Digital agency going for growth after boardroom shake-up

A performance marketing agency that achieved record profits in 2024 has now completed a boardroom reshuffle as it works to strengthen its platform for growth.

Mike Ellis, Managing Director of 43 Clicks North since he set up the business in 2017, has now handed the role to Steve Baker, who steps up from the job of Performance Marketing Director.

Mike will now take on the title of Founder and will focus on the commercial side of the business to treble growth over the next four years.

The pair first worked together at Epiphany Search in Leeds, reuniting four years ago when Mike recruited Steve as Operations Manager of the fast-growing business which has become a key player in the Hull and Humber digital sector.

Mike said: “We had a really strong year last year and recorded our best ever profits – up about 10 per cent year on year. But at the same time we were thinking about how much better the business could be if each of us concentrated on the things we do best, and we couldn’t see any good reason to delay that any longer.”

As MD, Mike has built a team of 18 with its own offices in the Old Town of Hull and decades of experience working in Performance Marketing, helping B2C businesses scale from six figures in revenue to eight figures in revenue through PPC, Paid Social, SEO and Conversion Rate Optimisation. 

He said: “The start of the year has been challenging because the economy is still struggling and it will be like that for some time yet, but the pipeline is looking good. We had a bit of a rebuild in 2024 and that’s given us the room to be able to invest in 2025 and hopefully look forward to the rewards from that in 2026.

“We have bolstered the Paid Media and SEO teams, and we are looking to bolster the client management team. We are putting a lot of building blocks in place, particularly in sales and marketing, which is the main reason I am moving across to that side of the business, but what I can’t do is focus on the commercial side of the business while running the day-to-day.”

Steve is a University of Lincoln graduate, who attended the Hull campus in the early 2000s and was attracted back to the city in 2021 by the place, the people and the potential of 43 Clicks North.

He said: “It’s been difficult in the market generally but all the work we have done over the last 18 months has made sure we are on the right track and we do not need to feel restricted in our ambitions.

“When the economy and the market isn’t where we want it to be, a lot of businesses batten down the hatches and don’t try to grow their way out of the downturn. We’re doing the opposite. We are investing internally and creating new roles because we have a good, stable structure in the business to enable that to happen.

“We are a lot more grown up as a business in the way we carry ourselves and the way we behave internally. We are not a business that’s three years old any more. We are not playing at things, we have a good track record of delivering good results for clients and we have an enviable client list compared with some other agencies in the region.”