IT’S time to shout out loud about Huddersfield.
That’s the view of businessman Richard Sharp who is playing a key role in the campaign to promote Huddersfield as ‘The Place to Make It.’
Richard, who was brought up in Newsome, brought his design agency from Leeds to the town’s Media Centre two years ago.
He said: “I am from Huddersfield and continued to live here even though my working career has been committed to Sheffield, Manchester and Leeds.”
Richard, who is creative partner and strategic partner Mandi Taylor are now working with a wide range of organisations in the town to bring the campaign to life.
The agency used its “co-create” process to bring groups together to come up with ideas for The Place to Make It campaign.
Early initiatives include a series of signs on major roads, roundabouts and buses stating fascinating facts about the town – some true and some false.
Richard said: “The aim is to remind people of things about the town that they might have forgotten.”
The Sharp Agency has its own claim to fame. It took a coveted silver award for Best Consumer Direct Mail Campaign at the 2011 Direct Marketing Awards in London.
Sharp, one of only a handful of northern agencies to figure in the awards, was recognised for an innovative summer campaign run for Best Western Hotels – which was targeted to achieve a 10% rise in bookings but actually delivered a four-fold increase.
The agency has also worked for clients including sports brand Gola, car giant Chrysler, NHS Sheffield and the National Union of Students.
But Richard and Mandi are delighted to be turning their attention to helping homegrown organisations.
They are active networkers and give talks at various events around the town. The agency works with Kirklees College, provides work experience for school leavers and has a student from Huddersfield University on placement.
“Huddersfield has potential,” he said. “But Huddersfield needs to see its own potential. This campaign aims to remind people of the strengths of the town, the good things it has done and what it can achieve in the future.
“We don’t want to be some forgotten town between Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield.
“Huddersfield is a fantastic place to live and work. We can get to Manchester and Leeds in 40 minutes and we can get to three international airports.
“Huddersfield is in the middle of everything and being in the middle is great because it makes it easy for people to come to us.”
Richard, who attended Newsome High School and studied art and design at Huddersfield Technical College, said he was dismayed to stand on the station platform and see the number of people commuting to work in Leeds and Manchester.
“We want more inward investment which will help create more jobs,” he said. “We need to create enterprising businesses.”
And it needs to shout about its successes. “Huddersfield people are quite modest and it is hard for us to shout about ourselves,” said Richard. “Now this campaign gives us a good excuse to shout about the town”.
