WE-COM was officially launched today by experienced agency leader Tom Etherington.
WE-COM, based on Newcastle-upon-Tyne, is the first agency model built around the specific needs and challenges of e-commerce businesses and their customers.
The business started in November 2024 and has already picked up work with national and international retailers across organic and paid search, marketplaces, and email marketing.
Our aim is to provide direct access to senior marketers and channel specialists through a combination of a core team and a community of e-commerce freelancers and partners, to help businesses that are held back by siloed services that happen as a result of multiple external partners.
Tom said: “As more agencies have specialised, e-commerce businesses have been left with the choice of hiring multiple agencies or freelancers within different channels, or building an in-house team to try and cover as much as possible.
“It’s not only expensive, time-consuming, and inefficient, it also creates big gaps and fragmented strategies that don’t align with how customers actually behave and shop online.
“We want to partner with clients and their in-house teams across wider strategies and channels to provide experienced specialists who can work directly on solving their biggest challenges. Our model doesn’t come with the same limitations and constraints of building services within the agency, so solutions can be as unique as the challenges our clients face.”
Tom previously led Evolved Search for almost seven years, progressing from Head of SEO to a board member, operations director, managing director, and then chief marketing and revenue officer, before leaving the business in April 2024 and officially exiting in October.
During his time there, Tom grew the agency from a small team to a headcount of 60 people, picking up over 25 awards along the way and earning strong industry recognition for great results and standout culture. This included the titles of Best Large SEO Agency in the North, UK, and Europe in 2022, a top 20 ranking of agencies in the North based on financial performance, and one of the best places to work in the UK and Europe based on anonymous employee feedback, including 2nd in the UK in 2023 (Great Places to Work).
He has worked in SEO and digital marketing since 2012, specialising in competitive e-commerce markets and previously led strategies for online retailers including River Island, ScS, Mattress Online, Marks Electrical, and more.
