A COMPANY founded at a dining room table has ambitions to become the leading social media agency in the south.

Clare Groombridge set up her business while on maternity leave less than four years ago.

South Coast Social has since landed clients including Sydenhams, Barcardi Martini, Parterre Fragrances and Sling Studio.

The business currently consists of three people based in Bournemouth’s Holdenhurst Road, but Ms Groombridge expects to be recruiting this year as it expands.

She thought of the idea after working for nearly five years as marketing manager with Limited Space, a Poole company providing advertising media at shopping malls.

“I really started in specialising in social with Limited Space and saw the room for a purely social media agency and realised there wasn’t anyone doing that at the time,” she said.

“There were full service marketing agencies but there was a real gap in the marketplace for company that could provide that level of expertise.”

The company helps businesses develop social media strategies, manages social media accounts for clients and offers training.

The director said her ambition was that the business would become the leading social media agency on the south coast.

She said she had found it increasingly easy to be taken seriously by London clients who have heard about the Bournemouth area’s thriving digital and creative sector.

“The great thing is people have heard of the digital boom in Bournemouth and what we’re doing,” she said.

“We don’t have to sell it to start off with. Potential London clients see it as a really positive thing.”

She said the area was also increasingly managing to retain the talent coming out of its universities.

The company has been involved in local initiatives in the sector, including Get Set For Growth, Silicon South and First Bourne.

Ms Groombridge said the area had some excellent full service agencies catering for all aspects of a brand’s marketing strategy.

“There’s definitely still a place for that but I think perhaps where the individual, specialist agencies offer brands something different as the specialist in each sector,” she added.

The agency’s relationships with specialists in other areas of marketing meant they could recommend each other to clients, she added.