Sandstar Communications is celebrating 3 incredible years this November by launching our very first blog. This interview with directors Shreek Raivadera and Simon Gribbon tells you about the journey so far.
Shreek: Simon and I have known each other since we were about 5 years old. We lived round the corner from each other, he was my brother’s best friend in primary school, and his mum and my parents worked together at the local doctor’s surgery.
Simon: After school, we didn’t really keep in touch but bumped into each other about 16 years later when I was working at a high tech PR agency.
Shreek: I turned up for an interview and there he was!
Simon: Unfortunately, Shreek got the job. I like to think that he learned everything he knows from sitting opposite me for several years. We then went our separate ways again, but managed to keep in touch this time. We’d had a few conversations about working for ourselves or starting our own agency, usually over a drink, as you do.
Shreek: But then several factors in both our lives aligned at the same time and one Friday afternoon we had a sober conversation about starting an agency. We resolved to meet on Monday and talk about it seriously. That was the start.
Simon: We took advantage of the business support services for startups provided by Leicester for Business, developed a business plan, negotiated with some potential clients and within a few months had started Sandstar.
Shreek: The hardest part of starting the business seemed to be getting the right business name! We ended up by using a combination of our initials and adding something related to space, since we’re both from Leicester, home of the National Space Centre. After a year of working from home, we moved into an office at DOCK (coincidentally next door to the Space Centre) and haven’t looked back! The building has a great community and is a great base from which to build the technology marketing side of the business.
Simon: We are looking to grow the business in the next few years. There are so many areas in which we have experience and can help organisations with their marketing and communications requirements – technology, engineering, travel & tourism, sustainable transport, manufacturing and education are just a few of the markets in which we currently operate.
Shreek: Here’s to the next three years and many more!