67 Degrees celebrates its fifth anniversary

67 Degrees is an automotive marketing agency doing things differently. Its unique approach to the industry has seen them win numerous awards and commendations for their work – all in the space of just five years – and they’re only just getting started.

The company has celebrated its fifth anniversary by moving into bigger premises on the Brighton City Airport site in Shoreham-by-sea. This signals a new era for 67 Degrees as it expands into new territories within the industry, including the franchise dealership market.

Back to the beginning

67 Degrees has come a long way since its humble beginnings; quite literally operating from a garden shed with just two team members. Co-founders Laura Coleby and Justin Woodford used their knowledge and know-how of the automotive industry to develop the brand; they found a niche in the market for a bespoke website design service which would benefit car dealers up and down the country.

Their hands-on approach didn’t go unnoticed and it wasn’t long before the duo were much in demand and needed additional support. With that came the opportunity to build the business by offering a range of digital marketing services, such as social media management, SEO and PPC.

As their portfolio grew, 67 Degrees has been fortunate to retain all the original clients they began their journey with, whilst welcoming new customers to the family. The team pride themselves on a fantastic relationship with their clients, as they grow and develop together.

Stuart Harvey, project manager at 67 Degrees was the company’s very first employee back in 2017. He describes how the business has gone from strength to strength and says, “There’s an overriding sense of satisfaction just seeing how much the company has grown over the last five years. We’ve literally gone from a shed to a 20-plus person office in a fresh and modern building within the grounds of Brighton City Airport.

“What Laura and Justin have achieved is amazing and the great position that 67 Degrees is in right now, is testament to their hard work. It’s a real privilege to be part of the team”

Pedal to the metal

Laura and Justin’s vision for 67 Degrees is very clear; it’s all about doing things differently and harnessing a hands-on approach to looking after their customers. 

Justin, the company’s chief technical officer, reflects fondly on the past five years, he says, “I’m really proud of everything we’ve achieved so far; building the company up, developing an innovative software platform which caters for dealerships of all sizes – including franchise groups which is a market we’re extremely excited to enter.

“It’s been so rewarding to have our achievements recognised by receiving numerous awards during the last few years. Laura and I feel really lucky to have such a talented team on board, who each share so much enthusiasm in their own expert fields.”

In the last twelve months, there’s been a huge transition to digital-based services, forced by the COVID-19 pandemic and its subsequent lockdowns. Thanks to the size of the business, 67 Degrees has been able to react and adapt to the challenges thrown at car dealers across the UK and aid them accordingly.

Whilst dealerships up and down the country were forced to close their showroom doors, the team at 67 Degrees dug deep to provide unrivalled support to customers who were facing a difficult and testing time.    

Driving digital change

In a relatively short space of time, 67 Degrees has successfully managed the change from physical forecourt sales to facilitate buy online options for their dealers. It’s been a huge adaptation for the automotive industry as a whole and in turn has turbo-charged the marketing agency’s process of developing an e-commerce product specifically for its customers.

The company’s project manager, Stuart Harvey, says, “There’s definitely been a big shift in the industry where dealers are really starting to embrace a digital presence – it’s a really exciting time for us as a business and what we can offer our customers.”

Laura Coleby, co-founder and CEO, comments on this positive shift in the trade, she says, “There’s been a huge amount of hype around online retail which has been forced to progress rapidly during the pandemic. However, this also presented us with a huge opportunity to develop innovative products and services to benefit our clients, which is unique to us as a brand.

“Our agility has allowed us to quickly jump on these new trends and we’ve created an online buying platform that our dealers can be proud of. We’ve always strived to be different, rather than fall into a corporate mould. Above all else, we feel extremely passionately about the industry and want nothing more than for our customers to succeed.”

As for the future, there is so much more to come and you could be part of that journey. 67 Degrees is currently recruiting outstanding individuals to be part of it’s team across a number of roles within the business. Discover more by visiting 67degrees.co.uk.