A clear focus, authentic communication and years of preparation saw Ipswich’s StrategiQ claim two trophies at the 2020 Suffolk Business Awards.

As well as being named Small or Medium Enterprise of the Year, the Ipswich-based marketing agency won the coveted title of Business of the Year.

East Anglian Daily Times: Business of the Year is sponsored by the Suffolk Chamber of Commerce and EDF, Small and Medium Business of the Year is sponsored by Beckett Investment ManagementBusiness of the Year is sponsored by the Suffolk Chamber of Commerce and EDF, Small and Medium Business of the Year is sponsored by Beckett Investment Management (Image: Archant)

“I don’t think I realised the scope of it when it happened. Even now I kind of have to pinch myself,” says co-founder and CEO Andy Smith of the double win. "I’m still modest and a little bit humbled by it.”

The team’s reaction to the success was, he says, one of pride. “That’s the overwhelming word. You’ve got to be proud. Given what we’ve had to face, to do it in a year like this accentuated it,” he adds.

“Whenever you take time to reflect you realise success is down to all those micro-decisions you’d made over a longer period of time, not just the ones that feel like you got things right in that particular moment. The reality is that we’re authentic with our business plan and our approach and our people – year on year on year – and this year it just all came together,” he says.

StrategiQ Marketing - Suffolk Business Awards 2020 Business (1)

The key to success was, he says, the company’s values. “The judges touched on our focus on our four values – our expertise, our commerciality, our ambition, and the fact that we genuinely do care – and how we hold every decision to those values,” Andy explains.

He has big plans for this year, too. As well as looking for a new office to accommodate both growth and the launch of a new StrategiQ Academy and an all-encompasing training platform, the company is also preparing a commercial version of the system used to run the company.

"These business awards are going to add a huge amount of credibility,” says Andy. “Winning SME of the Year and Business of the Year gives some authenticity to how we talk about what a good business looks like and how you can put marketing on top of it.

“As an agency we will continue to grow our expertise and people, but we’re going to layer these other service lines over it by the end of 2021. We’ve got a huge opportunity in the next 12 months to continue to grow if we keep making the right business decisions,” he concludes.