Darlington businesses have a powerful new way to market themselves and build their brand thanks to the launch of the town’s first professional podcast studio at Business Central.
Darlington Stream Space offers local businesses the chance to benefit from the rapidly growing podcasting trend by sharing their stories, interviewing guests and providing knowledge to their audience.
Equipped with state-of-the-art sound and recording equipment and the option of a technical team to support, businesses can choose a competitively priced self-service approach or can book to have professional support on hand. There is also the option to film podcasts and interviews.
The facility is the brainchild of Adam Walker, whose Business Central-based marketing company Hubspoke Media has seen demand for podcast creation steadily rise in recent years.
His idea to set up a dedicated studio won the backing of the business centre’s manager Vanessa Wood, who saw the potential to join forces by providing space and opening up the facility to benefit the wider business community.
Adam said: “Podcasts have grown massively in the past five years and local businesses are beginning to recognise just how powerful they are as a marketing mechanism. They are a great way to connect to an audience with the human stories behind the brand and they can create very targeted bite sized content for social media.
“We already create podcasts for two local estate agents and one IT company but we have only just scratched the surface. So many other small businesses can benefit from this exciting, flexible format.”
Darlington Stream Space also sparked interest from organisations including Darlington College and Adam aims to collaborate with other studios around the UK, offering journalists and other professionals audio, film and voiceover services.
The studio is now up and running at the Central Park business centre, offering a choice of backdrops and ready-to-use facilities.
Centre Manager Vanessa said: “We jumped at the chance to get involved with Adam’s brilliant idea because we knew people were having to travel out of the area to make podcasts. Adam had the equipment and experience and we had the space and the desire to support local businesses to do well.
“In just a couple of weeks we had a fully functioning studio! It’s great to have the autonomy and flexibility to do things like this. If there’s something the business community needs then we’ll do what we can to make it happen.
“The clear pricing and support structure means local businesses can dip their toe into podcasts without major investment or risk. It’s yet another service we offer to our tenants – they can now pop along the hall to use the spa or the gym or even make a podcast!”
Business Central and neighbouring sister site Innovation Central are owned by Darlington Borough Council and are managed by the North East BIC. They provide a connected business community at the heart of the town’s Central Park development, offering a choice of coworking, office and lab space along with meeting rooms, events and shared services designed to help today’s entrepreneurs to innovate and thrive.