A Cardiff search marketing agency has left its city centre office to share a working space with one of its longest-standing clients.
Appear Online, which specialises in SEO, AI search and Google Ads, has moved out of Brunel House and into shared space on Stadium Close in Cardiff alongside Creative Spaces Design, the exhibition stand, interiors and retail design company it has worked with for several years.
The move swaps a traditional office block for a working studio, where Creative Spaces designs and builds exhibition stands, event spaces and commercial interiors for brands across the UK.
From Client to Neighbour
The two businesses have a long history. Appear Online has run Creative Spaces Design’s search marketing for several years, helping the company grow its visibility for competitive national searches such as exhibition stand design. According to the agency, organic traffic to the Creative Spaces website more than doubled within six months of the campaign starting, with more enquiries coming from larger brands and higher-budget projects.
Creative Spaces itself began in a living room in Roath before growing into a purpose-built 5,000 sq ft warehouse, workshop and studio, where design, strategy and making all happen under one roof.
Chris Hinchly, co-founder of Appear Online, said the move felt like a natural next step. “We’ve worked with the Creative Spaces team for years, so when the chance came up to share their space, it was an easy decision,” he said. “Being next to a team that designs and builds things every day is a brilliant change from a city centre office. You see projects coming together, you hear the workshop, and it keeps us close to what our clients actually do.”
A Different Kind of Office
Sharing space between agencies and clients is still relatively unusual, but it is becoming more common among smaller creative and digital businesses looking for flexibility and a stronger sense of collaboration than a conventional serviced office offers.
For Appear Online, the appeal is as much about the work as the workspace. “Good SEO is built on understanding a business properly,” Chris added. “Working this closely with a client makes us better at the job, and the team here are full of ideas. We already find ourselves talking through projects over a coffee that would have taken a scheduled call before.”
The agency’s team, including its office dog Bernie, has settled into the new space, which gives them room to grow alongside the Creative Spaces studio and workshop.
Rooted in South Wales
Founded in 2023, Appear Online works with businesses across Wales and the UK, from local service companies to national eCommerce brands, and also has an office in Swansea. Its work increasingly covers how brands appear in AI tools such as ChatGPT and Google’s AI results, alongside traditional search.
Creative Spaces Design continues to deliver exhibition, event, retail and interior projects for clients locally and internationally from its Cardiff base.
Both businesses say the arrangement reflects the kind of collaborative, supportive business community they want to be part of in Cardiff, and a partnership that has grown well beyond a standard client relationship.
