The agency – set up in 2008 by Mark Easby, Declan Metcalfe and Peter Jones – won the Internet and ICT category at the nebusiness Awards which were sponsored by Business Link and The Evening Gazette.

The judges were looking for an innovative use of internet technology to improve business performance or boost competitiveness within the business.  Better were credited for using their website and social media to communicate with peers, potential customers and the wider region to develop a powerful digital footprint.

Beating off competition from companies across the Tees Valley, Better will now represent the region at the Regional Final which will be held at Hardwick Hall Hotel on Thursday 29th April 2010.

Managing Director, Mark Easby said: “We are delighted to win this prestigious award in only our first full year of business.  It is a testament to our team’s adoption of the latest technologies in both our own and our customer’s businesses and it is brilliant that we have been recognised for this.”

“Staying connected is important to us as individuals and as a business in today’s marketplace. We use social media tools extensively to keep in the regional digital loop, as well as informing our friends and audience of how our business is growing and developing its service offering. In a competitive marketplace differentiation is key. We believe in breaking down the corporate wall, being human and letting the personalities of the individuals in the company talk for us. Our digital footprint facilitates this.”

Within the first 18 months the agency has expanded to 7 staff and is proud to have established a client base which includes NDI, Freshfayre, Philippa Gregory, SASDA, Codeworks, Onyx Group, Teesside University, The Enterprise Team, MPI Offshore, and Northumbria University. The team also won Best Social Media Marketing Campaign at the 2008 North East Digital Awards.

For more information on all the finalists please visit nebusiness.co.uk.

Mark Easby, Declan Metcalfe and Peter Jones established Better Brand Agency after the trio’s bid to buy out their former employer, Middlesbrough agency Calm Asylum, foundered.

The new company, which launched in September specialising in brand, marketing and digital services, is now looking to employ extra staff with a view to achieving revenues of around £500,000 in two years.

MD Mark Easby said: “We’re Tees Valley people through and through and we don’t want to move from the area. The DigitalCity and Codeworks projects are changing perceptions. People are realising the capabilities we have here.

Since its launch, the agency has delivered brand and marketing campaigns for Teesside and Northumbria Universities and is developing social media strategies for some of the region’s key visitor attractions.

The firm joins a creative sector worth £1.1bn to the regional economy and employing 35,000 people. In the Tees Valley alone, the industry is set to generate more than 9,000 jobs in the next five years, underpinned by DigitalCity’s 25-year game plan to position Tees Valley as a rival to other creative and digital hubs across the globe.

Read this article and more Tees Valley and North East business news at www.nebusiness.co.uk.

Better Brand Agency is a brand agency offering brand, graphic design, marketing, social media and social networking, web and digital services based in Tees Valley, North East and North Yorkshire.