A Chat With: Danny Hazelgrove at Fountain Digital
By Donna Fielder and Sarah Cronk
Every month, we speak to people working in digital in and around Eastbourne. This month, we spoke to Danny Hazelgrove at Fountain Digital to find out more about him and his business.
Chalk: Can you provide a quick summary of your business?
Danny: “I manage Fountain Digital, a digital marketing agency specialising in websites and development in Eastbourne.
“Our main focus is web design, SEO, social media, graphic design and print, branding and logo design, UX, copywriting, marketing outreach, and technical SEO.
“There are seven of us in the team, including two developers and three social media/SEO specialists, and we hope to get up to eight soon.”
Where did it all start, and why?
“Way back, my dream was to become an ambulance driver. I was a HSA for the NHS for 13 years. Then after some trauma, I went back to night school and retrained to work as an IT Manager for a solicitor’s firm.
“I started up the business on the side, pairing up with Bob Fountain. At that point, it was called Fountgrove. We developed an accountancy website as our first project.
“We decided to give our own business a proper go in 2010: we changed the name to Fountain Digital, converted the garage at the bottom of my garden, and worked from there.
“We were mostly doing IT work with a few websites, and the IT side backed all our projects at the beginning. We agreed to offer clients a monthly maintenance fee rather than a one-off fee, which helped to make it more affordable for clients.
“More and more clients were asking for websites, and we eventually employed a web developer for three days per week, who is now the Creative Director.”
I can see that integrity and customer loyalty are a big part of your customer proposition - what sparked your desire to emphasise that?
“My nursing background drives me to want to help and support people. A lot of our customers have had a bad experience with other companies. We give back and do a lot of charity work, including with You Raise Me Up.
"I love the people I work with and I love the clients. It’s great that we can make a difference.”
What type of clients do you work with, and are there any case studies you are particularly proud of?
“At the beginning, we supported start-ups we supported; it was our bread and butter. As we have grown, we now deal with more medium to large businesses, including one in the US. 60% are local and the rest are further afield. Clients love to come in and see us.”
“We’re one of the biggest Webflow agencies in the UK. Webflow is a no-code platform. We used Webflow when it was in beta in 2013 and started developing from it, becoming their first official UK partner. We were approached by Webflow themselves to ask us to build a project for this client in the US.”
What are the biggest challenges for your business at the moment?
“The biggest challenge at the moment is trying to recruit new members of staff.
“We’re currently looking for junior web developers; we want them to have some flair and to train them up from scratch.
“It’s also hard finding time to market yourself and still grow, even though you are busy. You have to make sure you don’t look too dated and keep up with networking.
“We don’t market at all; all our work comes from referrals, or people see our names on other peoples’ websites. We’re pretty active on social media and we get referrals through Webflow too.”
What are you most excited about in the coming months?
“We’re starting to push the company forward a bit more, so I’m looking forward to getting out and about networking, bringing in new team members, connecting with people again, having clients come into the office, and really getting our name out there.”
What advice would you give people trying to start working in your field?
“If it’s your hobby and desire, reach out to companies to try and get some work experience. Show your dedication and skills, and examples of work. Even if it just puts you on people's radar. Start building up a portfolio and, if you can’t get an actual company to build experience against, create an imaginary company and develop a portfolio around this.”
Why Eastbourne?
“I love Eastbourne; I’m Eastbourne born and bred. It’s a great place for children to grow up and we have good housing and schools. There’s so much I take for granted about living here!”
