Host of client wins for local digital agency

Macclesfield digital design and development company Sigma is accelerating its growth strategy following a host of new client wins and significant investment into the business.

Sigma, recently invested £50,000 into a state of the art UX lab at its head office at the Ropewalks Building, Newton Street,

The new facility will enable the company to strengthen its business and provide more comprehensive services to clients, including user research, usability and accessibility testing, interviews, focus groups, and heuristic site evaluations.

Sigma predicts this investment, along with a number of other strategic decisions, will enable it to take its turnover from £3.5M in 2014, towards £4M in 2015, up to £4.5M in 2016.

Profit before tax is expected to jump by 50% per cent this year, from £196K in 2014 to £300K in 2015.

The business has centred its client acquisition on working with organisations with a social conscience, and is targeting further growth in the third sector. It is currently working with Citizens Advice, Sport England, and the corporate responsibility division of IHG, the world’s largest hotel company, amongst others.

The business also has a long-term, strategic partnership with biopharmaceutical giant, AstraZeneca.

Sigma is currently on a recruitment drive to support its continued growth, with positions open for various roles across the business. Having already appointed four new staff members in recent months to strengthen its UX team, it hopes to grow its team from 38 to 45 by the end of the year.

Sigma MD, Hilary Stephenson (pictured), said: “We’re going through a period of important strategic growth and we’re lucky we have a great, growing team here to support that. We’ve centred our business on providing some of the best UX services possible, using dedicated facilities and working with real users, rather than just online tools. The investment into our new UX lab has been in our growth plans for a long time and in the three months we’ve been using it, we’ve noticed a significant difference in the work we’re doing and much deeper insights into our clients’ businesses.

“We’re looking to expand further and open a second UK office in Cambridge, which we will launch at the UX Cambridge event in September.”