When graphic designer Bekkie Hull met her one-day business partner, Rob Ellis, she told him of her bold ambition: to run her own graphic design company.

Just 2 years later, in 2019, Bekkie and Rob together fulfilled that goal, establishing Lancaster-based brand consultancy and design studio, Two Stories.

Now, as creative director and managing director respectively, Bekkie and Rob’s business has far surpassed that original vision.

Today, Two Stories is a thriving team of seven providing all aspects of brand and design - from brand strategy and values to multiple design touchpoints including brand identity, print, event design and website design and development - to a host of regional and national clients including Channel 4, the Advertising Association and Morecambe Football Club.

Morecambe-born Bekkie says: “We’re incredibly proud to be building such a strong client base across the UK, while being able to stay in a place we love.”

Small steps to big ideas

Like many successful small business owners, a growing stream of projects saw Bekkie fully-focussed on serving clients, leaving little time to spare.

She explains: “Ironically, in working on everyone else's brand and vision, we hadn’t spent enough time thinking about our own.

“Rob and I decided to take control and be clear about what we want Two Stories to be known for.”

To help her in this mission, Bekkie joined the Lancashire Forum, a leadership development programme from Lancaster University Management School (LUMS).

Part of Boost, Lancashire’s Business Growth Hub, the programme combines sessions with business experts and world-class academics with peer learning to support the leaders of Lancashire-based SMEs to build businesses that focus on both profit and purpose.

Bekkie says: “As a peer-to-peer programme, you learn from and with everyone from entrepreneurs to the directors of established companies, as well as Lancaster University academics.

“One of the first sessions was on vision planning, which, for me, is for Two Stories to secure a regional and national reputation as super-creative specialists in brand and design.

“When we shared our vision with the group, I knew my aspirations were high, but other delegates were only supportive which was so reassuring.”

The confidence to take control

Bekkie discovered that, as her business plans grew, so too did her confidence. She explains: “I was 24 when we started Two Stories and sometimes feel conscious of being a young business owner but there was a hugely diverse mix of delegates on the Forum.”

The programme began with a two-day session, including an overnight stay. Bekkie says: “It was so refreshing to get back to face-to-face events after the countless Zoom calls of the pandemic.

“Conversations in the coffee break and after dinner helped us to gel as a team and since then we’ve become a support network to each other that’s lasted well beyond the final session.”

The face of the future

Back at the studio, one of Bekkie’s first steps in delivering the new Two Stories Vision has been to become a more visible face of the business.

Bekkie explains: “The Forum brought home just how much people buy from people and that Rob and I need to become better known as individuals.”

“It also made me realise the importance of prioritising the director-level thinking that had so often fallen to the bottom of the list.”

“We now have a new sense of purpose and are more confident in making deliberate decisions that are taking us where we want to be.”

The Lancashire Forum is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for Lancashire businesses that employ from two to 250 full-time employees and have a turnover of less than €50m (or equivalent in GBP).

Join the next cohort

The Lancashire Forum is designed to help owner-managers, MDs and senior decision makers of SMEs to grow their businesses. It is fully funded and available to businesses which are eligible under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) criteria.

Find out more about what opportunities are available to Lancashire businesses or call Dominic Robinson on 01524 593712 or contact lancashireforum@lancaster.ac.uk.



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