In The Spotlight banner with Bruce Thomas of Tribes
At Manchester Digital, we like to interview our members to find out a bit more about what they do and their work in the Greater Manchester digital and technology sphere. This week we're speaking with Bruce Thomas, Founder of Tribes.
What does your organisation do?
We are essentially a digital agency, albeit ‘distributed’. Tribes agency has delivered projects for clients, including Compare the Market, Contentsquare, Ladbrokes/Coral, Guide Dogs for the Blind, Universal Music, and Universal Publishing LA, to name a few.
Being a distributed agency allows our team to work from any location in the UK or World plus, Tribes agency can work with any skilled specialist, wherever they are based. We can provide access to an incredibly diverse workforce which is highly sustainable.
What do you think is currently the biggest issue facing the digital and tech industry?
The lack of reliable & available developer talent. Projects and businesses in the digital / technology sectors are being held back due to the lack of developer resources.
What is your organisation's biggest achievement?
Being chosen as Contentsquare’s global digital agency. CS are a 1.6 billion funded analytics business that left a well-known and revered agency to work with Tribes. The results we’ve helped make to the CS business are incredible.
What would you consider to be your organisation's biggest challenge?
Part of our offering is placing senior remote developers to mainly UK-based businesses, be they agencies, SAAS businesses or brands. Trading with Tribes, a Manchester-based company, and not the developer themselves, creates security, indemnity and assurance to the clients we help.
With zero recruitment charges and costs way below-expected developer rates, our biggest challenge is cutting through the noise of other less reliable providers and reaching the Manchester digital / technology businesses with our message about highly skilled, reliable, low-cost developers. We are still a relatively well-kept secret, working with a handful of clients who are reaping the rewards of how we operate and the prices/service we offer.
What do you think the future looks like for Manchester’s digital and tech sector?
We think it’s a very rosy future. No longer are Manchester the poor cousin to other provincial UK cities; instead, Manchester has become a global player and leader in the world of tech/digital. As mentioned previously, finding the right developer talent in a very limited marketplace (UK devs) is an ongoing issue which needs fast solutions.
Working with Tribes can bridge that skills gap and increase profit for companies through reduced costs.
Tell us something we might not know about your company.
Bruce, our Founder, was one of the original steering committee members helping to establish Manchester Digital.
And David, our MD is based in Ibiza!
Thank you, Bruce!
To find out more about Tribes, click here.
Want to raise your business's profile? If you're a member, contact thom@manchesterdigital.com to discuss featuring your content on our site, social media or newsletter. If you're not a member, get in touch today to discuss the benefits of membership.
