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Movin’ on up: Startle sees growth in 2020 despite a tough year

Movin’ on up: Startle sees growth in 2020 despite a tough year

Written by
Adam Castleton
Published

January 20, 2021

Category
Startle news

You don’t need us to tell you that 2020 was a hugely challenging year for retail and hospitality, and sadly we’re not quite in the clear yet.

Like many suppliers, we’ve had to make big changes to our strategy, often taking a much more short-term view. With many of our customers closed for several months in 2020, we diverted much of our annual revenue into supporting those customers and securing the jobs of our hardworking team.

Despite such a tough year, we’re extremely proud to say that Startle was still able to grow, supporting more retail and hospitality businesses in delivering exceptional customer experiences through music and technology at scale.

After just four years of operation we had our second profitable year, growing our EBITDA in 2020 by 44% (to £720,000).

What else is new?

December 2020 also saw the beta launch of Studio, our brand new platform for managing and synchronising music, digital signage, lighting and other integrations. Studio gives retail and hospitality the power to replicate a perfectly curated atmosphere across an entire estate, whether that’s 3 locations or 3,000.

Now Playing screen on mobile and tablet
Studio - our new user platform for managing music and tech


While safety has, of course, been the top priority for businesses, our “Mind The Gap” research has illustrated how increasingly important atmosphere is to the overall customer experience, in ensuring that customers want to return in the current climate.

A word from Startle CEO, Adam Castleton:

“Startle’s growth over the last 12 months comes from operators that are in-tune with this, and are investing in music and technology to provide a welcome escape from the four walls of customers’ homes. We look forward to supporting the industry further throughout the continued highs and lows of 2021 in any way we can.”

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Ready to create standout customer experiences? Get in touch to find out how we can use music and tech to help you achieve your goals.

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Your environment is always changing. Chat to our team today to find out how using our invaluable insights to auto-adjust your atmosphere could help you achieve your goals and fine-tune your operations.

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Replicate a perfectly curated atmosphere across an entire estate, all from a single platform. Chat to our team today to find out how using Studio could help you achieve your goals.

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Creating a standout retail experience isn’t easy. Chat to our team today to find out how we can use music and tech to create a till ringing atmosphere and help you achieve your goals.

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Movin’ on up: Startle sees growth in 2020 despite a tough year

Adam Castleton

With 15 years of experience working in technology, Adam is our strategic and savvy CEO. It’s his job to lead Startle, ensuring that we have a positive impact on both our customers and our team, by delivering innovation and growth in a positive culture. When he’s not at work, he tries hard to switch off by spending time outside with his wife and kids - his self proclaimed ‘happy place’ is having a wander in the forest on a sunny day.

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