With its fast-paced environment, endless socialising hotspots and growing professional reputation, Leeds has never been a better place to work in digital marking. As it continues to grow in stature and draw more interest from around the country, Hallam have recently recognised the Yorkshire city as the digital capital of the North.
With Leeds’ elevated status, and the likes of Channel 4 and HMRC relocating here, the city is firmly on the map as a digital powerhouse. Fast becoming the city for graduates to begin their careers in digital marketing, Edit have experienced the high demand first-hand.
Within the last year or so, Alex Hickson, Yusuf Hashmi and Alex Nayler have all been drawn to the northern city as a result of its growing reputation as a digital hub, despite each studying or growing up elsewhere in the country.
Each of the recent graduates has given a little insight into the role they play at Edit and why they decided on the office in Leeds as the place to be.
A lot of people seem to get confused when I tell them what I do. I usually explain that I help devise creative digital campaigns for businesses to gain media coverage. We gain this through networking and building relationships with journalists to generate online exposure, social media mentions and good quality links to the campaign, ultimately improving the SEO (search engine optimisation) of our clients.
I have a bachelor’s degree in Politics and a master’s in Corporate Communications, Marketing and Public Relations. Studying politics really allowed me to develop my communications skills, including public speaking, pitching and writing. This meant that when returning to study for my master’s, I had the academic foundations to quickly learn a lot of the practical skills needed for a job in the industry. My master’s taught me to how to manage and execute a successful PR campaign, understand marketing strategy and be able to work to a client brief, especially when designing and implementing PR campaigns to achieve the best results.
Edit really is a fantastic agency to be a part of. I love how involved I am with my campaigns for some world-renowned clients, as well as the flexibility I have around my working day. The opportunities to travel, Friday beers, payday breakfasts, the lifestyle benefit – it’s hard to pick just one perk that makes Edit a great working environment!
Leeds is such a vibrant and growing city; it has a brilliant social scene – which is why I came here for university and never want to leave! You can be amongst the hustle and bustle of the city and then be walking through the Yorkshire countryside within twenty minutes, it’s got the best of both worlds.
Being a member of the finance team involves several responsibilities. These include: dealing with invoicing, whether that be sending invoices to clients or receiving them from suppliers, creating the debtors report on a fortnightly basis in order to chase outstanding invoices from clients, updating the monthly revenue recognition file and reacting to any changes, or working alongside account managers to ensure all the financial information inputted into Salesforce is done correctly.
Before starting in this position, I studied BSc Financial Economics at the University of Leicester. As it was a highly numerical course, I gained multiple transferable skills for this role, including the analysis of large amounts of data. Furthermore, modules like accounting and international finance made me significantly suited to this role.
For me the best thing about working at Edit is the atmosphere of the office, it’s a friendly, sociable environment and, in my opinion, perfect for a graduate role. The office being in Leeds is another bonus – it’s a lively city with a vibrant nightlife and comes without the London prices.
The content team at Edit are responsible for executing written content for clients. This can come in various formats, whether it be helping to improve the overall SEO of a site by creating blogs, guides and landing pages or contributing to PR campaigns.
Before applying for my current role, I studied Journalism at Northumbria University, gaining experience in numerous forms of news-telling, including online content creation and writing for digital publication. This area of my course was what I grew most interested in, and what I decided to pursue after university.
I’ve always found Edit to be a great place to work since I joined almost a year ago. From regular socials and treats to the lively atmosphere in the office and flexible working, it’s always been an enjoyable working environment. Working in Leeds is perfect for socialising and meeting up for after-work drinks, with countless great bars and restaurants all simple to get to.
The monumental rise of Leeds has taken the digital marketing world by storm, and it’s unlikely to stop any time soon. With more and more graduates taking to Leeds to start out their careers, the shift towards the Yorkshire city is only getting started.
