It’s an understatement that Upperdog had a busy year in 2016. With incredible highs and a few late nights, the team concurs that it’s been a defining year in Upperdog’s history – with hopefully many more to come!
The start of the year began smoothly. Upperdog Marketing Executive Amy had fully settled in, and she was making waves with her content and SEO strategies. Account Director Annabel was whizzing through her PPC tasks, announcing amazing click through rates and impressive ROI stats, whilst founder Zhara gave the occasional ‘excelllllent’, and her mind whirled with plans for the year ahead. Milo barked. Lloyd, one of our wondrous web developers, banged his desk in angst at some tricky code in time with his trance music, but – like he always does, managed to solve it before the sun sets.
Rags to riches (kind of)
The Upperdog kennels remained in ‘up and coming’ Boscombe in a rustic, converted barn. Yet, as Zhara’s future plans for a growing team and client list began to take shape, we felt it was time for a change. With that, the new office search began, as did the candidate search, and Upperdog grew excited for what 2016 held in store.
By April, Zhara had worked her magic and presented her plan to the team. We would be moving soon! The team celebrated with a beer Friday and a barbeque, unbeknownst to them the true extent of the difficulty of finding a new office that loved our furry office mascot as much as we did.
April came and went. Annabel snacked, Amy flapped, Lloyd tapped and Zhara clapped. May and June waved. The team continued to work hard because we knew. We knew that when the time was right, we’d find something perfect.
The light at the end of the tunnel
By the beginning of July, and after numerous office frogs, Zhara had finally found it! Our new home was nestled in the quaint town of Westbourne, surrounded by dainty shops and coffee houses, and dangerously close to an M&S. Amy and Annabel gasped. Their diet was over, but at least they’d always be alert. The office was in an ideal location, but needed a lot of work to get it up to standard. It took time, patience, blood, sweat and tears. One of the team swears that Zhara’s head nearly popped. But the finished result was absolutely stunning.
The office had been split into 3 rooms; Zhara’s office, a meeting room, and the main office area. Separated by glass partitions, we were thrilled to have a proper meeting room, fitted with all the tech to wiw our clients in meetings. A grass wall was added as a finishing touch (which to this day, no – Milo has never peed on!) complete with a bespoke meeting table and mini fridge. Zhara’s office is simplistic with a Tankgirl poster to pay homage to her favourite movie. We could describe the rest, but why don’t you just pop on in and come and see it?
Expanding the pack
Now that the office had taken shape, it was time to expand the team. Lloyd needed a friend on his side of the desk and Zhara needed another developer, so the decision was made. Several weeks of September passed without luck, until Joel, a drummer with a GSOH walked through our doors and impressed us all. He was hired!
The marketing team gained several more clients and by October, it was time to get some more knowledge seeking SEO and PPC specialists on board. Plus, we had an Upperdog team day coming up and needed some extra players for bowling! Ben, a passionate gamer and PPC wizard, wowed the team with his long eyelashes and impressive PPC experience. Our minds were made. Just as we thought things couldn’t get any better, we brought Jack (known by Zhara only as Josh), a Bournemouth university Advertising student, in to the office for a 6-month placement and SEO training extravaganza.
Our seats were filled, the office was alight with energy and skill, and December ran its way onto our Outlook calendars. With such a year of transformation, it’s only right that we get a new website to showcase it – but that’s another story.
Ho ho home
The Christmas decorations have gone up, an exciting Christmas campaign is in formation and the team are swapping beer Fridays for Just Dance and mulled wine Fridays. We’re all so proud of how far Upperdog has come this year and it’s great to have our first Christmas in our new pad!
If you enjoyed reading our year in review, why not get in touch with us to become a part of our 2017. We offer web design, development and SEO services in Bournemouth, Dorset, executed by a friendly and passionate team. Find out more by giving us a call on 01202 798 820 or email hello@upperdog.co.uk