Google, the firm behind the UK’s number one search engine, has opened a new base in Manchester that will cater for its clients in the North, the Midlands, Wales and Scotland. The operation, which will be the organisation’s main base outside of its UK headquarters in London, will be officially launched from the middle of this month.
The office will initially house four specialist staff, however, plans are in place to expand the team as the firm builds on relationships with existing clients and attracts new business.
The Manchester team will report in to Kate Burns, managing director of advertising sales for Google in the UK, who is based in London.
The announcement comes as the Internet Advertising Bureau has predicted online advertising spend to surpass £1 billion by the end of the year.
Commenting on the opening, Burns stated: “I’m really excited because it’s been in my plans and on my radar for quite some time, so we’re all delighted to see it finally happening.
“There’s massive opportunity outside of London. The base will allow us to service our existing clients more efficiently and, we hope, allow us to recruit more blue-chip companies online and into search marketing.”
Burns, who was the firm’s first European employee when the London office opened in 2001, said that choosing Manchester was an easy decision. “Manchester has such a strong creative base and community. There are something like 70,000 people working the creative industries and so it has the people and skills base that we need to be working with.”
Burns says that the office will be used to service clients that are based outside of London, in an attempt to manage customer relations. She commented: “We have great relationships with some of the biggest media agencies and direct clients, such as MyTravel and Littlewoods, but have had to maintain this from London. The [Manchester] office will allow us to service them much more efficiently.”
Burns also commented that she has noticed a massive development in how clients now view the internet as a marketing tool, something which she hopes will spearhead Google’s growth in the future. “The proof has been in our renewal rates. I’d like to think that was down to the service we offer and the people I recruited, but the reason it has become so important is because online and search really works. It adds to every marketeer’s bottom line and once tried, they immediately see the benefit of it. It’s a very addictive form of advertising.”