Happy 5th Birthday to Destination Digital! 🍰

It’s hard to believe it’s been five years since Destination Digital first opened its doors on 7 July 2020. What started as a leap of faith in the middle of a national lockdown has since blossomed into a thriving, fast-moving digital marketing agency full of personality, purpose and passion for what we do!

From four Christmas dos across four different locations, countless birthdays, onboarding amazing new clients and sending what must now be close to a million emails (don’t quote us on that!), we’ve grown, learned, adapted and had a lot of fun along the way.

Our Founder and Managing Director, Debbie Porter, took a bold step by launching Destination Digital during the 2020 summer lockdown in the UK – one of the most uncertain times to start a business. But, we’ve weathered the storms, kept our heads down and cracked on! Now in 2025, we’ve grown into a tight-knit team with a shared mission: to deliver honest, straight-talking digital marketing that gets results.

To mark five fabulous years in business, here’s five incredible things that have happened over the years!

1. We’ve Networked Our Socks Off!

Debbie is a long-standing member of the FSB and a big believer in building community through business. Having run her own business from Bakewell for some years, she noticed a gap in networking opportunities in the Peak District and decided to do something about it.

So, in March 2023, Destination Digital teamed up with the FSB and the Peak District National Park Authority to launch regular business networking events at Aldern House, Bakewell – home to the Authority and Peak District Business Hub. The goal was to bring local businesses together, share knowledge and open the door to new opportunities.

Fast forward to today and the networking events have gone from strength-to-strength, welcoming more and more local businesses through the door at every event. To date, we’ve hosted 27 networking events – that’s a lot of cups of tea, nibbles eaten, words spoken and setting up and breaking down!

Over the last two years, we’ve welcomed some great speakers who have explored some really interesting topics, covering IT security, AI and automation, finance, human resources, workplace safety, mindset coaching, video marketing, photography, and even the King’s Award for Enterprise.

We’re always happy to see so many familiar faces at the FSB networking events in Bakewell each month, but if you’ve not been yet and are interested in coming along, we have a great line-up in the next quarter. Find out more here, and we look forward to seeing you there!

2. We’ve Gone Cross-Country

From Bakewell to Leeds, Manchester to London, and even Norwich and Newcastle, we’ve certainly racked up the miles over the last five years. Whether it’s client meetings, events or celebrating big wins, we love getting out and about.

One of the standout events in our calendar has to be the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, and we’ve been lucky enough to attend a handful of times over the years in support of some truly brilliant clients. For any green-fingered fan, it’s the ultimate dream day out, so it’s no surprise Debbie was completely in her element every time she headed down to the show. We’ve admired some jaw-dropping show gardens, but a real highlight was being part of the RES show garden designed by Tom Massey in 2023. We were there to support our friends at Baker Consultants, who were invited to showcase their innovative soil listening technology, allowing visitors to listen to the life beneath their feet.

We’ve been pulled down to London for more reasons than just RHS Chelsea. Over the years, we’ve been lucky enough to attend some fantastic business awards events, and even pick up a few wins along the way! We’ve been part of The Small Awards, which celebrates the UK’s most inspiring small businesses, and Forward Ladies, which champions women in business across the country. These events are always a brilliant opportunity to step away from the day-to-day, connect with fellow entrepreneurs, and celebrate the hard work that goes into running and growing a small business.

Most recently, we hopped on a train to the capital for a particularly special occasion – a trip to the House of Lords! Debbie and Rachel were invited to attend a reception hosted by Small Business Britain to celebrate completing the Adobe Express course. It was a proud moment to be amongst so many other amazing small business owners and naturally, we rounded it off with a celebratory afternoon tea at The Ivy (because why not?).

Our Christmas dos have taken us on a festive tour of the North, with team celebrations in Newcastle, Durham and Leeds. These annual get-togethers have become a much-loved tradition and a chance to down tools, eat our bodyweight in turkey and Christmas pudding, and enjoy some well-earned time together away from our desks. Each city brought something different to the table, and we made the most of the chance to explore places we hadn’t had the opportunity to visit before. From twinkly Christmas markets and cobbled streets to cathedrals and museums, these trips have been full of fun, good food and great company, and they’ve become a highlight in the Destination Digital calendar.

