We were as busy as ever through lockdown. Since March we have continued to support existing clients and taken on five more as businesses took the opportunity to overhaul their brand and marketing, or launch new companies. We are proud to be supporting businesses who are forward thinking and used lockdown to prepare to come back even stronger, ready for their customers.

Paul Alderson, director of Wonderstuff said: “We were fortunate that the nature of what we do can transfer to home working, so setting up the team to work through lockdown was possible.

“But we didn’t know whether our clients, who are mostly based in the North East, would want to continue with projects or pause until the full implications of life alongside Covid-19 were clearer.

“During this time we’ve been involved in two new company launches, several rebrands and brand refreshes, new websites, and a new product launch.

“We’ve also gained new clients, such as start up Burger Drop, and new projects with clients we’ve worked with before such as EcoCabs in Hexham.

“We’re registered providers with grant funding bodies RTC North and NBSL, so we’ve been able to help eligible clients access funding to support their projects too.”

Forum RCP (Retail Commercialisation Partners), formerly Forum CentreSpace, is a leading commercialisation and mall promotions agency working with over 90 shopping centres and 40 retail parks across the UK. They were about to complete a rebrand in mid-March to celebrate 20 years in business and to reflect the changing retail landscape, and had received a grant towards the cost of this work from RTC North.

Managing director of Forum RCP, Kathryn Ling commented: “We were looking for a new contemporary look to take the company forward to the next stage of development as a leader in our industry.

“Wonderstuff listened to our requirements, organised consultation with our senior staff, and produced a new logo and brand identity that reflects what our values are, and has resonated well with our clients.

“We have kept the name we are known by, and the idea of Retail Commercialisation Partners shows how we work as an integral part of a shopping centre team. We are pleased that, although delayed, we are coming back after lockdown with this new branding.

“We feel that now, as never before, we are working in true partnership with our shopping centre management, landlords and surveyors, as well as with the mall traders, who want to get their business going again.” 

Wonderstuff has recently completed the identity design for premium burger takeaway and delivery service Burger Drop, and is now creating the company’s website. 

Hasan Hamid, director of Burger Drop said: “We’re planning to start trading in October having spent over a year on product development to make our recipes really standout.

“We originally thought about opening a restaurant with takeaway but coronavirus made us reassess and now we’re totally focused on takeaway and delivery.

“We liked the work Wonderstuff did for Lane 7 bowling, and they understood our business needs and how we wanted to position the brand, as well as having experience in the food and drink sector.”  

EcoCabs is the largest taxi and minibus company in South Northumberland with over 30 passenger transport vehicles.

Matthew Kirkby, managing director of EcoCabs said: “In November we began planning the strengthening of our brand to better reflect our core principles of customer service and sustainability, and the realignment of all our marketing material.

“From lockdown in March we took the opportunity to move ahead more quickly on this. We worked with Wonderstuff to make our marketing material consistent across our print and digital channels, and to expand our presence on social networks.

“They have taken this above and beyond what we originally envisioned, and we also received grant funding towards the cost of the work from RTC North.”