A Bristol online marketing company business started by a son and his father is celebrating its 15th anniversary – and credits much of its success to moving to the city.
When David Graves set up GWS Media in 2000 he asked his father Richard to join him. The pair started with nothing more than a laptop, experience and boundless enthusiasm. 
But shortly after moving from Shropshire to Bristol, the work picked up. In 15 years they have gone from having no clients to more than 100.
David said: “Bristol is a great city and there’s no question that the active business community played a huge role in developing our business.
“Shropshire is lovely, but in Bristol we found there were more new businesses and also established companies looking for suppliers. While there is plenty of competition, it drives up standards and makes it an exciting place to be.”
Pictured, from left: Richard and David Graves
David, who studied history at Cambridge University and was a digital journalist for Extel Financial – part of the Financial Times – began work in web development in 1997.
He was spurred on to go into business for himself after successfully creating websites on a freelance basis. He put the idea to Richard, who jumped at the chance to get involved on the marketing side.
David said: “I think going into business together has actually strengthened our relationship. It’s been good for us and good for our business.”
Richard, who is GWS Media’s marketing and financial director as well as a published author, added: “Working with GWS has been the most interesting 15 years of my life. I think the biggest factor in the firm’s success is undoubtedly David’s brilliant mind and vision.
“We make a good team, with complementary skills. I can’t think of any serious disagreement we’ve had.”
Richard built up contacts through networking in Bristol and the pair soon decided to move the business to the city.
GWS Media began trading soon after the dot.com crash and learned from the mistakes of numerous failed internet companies which had wrongly assumed simply launching a website guaranteed success.
And by the time the recession hit in 2008-09, they were ready for it. David said: “With change comes opportunity. We are constantly adapting and expanding.”
They managed to expand during the downturn, putting it down to their high standard of service and fair prices. Today they have a team of 12 and offers web design, online marketing, branding, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), app development and social media marketing. They also offer a film and video service.
Richard and David are the nephew and great-nephew of acclaimed First World War poet, translator and novelist Robert Graves.
Robert, who died in 1985 aged 90, was the author of 140 works including Goodbye to all That, I Claudius and The White Goddess. Richard has had three volumes of his biography of Robert published by Weidenfeld. He has also written books biographies of T. E. Lawrence and A.E. Housman, and worked for Castrol as a self-employed author, helping to write their centenary history.
