Entrepreneur offers life-changing jobs to school leavers

Young people across Oxfordshire and surrounding counties are being given the chance to transfer their knowledge of multi-media platforms and devices into a high-earning career where they can even take a nap in the office, thanks to a rapidly expanding digital PR and SEO agency based at Witney Business & Innovation Centre (Witney BIC).  

Search Intelligence has grown ten-fold from three to 30 employees in the last 12 months, thanks to entrepreneur and founder, Fery Kaszoni, who has developed a research-based digital PR method that delivers national and international media coverage incorporating online links to clients’ websites.

Fery is inviting school, college, and university leavers to kick-start a life-changing career at Search Intelligence and has a mission to address the skills shortage in SEO by providing bespoke in-house training that has already seen new starters quickly develop to earn an annual salary of £50k.

Search Intelligence has recently expanded at Witney BIC to occupy a total of 1,766 sq. ft. across seven offices and has already provided 15 jobs for people straight out of education.

Fery Kaszoni, Director, Search Intelligence, said: “We have a different approach to recruitment that isn’t based on previous experience.   We are simply looking for intelligent people with enthusiasm, energy, and a strong interest in what’s going on in the world. Some of our youngest team members are already our most successful at generating links for clients as they are used to accessing news in different formats and are open to using multimedia techniques that can deliver national media links. I strongly believe in rewarding that success, which really can be life-changing.”

Fery is taking a ‘Google style’ approach to ensure his team is empowered and mentally charged to thrive at Witney BIC, which includes the development of sleep pods, a gym, and free-rein Fridays where employees can channel their creative energy into whatever they like.   He explains:

“Our company culture is unique. For example, any of the team are free to take a nap if they feel tired and on a Friday, as long as client work is complete, they can do what they like. I’m fine with that. I’m striving to create a fun office environment and am appreciative of the flexible support provided by the team at Witney BIC to make that happen.”

Search Intelligence is on track to reach its £1m turnover target this year with ambitious growth plans to increase its team to 100 strong with a turnover of £5m over the next couple of years. The company first moved to Witney BIC in May 2017, but it was from September 2020 when Fery, then part of a team of three, decided his SEO approach to PR was working and it was time to become an agency.

Fery Kaszoni said: “I changed my strategy. I decided to only work with larger companies with more budget to spend on SEO and started proactively sharing my knowledge, tips, and advice with case study examples via social media such as LinkedIn and Facebook. Rapid growth led to us hiring an HR professional as part of the team and we have developed a bespoke training system to ensure employees can support existing and new clients.

“I would also like to add that the flexible support offered by Witney BIC with no long-term commitments and the ability to scale up or down – if needed – has been key to our growth and success. There is no space in current times for traditional landlords who stand-by fixed-term leases that don’t reflect today’s business climate.”

Witney BIC, previously owned by The Blenheim Estate, was acquired by commercial property business, Canmoor, in February 2021. Located at Windrush Industrial Park, the facility offers a selection of office space solutions for 1 to 30 people and is managed by the UK’s leading provider of business & innovation centres, Oxford Innovation.

Alli Keene, Centre Manager, Witney BIC, said: “The success and rapid growth of Search Intelligence has been phenomenal and we love having Fery’s growing team at the centre who add to the collaborative environment we’ve created. The wider Oxford Innovation team is here to support Fery’s business journey and we will continue to the flexibility needed to accommodate an exciting future ahead.”

To find out more information about Search Intelligence, visit: search-intelligence.co.uk or for further details about Witney BIC, go to: witney-bic.co.uk.