A Shropshire digital marketing firm has expanded its operation with the appointment of three new members of staff.
Ascendancy Internet Marketing has added a new web developer, junior web developer and digital marketing assistant to its team to meet the ongoing increase in demand for digital services following the pandemic.
The company recently moved to new premises in Newport to help facilitate its growth and is working closely with a growing number of businesses, following the COVID-19 lockdowns and subsequent restrictions, to help them step-up and meet their e-commerce needs.
Helen Culshaw, Ascendancy founder, said: “These are exciting times for the company and we are delighted to welcome Karen Naylor, Tom Mitchell and Mary-Jane Harris to the team – three important additions which will help us meet our commitment to an ever-increasing client base.
“The increase in the use of digital and online activity following the March 2020 lockdown and the past year has been exponential and we are working with a variety of clients to ensure their marketing is where it should be to meet this need.
“Another aspect of our work at the moment is providing a series of webinars to support e-commerce businesses across the UK. This is proving extremely important for firms coming out of the pandemic and covers a range of topics from how to improve product photography to creating a system to ensure a streamlined returns process.”
Web Developer Karen Naylor has worked for a number of different agencies, directly for small companies on in-house projects as well as running her own e-commerce business. She has previously done some freelance work for Ascendancy.
She said “My job at Ascendancy involves turning website designs into fully functional websites. I’m really into what they call the ‘back-end’ technologies, so that’s integrating websites with other software to ultimately make things more efficient.
“This can range from different payment systems, shipping solutions, accounting software, stock management, booking systems or CRM software.
“I’m absolutely delighted to have joined the team permanently and love the variety of projects that I have seen lined up already. All e-commerce websites might seem like they are the same, but each business has different problems they want to solve and behind the scenes they can be very different.
“I hope that I can help Ascendancy grow their web team even bigger and better. This feels like an environment where I can spill out ideas on how to use new technologies to solve business problems.”
Away from work, Karen is a keen gardener and grows lots of fruit and vegetables on her allotment – and enjoys turning her produce into jams and pickles.
Junior Web Developer Tom Mitchell joins the company straight out of sixth form and previously completed work experience at Ascendancy.
He said: “My job involves many different activities in web development and I am currently involved in training and work such as updating WordPress to take some of the load off more senior members of staff and to help develop my skills further.
“I love how my job actually goes towards something meaningful as opposed to school where the work you are given is just part of a course. Working at Ascendancy is a great opportunity for me to learn how to build sophisticated websites from scratch and also help the business to grow.”
In his spare time, Tom has an interest in history and particularly in World War ll and the cold war. He also enjoys computing and has built his own PC.
Digital Marketing Assistant Mary-Jane Harris completed work experience in managing and marketing the social media and website for a London fashion brand earlier this year, which she thoroughly enjoyed – it was this experience that made her decide to pursue a career within digital marketing.
She said: “My job involves creating content for firms as well as promoting their business to gain new customers online. My favourite part of the job is the creative side such as writing blogs and content for landing pages as I have always enjoyed writing.
“I really enjoy working for Ascendancy and one day hope to be high up within the digital marketing industry, specialising in creating and developing content for brands.”
Outside of work, Mary-Jane enjoys performing and singing after having professional singing lessons for around seven years in a range of different styles.
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