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Formed three years ago by experienced business directors, IA Growth is an independent business growth specialist based in the North East. It was created to aid businesses in their growth planning and implementation through various interventions.
Since its inception, the firm has worked with a number of growing North East organisations, across a diverse range of sectors, from established manufacturing firms such as Teescraft Engineering and The Expanded Metal Company, to online, consumer-driven manufacturing retailers including Funky Chunky Furniture and Torro, and innovative technology companies The Fit Factory and The Gaming Hideaway. It has also supported a selection of small, but ambitious, owners in recruitment, IT outsourcing and HR, providing access to experienced business directors who deliver sage advice with altruistic intentions.
The directors of IA Growth have all been at the helm of larger organisations and presided over significant growth periods. This means they have experienced first-hand the challenges of growth and can help business owners navigate these with careful planning and pragmatic objectives and implementation plans.
More recently, the team has been involved in helping directors with their business planning and financial modelling and, as a result, has assisted businesses to raise more than £2 million through various funders in the North East. The ongoing success of its clients has allowed IA Growth to strengthen its team further, with two experienced business specialists joining its ranks Steve Charlton recently held C-level roles with Mintel Consumer Research, and will focus on market development and leadership. Steven Parker, who successfully scaled up Digital Allies before exiting in November 2020, brings a wealth of digital expertise to the team.
The duo complement co-founders David Land, Andy Briggs and Graham Sleep, who have great skills and experience in strategic development, finance and retail and strategic operations, supply chain and people, respectively. With its two new associate director additions, IA Growth offers a significant and comprehensive set of expertise available at a price point affordable to SMEs within the North East.
Speaking about the recent appointments, director Andy says: “We knew in the post-pandemic business world that finance, people and digital were going to be key business themes in a recovering economy. “It was, therefore, a deliberate business decision to bring in expertise to complement the founding directors and in doing so, bolster our capacity to deliver. “Steve and Steven were already known to us, and we were delighted to add their specialist skills and experience to ours, which means we can speak with businesses about any growth challenge and deliver a multi-faceted solution.”
Using their own proprietary models and solutions, as well as collaborating with world-leading technological providers, IA Growth is looking to continue to support the companies of tomorrow here in the North-East.