One theme that is often common to independent businesses is their passion for investing both culturally and commercially in the place where they are based (something global corporates generally aren’t very good at!).
Take Cambridge-based indie Studio 24 as an example. An award-winning digital agency working with clients across many sectors – from major infrastructure projects such as Crossrail and HS2 through to clients in arts and culture like Cambridge Live and Cambridge Arts Theatre and the charitable/not-for-profit sector with work for the Animal Health Trust and CBM, an international Christian disability and development organisation.
The work they carry out for their clients ranges from strategy & planning and content creation to design and technology development, alongside digital marketing, hosting, training and support.
This breadth of client-base and services offered also reflects the variation in budgets Studio 24 is presented with. Major web development is not inexpensive, but conversely the team finds the charity sector work challenging budget-wise but also incredibly rewarding. Whatever the size of the project or the budget, Studio 24 makes it a priority to point clients in the right direction for their digital needs from the very start.
All very impressive, but there is something else that makes Studio 24 more than just ‘another web company’. Speak for just a few moments with Founder and Managing Director Simon Jones, and you soon realise you are talking to someone passionate and committed to the long-term wealth of both the commercial and cultural sides of Cambridge.
As a company Studio 24 regularly takes on interns and work experience students – from around the UK and Europe, and Simon himself has been involved in technology-related community groups such as Refresh Cambridge, the Web Standards Project and he currently runs PHP Cambridge. He’s also a trustee of the Cambridge Film Trust for which Studio 24 not only sponsors the Film Festival’s digital requirements but Simon and the team take on voluntary roles for too.
So, once again, a local independent business run by a ‘real’ person, making a huge contribution to what makes Cambridge such a richly diverse place to live and work.
Studio 24
50, St. Stephen's Place
Cambridge
CB3 0JE
Tel: +44 (0)1223 328017
www.studio24.net
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