Award Winners!!

Despite a rather slow Friday, its been a whirlwind few days since Cargo scooped Agency of the Year (Under 20 Employees) at the North East Marketing Awards on Thursday night.

Now the dust is settling a little, we’ve been reflecting somewhat on what this all means not only personally to Kirsty Hart and myself, but to Cargo as a business and our team.

Whilst winning this award is based on some amazing work from our current team over the last 12 months, it really is the culmination of 14 years of hard work, lots of hours and lots of questions - sometimes with no answers.

As I posted previously - we have never really been one for entering awards, and only this year did we enter this one because we genuinely felt we had exceeded across all of the criteria required. It’s a bit like doing your own work - it often comes last because delivering the client work is first and foremost our primary goal. However, as a result of our growth it may be that we enter more as we now have the ability to spend more time on this activity, time will tell.

'Winning' is undoubtedly a nice feeling, but that wasn’t a word or emotion that some of us felt in the days since the event...

‘Pride’ - both in the team we have built, the client base we deliver for and the work we produce.

‘Relief’ has also been mentioned. Its been a busy few months in the lead up to the awards, so maybe the feeling of relief is the fact that it was all worth it - pulling together our submission alongside a lot of client work.

‘Acceptance’. Cargo has grown organically since we started, and we have turned down investment opportunities in order to retain our own identity. Looking at other agencies is something we’d do far too often in the early years. ‘Why can’t we get work like that?’, ‘It would be great to be like them’, ‘If only we had a client like x’. We received some amazing comments on the night, and messages in the following days from several areas of our community and some peers we know well, some not so well, but all that we respect and have looked up to over the years. Thank you to those - you know who you are. So yes, rightly or wrongly, 'acceptance' was a big one for me.

Thanks

Amid the excitement ahead of getting on stage I somehow managed to cobble together some quick thank yous, which I have expanded on below.

Firstly though - and something I didn’t say on the night - a big thanks and congrats to Kirsty Hart , Kasey Harms and Carl Rutherford - they attended and clearly delivered on the day of the judges interviews, covering everything required to get this over the line!?

Staff

We thank our team. They have delivered the work and the results. This isn’t just our current team though - it’s every member of staff we have had in the last 14 years. They have all played a part, no matter how long - or short - a time they were with us.?

Special thanks to Carl Rutherford , Richard Walker and Adam Gowland .

The first thing we ever say when speaking to a potential or new client about our team is that we are so lucky to have these guys with us all for 10+ years each in Cargo. This maintains a sense of consistency for our clients, but also for our new team members coming in. We are well aware of how rare it is to have a core team with us for so long.

Clients and collaborators

Without our clients we don’t have a business. They put their trust in us to look after their businesses and this is never underestimated. We had a couple in the room on the night, and since then have received some lovely messages of congratulations. Thanks to each and every one of them!

We work with - and sometimes for - other agencies, and believe in an open approach to this. The best compliment we can get is when another design agency are willing to trust us to deliver for them and their clients. There are quite a few to name, and we don’t want to miss anyone out, so thanks to you all!

Families

Potentially most important one.

It’s not just a team of 18 staff that support in delivering for our clients. Creating a good working culture where people are not expected to work late every night has always underpinned how we work. However there are times in this industry that we all know too well, where the hours have to be put in. As we have grown, members of our team now have partners and families to consider. Staying late and cracking on isn’t as easy as it once was. There are commitments outside of work that are more important. So, when the deadlines do come in tight and the work needs to get done, it’s the partners, spouses, parents and in-laws that help to support and pick up the pieces so our team can do the delivery. So a massive thank you to them.

Lastly, congrats to all the other finalists and winners on the night. There is so much talent in our region and agencies doing great work, it is fantastic to be part of this community. The North East certainly has a lot to be proud of!

I share below a video we created to support our submission for this award that shows a little about what we have done in the last year, but also what we are all about.

The Christmas break is just around the corner and is a welcome one this year, but we have some big plans and exciting projects to look forward to in 2024 and we can’t wait to get back at it in January!!