Immersive experiences are becoming more and more popular around the country. They are at the forefront of technological and entertainment innovation and often produce truly breath-taking results.
Newcastle-based NOVAK are renowned across the UK for creating truly transformative environments in every kind of space. From making a bespoke Paddington Bear Experience as part of the recent film’s marketing campaign through to projecting huge original artwork on Bolton’s iconic Town Hall, Adam Finley and his team have quietly become the go-to company for the most ambitious of these projects.
NOVAK have been going for over 20 years, but like so many companies in the creative industries, what began as a group of talented collaborators following passion projects has grown into a small business that does huge things as Finley explained:
“We started off as a loose collective of artists who met at university primarily doing visuals in nightclubs and that has evolved into the media design studio that we are today.
“One of the things that NOVAK is quite well known for is our large scale projection and projection mapping pieces where we’re using the built environment as our canvases.”
That journey has come with significant challenges along the way, but you’d expect that for two decades in business. However, Finley revealed a common theme that they have always struggled with which led them to apply for the Create Growth Programme:
“None of us come from the traditional business background. We came together as a group of friends just doing stuff that we really enjoyed and saw a chance that this is something we could do.
“Not having that knowledge of business practices has undoubtedly been a challenging thing.
“The vast majority of the work we’ve got has been primarily word of mouth and recommendations. The big challenge for us is to work out how we get commissioners and clients interested in working with us directly.
“We’d never really sought external advice, we’d always done things based on what we’d been learning.
“Some good friends of ours had been through the Create Growth Programme and recommended it to us and we thought that this was a really good time to get some external input into how we operate as a business and go beyond that glass ceiling that we’d felt we’d hit.”
NOVAK exist in a world that is highly bespoke for what they create with experiences made to fit the campaign, environment or abstract idea that’s been commissioned. It’s a niche world but Finley says that makes it more competitive. Their longevity in their industry sets them apart from many of the companies that take part in Create Growth Programmes; however, despite their relative experience, their work with their mentor made a huge difference in how they think about the business at a foundational level.
“NOVAK is like our child and therefore we have a very different perspective on it.
“Just being able to sit down and lay out what we do, how we do it, everything from financial things to governance to the roles that each of us carries out as part of our business with Catherine our mentor has been great.
“Making us think about it in business terms, asking ‘what do we want this to provide us later in life?’.
“That’s really helped us to create strategies that will ultimately help us to achieve the goals that we’ve set for ourselves.”
NOVAK’S journey has taken them to unique places and their vision has allowed them to create incredible pieces of work that have been enjoyed by millions of people. Their story is one of great success in their field. Although, Finley says that they have never considered investment as they have never understood it. However, their experience on the Create Growth Programme has helped them there too.
“We’d never really thought about it and certainly didn’t consider all the different types of investments that were available.
“Our understanding of the different options and the landscapes is so much greater than it was previously after the Programme.”
There’s no doubt that NOVAK are already successful in their field and although investment is not on the cards for them now, the experience with Creative UK has brought about a far greater understanding of their own business and an appreciation of what they have achieved. As a result, the education and understanding that Finley has developed through the Programme has helped shape their ambitions.
“When you ask someone to scrutinise your business, there are certain things you don’t want to hear but you need to hear them because that’s the whole purpose of this.
“But, when they’re for the most part, coming back with positive things and saying ‘what you’ve got here is a really good thing; you just need to do it a bit differently’ that’s really encouraging.
“By being part of the programme we’ve seen that there are greater opportunities for us and we can be more strategic about how we make the business grow.
“The work we’ve done with Creative UK and the mentors has made us look at things from a different perspective.”
“By being part of the programme we’ve seen that there are greater opportunities for us and we can be more strategic about how we make the business grow.
“The work we’ve done with Creative UK and the mentors has made us look at things from a different perspective.”
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