“The Regions” is fast becoming a key part of the UK media scene, with more agencies, brands, publishers, media owners, and other key stake holders expanding their focus to not solely rely on the London hub.

I mean… they even built a whole city dedicated to it in Manchester!   

In my previous roles I’d seen first-hand the growth, opportunities, and potential it held. Taking a great product to the clients up here was something I’d always wanted to do, whilst challenging myself with creating and growing a strong foot hold, to showcase just how much opportunity there is in The Regions.  

As soon as I started speaking to Nano about a doing just that, I knew it was just what I wanted. A strong product with a unique/future proofed position in market, alongside a clearly passionate and knowledgeable team was the perfect selling point. After pitching the Regional landscape, to Carl, Niall, and Matt, Nano Regions was born.  

I’d always wanted to push myself with the opportunity of growing something from nothing. As with any new starter in the Covid-19 World video calls were my only connection with my colleagues. This was something I’d have to get used to for the foreseeable future as well, being the only regional based employee.  

I quickly realised that I needed to focus on a few key things to get the ball rolling, over communication, planning, accountability. 

  • Communication: ask any question, share my work with the wider team in the hope its beneficial to someone else, jump on every video call scheduled. This helped me to feel connected to my colleagues, whilst showcasing what was going on in Nano Manchester!  
  • Planning: a clear focus on who to get in touch with, how I was going to do this, and prioritise how I was going to tackle the hundreds of potential contacts. Many Excel sheets and PowerPoints later, there is a clear structure to my day-to-day work which is crucial for the continued growth of The Regions.
  • Accountability: with myself but more importantly other members of team. This meant it wasn’t just me tackling this on my own, others knew where I was at and what I needed to do next.  

All of these have been invaluable to becoming part of the team. Every single Nano team member has taken the time and effort to get to know me, ask me questions, get me involved, and make me feel like I am contributing to the business. Colleagues have taken a genuine interest in the regions and the potential it holds. 

It doesn’t feel like I was 160 miles away from anyone in my team!