I started Standby Productions on the 11th April 2011 from my spare bedroom in a terraced house in Didsbury. I had some basic kit and a 5 year business plan, derived after many meetings with my Dad, the Financial Director here at Standby. On that same day I was offered a job at the BBC (a place I’d always wanted to work), which I turned down and thankfully, I haven’t looked back since!

When things started out my aim was always to do things differently and to push every single production to its limit, treating every brief with the same level of respect, energy and creativity, no matter the subject. My belief, which is still true today, is that the only thing that prevents a cracking film being made, for any business, is the creativity and quality applied to it.

“When I started the business, I could only dream of the success and growth that we’ve experienced, not to mention the fact that we’ve kept it going for 10 years”

When I started the business, I could only dream of the success and growth that we’ve experienced, not to mention the fact that we’ve kept it going for 10 years – with this last 12-months being the hardest by far. Amazingly we’ve come out the other side of Covid-19 stronger and with a business that I feel has truly gone back to its roots and core ambitions – to make cracking films. 

As you will see with the launch of our new website, we’ve regained some of the swagger that set us apart in the early days. We’ve streamlined the business to enable us to produce the best possible film content and I’ve jumped back in, head first to make sure every production is the best it can possibly be.

Without the incredibly talented people that have worked for or on behalf of Standby there’s no way we could’ve achieved everything that we have done, from high profile TV commercials, to millions of views of our online content. To those people and our awesome clients – some of which I worked with in 2011 and still work with to this day – I say THANK YOU!

The business that we have today has gone through many changes over the years, but the future is as promising as ever and we’re going about it in an even better way. We’re working to become the first sustainable video production company in the North and are working extremely hard behind the scenes to reduce our carbon footprint wherever possible. Not only that, but we’ve just signed a partnership with Lancashire Wildlife Trust, to donate 1% of our annual turnover to support their incredible work on Greater Manchester’s peatlands. We’re also working with all our clients and partners to encourage them to shout about any good work they’re doing for the environment. The aim of this? To spread the message further and put the planet first, and it feels great to do so, rather than just chasing the ‘corporate dollar’!

You can find out more here: Standby Environment 

I am extremely proud to have run Standby for the last 10 years. I count myself very lucky that I do a hobby for a job – on to the next 10!