3. We’ve Worked on Some Big Projects

We’ve had the privilege of working on some seriously exciting and high-impact projects, the kind that make us step back and say “We did that!”

From nationwide product launches and rebrands to multi-channel marketing campaigns and SEO audits, we’ve rolled up our sleeves and delivered results that have made a real difference to our clients.

We’ve supported businesses through website rebuilds, created content strategies from scratch and helped brands refine their tone of voice to better connect with their audiences. We’ve worked alongside PR teams, design agencies and in-house marketers to bring complex ideas to life and deliver creative campaigns that really cut through the noise.

Some standout moments include supporting brands like Faith in Nature and St. Moriz with Google Ads campaigns designed to drive serious revenue, and launching new websites for Arts Derbyshire, Baker Consultants, Potteries Auctions, and most recently, Weiss Technik UK.

We were also thrilled to help bring Mr. Fothergill’s first ever ‘Influencer Day’ to life, an exclusive event that welcomed some of the UK’s biggest gardening influencers to their HQ for a behind-the-scenes look at their trials field.

And when things haven’t gone quite to plan, we’ve been there too: stepping in to untangle broken CMSs, rewrite 100+ product pages at speed, or jump into crisis comms mode when things got a bit bumpy.

We thrive on a challenge, and there’s nothing more satisfying than seeing a big project go live, knowing we helped to make it happen.

4. We’ve Grown (a Lot!)

Back in 2020, it was just Debbie and Hannah navigating the chaos that lockdown brought and building something new from the ground up. In 2021, as things started to grow and grow, Rachel came on board, and the team started to take shape. Since then, we’ve had some great people join us along the way, each bringing their own flair and helping us grow into the agency we are today.

Fast forward to 2025, and we’ve expanded even more, welcoming Ed through his apprenticeship with Chesterfield College, and working regularly with a trusted group of freelancers who feel like an extension of the core team. Whether they’re helping with design, copywriting and everything else in-between, we’ve built some fantastic relationships with people we love collaborating with.

The team may be small, but we’re mighty! And, with every new face, we’ve added more skills, more creativity and more energy into the mix. It’s been amazing to see how much we’ve grown, not just in size, but in confidence, ambition and capability. Here’s to continuing that growth in the years ahead!

5. We’ve Helped Train the Next Generation

Giving back and supporting young people into marketing careers is a big part of what we do.

Alongside our day jobs, we have hosted students from University of Sheffield, University of Derby, Nottingham Trent University and local secondary school, Lady Manners School, for placements and work experience to give them a glimpse into the life of a digital marketer.

On top of hosting students, we’ve also taken on a couple of apprentices. If you follow us, many of you will be familiar with our young apprentice, Ed Hazelhurst. He joined us in October 2023 as fresh-faced 16 year-old with a big interest in digital. He has since gone on to not only complete his apprenticeship, but he smashed it with a Distinction, the highest grade possible! Here’s what Ed had to say about his apprenticeship “The team here at Destination Digital did absolutely everything in their power to get Ed through this apprenticeship after some issues with the education provider arose. Debbie and Rachel aren’t just incredible Digital Marketers, they also took up the role of incredible teachers during this apprenticeship and I couldn’t have done it without them!”

From surviving a number of lockdowns to thriving as a digital agency in the heart of the Peak District, the last five years have been an incredible ride, and we couldn’t have done it without the amazing clients, collaborators, partners, students and friends who’ve been part of the journey.

Thank you for supporting us over the last few years, and we can’t wait to see where the next five take us!

Contact us

If you’d like to talk to us about this news piece, or you’d like help with digital marketing strategy, content marketing, SEO or anything else digital, please email us on info@destination-digital.co.uk or give us a call on 01629 810199.