Hi-tech Ben gets awards recognition

Ben Stone, from The Visual Works, a south Shropshire-based marketing agency, is a finalist in the Midlands Rural Business Awards.

His business has been shortlisted as one of eight finalists in the Best Rural Digital, Communications or Media Business in the 2019 edition of the awards Rural Business Awards.

Mr Stone’s business is based in a converted barn on the Earl of Plymouth Estate, in Stanton Lacy, just north of Ludlow.

Established in 1995, the company specialises in web and brochure design and brand creation.

Offering a combination of creative flair and digital know-how The Visual Works have worked with hundreds of companies including Ludlow Food Festival, Woods Brewery, Igloo Vision, Ludlow Brewery and Ludlow Medieval Christmas Festival.

Mr Stone said he was delighted to be recognised as being one of the best in the business and hoped to win the top prize for rural South Shropshire.

He said: “Our countryside location has always informed the values that underpin how we operate.

Knowledge

“We are fortunate to have worked with numerous sizeable organisations at a national and international level, such as The Little Princess Trust, Wandsworth Fringe Festival, The Independent and The Wall Street Journal.

“Our aim is to bring back these experiences and transfer the knowledge we’ve gained to the amazing businesses that exist on our doorstep.

“We’re dedicated to offering local companies the complete package by delivering technical expertise and marketing knowledge.”

He added his company’s strapline was ‘far from the crowds, close to our clients’.

He said: “I think this helps to differentiate us from other agencies that can be quite detached from the nitty gritty challenges of running a rural business.

"To be shortlisted for these awards is really exciting. We’re so used to championing others; it’s great to be given an opportunity to blow our own trumpet."

Now in their fifth year, the Rural Business Awards were established with the aim of recognising businesses operating right across the rural sector, to acknowledge the breadth and depth of opportunity presented by the Great British countryside.