ICN

Specialist App publisher ICN relocated its entire team and business to Nottingham in order to grow its business and take full advantage of expansion opportunities.

Impressed with the proactive response from the city’s inward investment team, ICN was helped to find appropriate office space, negotiate favourable lease arrangements and awarded a Creative Quarter Loan of £25,000 to assist with set up and initial growth. The University of Nottingham was also on hand to run a recruitment drive to find the right graduates to fill specific marketing positions within ICN.

Founder and chief executive, Geoff Baker, is a former magazine publisher who saw the publishing landscape change from print to online via apps and websites: “We were looking at several relocation options, mostly regional city bases but Nottingham just stood out, from first contact to final move. The level of support was exceptional and its focus on incubating digital sector small business within the new Creative Quarter was perfect for us.”

ICN has published 14 apps in conjunction with celebrities such as Strictly Come Dancing stars Flavia Cacace & Vincent Simone and cricket legend Jimmy Anderson. James May's Science Stories app was launched in partnership with London’s Science Museum & US mobile technology powerhouse Qualcomm last year and was shortlisted for a coveted Digi Award. It was also nominated in the Sunday Times Top 500 Apps in the World List, something also achieved by ICN’s David Gandy Style Guide app.

Within three years Geoff sees ICN employing 30 people running majority-owned subsidiaries in the large global smartphone and handset markets of India, China, Japan, Brazil, the US and Mexico, all co-ordinated from Nottingham.

Go to ICN's website.