Franklin Northridge

Why university and why business management?

I knew I wanted to be a business owner and university felt like the right environment to figure it all out. My ambition was to build something, but I didn't have a specific career path in mind. Business management made sense and gave me the framework to start thinking more seriously about that.

Best thing about your course?

What I valued most was the exposure to successful business owners. In my first year, a guest visit from Dean Fox – an entrepreneur from Teesside – stuck with me. Hearing from someone local who'd built something real made it feel possible for me, in a way that theory alone never could.

Visits to Flok – a co-working space in Middlesbrough – for business seminars reinforced that. The course opened doors to experiences that shaped my thinking more than anything else.

Have you worked on any live projects?

Yes – throughout my journey at University I’ve been running businesses, studying and working part-time. I tried eCommerce and ran a few different brands, which was a learning curve, but I learned the skills to run a business – building websites, running ads and understanding what makes people buy.

I eventually started Social Summit Marketing, a digital marketing and AI automation agency for trade businesses, with help from Launchpad – the University’s start-up support service. They helped me build a clear plan and I built a TikTok page around AI and took on my first trade business client. Within six months, I had over 12 clients across the North, and I've recently moved into a new office in the Victoria Building on campus. I also manage Teesside University International Business School’s social media, which feels like a full-circle moment.

What do you think about the campus and services?

The campus has everything you need. My business partner and I built Social Summit without an office, purely using the campus buildings to work, film content, have zoom meetings and set us up to get our own place. The University genuinely supports students who are trying to do something different, which has meant a lot to me as someone balancing running a business alongside my studies.

What do you think about Middlesbrough and the surrounding area?

This area is full of hardworking people, real businesses and genuine character. I'm proud to be from Teesside, it's shaped how I think about business and who I want to work with. My whole agency is built around serving local trades and companies across the North, so the region isn't just home to me – it's my market.

What skills have you gained?

Resilience, honestly. The University environment gave me room to try things, fail, reassess and try again – with support available when I needed it. The Launchpad team helped me structure my business. Guest speakers and entrepreneur visits gave me belief. And the academic side gave me the language and frameworks to operate more professionally as the agency grew.

Future ambitions?

To build Social Summit Marketing into the go-to marketing agency in the North of England. I want to scale the model we've built – funnels, automation and paid ads. In the long term, I'm interested in the intersection of AI and local business growth, and I think the North is one of the best places in the country to make that happen.

Would you recommend Teesside and your course?

Absolutely. Especially if you're someone who wants to start a business. Teesside doesn't feel like it's just processing students, it wants you to succeed. The fact I've been able to run a real business, take on real clients and still thrive academically says a lot about the environment here.

Any advice to anyone thinking of studying here?

Don't wait until you graduate to start doing things. Use your time here to
experiment, build and fail safely. The knowledge you get in lectures is most useful
when you're applying it to something real – so find that thing as early as you can
and go all in on it.

Photo left to right: Oliver Whitton and Franklin Northridge