As we draw near to the close of our first year being fully operational, we wanted to take a quick second to look back on what we’ve achieved as a security consultant and private investigator in Newcastle.

We came out of the gate into this specific area of business, knowing that the private investigation trade had a terrible reputation (done no particular favours by how it’s presented in television and film, no less) but we knew we had a certain ethic and specific skill-set to separate ourselves from the ‘gumtree gumshoes’ out there and to make a real difference.

So we set a few goals to focus ourselves:

1. We wanted to not only get accepted into The Association of British Investigators but to gain full and substantive membership within our first year of business.

2. We wanted to get our business onto Page 1 of Google – not through any of those ‘trick’ services or through deceptive “keywording” unreflective of what we actually do but through good old fashioned site-traffic and interest.

3. We wanted key organisations in the fields of insurance and law to “let us into the room”, give us a chance and more specifically come back to us again and again for repeat business.

4. We wanted to do well enough without ever compromising the “mission statement” we created for Surmount Investigations (“… help anyone, individual or business, to overcome any problem they’re facing – lawfully, ethically and compassionately!”) to make a living and survive a second year.

How did we get on? Well…

1. We are PROUD members of The Association of British Investigators and are over-the-moon to have acquired substantive full membership within THREE MONTHS of joining. Not only that but one of our Case Studies was published by The ABI on their website.

2. We’re not just on Page 1 of Google. We’re ranked as one of the Top 3 businesses on Google for “Private Investigators in Newcastle“. That ranking has occurred because of the attention our weekly blog posts acquired and because of the traffic our sites get from some of the biggest and best solicitors and insurers throughout the North East. Most importantly of all, it’s down to the fantastic work “behind the scenes” on our company’s website from the team at Halogen Creative – who we honestly cannot recommend enough!

3. We now work with some of the best law firms in Newcastle Upon Tyne and are considered their go-to resource for debtor tracing, locating people and completing pre-repossession reports. We are also the on-call claims investigators for some of the leading insurance companies in the UK.

4. We’re not just heading into a second year… we’re VERY excited and optimistic to be doing so with some BIG plans for the growth of the company in 2018.

VERY little of this would have been possible without the support of our clients who not only come back to us repeatedly but who recommend us to others. Nor would it be possible without you lot, sharing our social media posts and promoting us locally to individuals and businesses affected by crime but let down by the police.

We never wanted to just be “PIs”. We always wanted to be professional problem-solvers for anyone who needed help. You’ve helped that happen.

THANK YOU!