Yorkshire-based agency Venture Forge is repositioning itself as a global marketplace specialist to reflect its expertise and success in helping brands grow their sales across online marketplaces. It has also bolstered its senior team to support expansion plans.
Having launched in April 2018 as an e-commerce agency, Venture Forge has built a portfolio of high-growth e-commerce clients working with brands such as Nicole Farhi, Wolsey and 4Beauty Group.
The change in proposition comes off the back of a record year with clients reporting a 450% growth in revenue and 21 new clients added to the agencies roster. Marketplace platforms have already been a successful area for the agency and will now be the primary focus.
Going forwards Venture Forge will specialise purely in driving consumer brand sales, revenue, and market dominance across key marketplace platforms including Amazon, Ebay and other significant marketplaces.
The new client wins include retail giant Matalan, Club Vits, Cheeky Chompers, Nudie Snacks and will see an additional 75 hours of marketplace strategies put into place by the team, bringing the total number of clients to 35.
To support Venture Forge’s growth plans it has strengthened its senior leadership team with the appointment of Jonathan Newton as COO. The former head of e-commerce for wilko.com brings over 25 years’ experience with him, having worked with some of the biggest names on the high street, including Mars Petcare and Staples, and will be responsible for driving Venture Forge’s growth, profitability, recruitment, and reputation as a global leading marketplace agency.
Additionally, the agency is actively recruiting for two account managers to join the team, which will bring the overall headcount to 10.
Venture Forge was launched in spring 2018 by Andrew Banks, former head of e-commerce for Matalan. Commenting on the change of direction for the agency Andrew said: “We have noticed a significant change in demand from our clients since the pandemic hit to ensure that they can effectively sell on marketplace sites such as Amazon, eBay and others, the biggest e-commerce channel for companies looking for rapid online sales growth.
“The high street and how we shop is changing and it is important for businesses to adapt, especially now during lockdown. By reconfiguring our service proposition to specialise on marketplace commerce and combining that with mine and Jonathan’s client-side retail experience, we can ensure that we are able to drive sales in the UK and globally for our existing and new clients in key trading periods like Black Friday and Christmas.”
Discussing his appointment, Jonathan adds; “I am really looking forward to joining Andrew and the team and driving Venture Forge’s growth to becoming one of the UK’s biggest marketplace agencies. The digital retail knowledge and experience the agency is able to provide for clients is second to none.”
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