Manchester-based Banc is a digital marketing agency which was founded in 2009 by Martin Cozens and Neil Birchall.
Banc – which this year entered Prolific North’s Top 50 Digital Agencies – offers services including organic search, paid media, web design and development, and works with clients including the operators of Blue Planet Aspro Parks, Intact Software, and Holts Auto.
Martin, MD at Banc, is passionate about creating a positive work culture in which individuals can thrive and grow, and is a dedicated Sunderland AFC fan. Before Banc he was Director of Partnerships at Latitude, which was acquired by Jellyfish in 2019.
We found out what lessons he’s learnt.
Which single daily habit or practice could you not do without?
Sleep or Coffee!
What’s your best failure?
My first business, which taught me how not to do it, an unmitigated disaster.
Somehow my amazing wife still thought it was a good idea to fund the next one!
What is the best investment you’ve ever made, either financial or time?
My first property – a flat in Salford, bought just before the boom in the 90s.
Which book would you recommend others to read and why?
Anything by William Shakespeare. There’s no better record of the written word anywhere in the history of the world.
Or ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’.
What one piece of advice would you give your 21-year-old self?
Start your pension, now!
Who or what has had the single biggest influence on your working life?
My business partner, Neil Birchall. We sit at opposite ends of a see-saw.
Tell us something about you that would surprise people.
I’m half-Mackem, half-Cockney.
How will the COVID crisis change work for the better?
It has shown us, at Banc at least, how flexible our business operations can be for our employees and their work/life balance.
What’s been your luckiest break?
Picking up the phone at work one day to a stranger who became my wife.
What does success look like to you?
A happy, healthy family.
