building to the other: we didn’t have to suffer the tortuous 90-day wait with constant calls on-hold to a broadband operator. This is one of the few areas in the country which is dubbed a ‘digital hub’ and can actually live up to the name.”