There’s a version of that night where I didn’t go.
The Market Collective event was at Adventure Sunderland in Roker — a place close to my heart, and one I’d been avoiding since losing someone I love earlier this year. Add a climbing wall (heights are my biggest fear) and the fact I’ve never liked networking, and I had every excuse not to go.
I put my big girl pants on and went anyway. I’m so glad I did.
The vibe was unlike any networking event I’d been to. No agenda, nobody waiting their turn to sell at you. Just real people there to get to know each other, have a laugh and a proper natter. Refreshing, right?
My nemesis
Then came the climbing wall.
I was shaking. I masked it with humour, as I do, then just said it out loud: heights terrify me. Not mildly. The paralysing kind. Aged 14, on a school outward-bound trip, I froze completely and had to be winched off a cliff in front of my entire year group. That sort of thing stays with you.
The group last night? Brilliant. Not pushy, just genuinely kind. They cheered me up every step, and I made it to the top (and back down without a crane this time). A huge thank you to Finlay at Adventure Sunderland for his patience.
Dolphins!
I’ve loved them since I was small. If I could have had a tattoo at 14, it would have been a dolphin. I’ve spent countless hours at Roker watching for them without spotting so much as a fin. A Farne Islands boat trip turned up one dead seagull (I’m not kidding). A dolphin cruise in Tenerife — nothing. I’m 46 and had never seen a dolphin in the wild.
Until that night. The sea was too rough for paddleboarding, so we took a boat out instead, and we were surrounded by them. Everywhere I looked, dolphins leaping out of the water. I’m not ashamed to say I shed a few happy tears. I could have stayed for hours.
So much more than networking
It was an incredible evening, and not only for me. It showed me exactly what Market Collective and the Digitising the High Street project are building.
This wasn’t a room of people flogging things at each other. It was a genuine community of small-business owners who want to see each other do well — the sort who’ll cheer a frightened woman up a climbing wall and mean every word of it. That community is the heart of the project, and it’s the bit that’s hardest to put on a spreadsheet but matters the most.
What is Digitising the High Street?
It’s part of North East BIC’s Enterprising Sunderland initiative, funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and Sunderland City Council, led by Market Collective, with us at Exaltis doing the hands-on digital work.
The idea is simple. High streets are struggling — shops closing, footfall down, shopping habits changed for good. But the high street doesn’t have to fade away. Our shops just need a hand bridging the gap between their bricks-and-mortar charm and the digital tools customers now expect. That’s the gap this closes.
Businesses on the project get real, funded, practical support: an honest look at how they show up online, from branding to socials to website; a clear picture of how easily customers can actually find them; and a jargon-free plan to pull more people through the door. Some even received brand-new, fully-funded websites. And around all of it sits that community — local owners swapping ideas and genuinely backing one another.
Because you can build the best website in the world, but a lonely high street trader with nobody in their corner is still a lonely high street trader. This gives them both the tools and the people.
Real shops, real difference
This isn’t theory. In 2025 we worked with Sunderland businesses like Adventure Sunderland, Reynold’s Outdoor Centre, The Flowerchild Florist, FruFru & Friends, Clarke’s Shoe Repairs, Carmichael’s Deli and plenty more. Real, independent, brilliant local shops, all now better set up to be found, to sell, and to bring people into town. And the project is carrying on across Sunderland for another term, which is brilliant news.
Sunderland led the way
Here’s the honest truth: this model works. It puts council backing, sensible funding and on-the-ground digital help straight into the hands of the small businesses that make a town worth visiting. Sunderland City Council saw that, got behind it, and the city’s high streets are better for it.
I’d love to see it spread further across the North East. We already know how fabulous this region is, and that’s down to its people. The more we stick together, the stronger we get. Sunderland’s shown what’s possible. I hope others follow its lead.
And if you’re ever staring down an invite to something that scares you a little? Put your big girl (or big boy) pants on. You might just end up at the top of a wall, or surrounded by dolphins, glad you did.
Written by Elaine Parker
Elaine Parker is the founder of Exaltis Solutions, a Gateshead-based web design and SEO agency, and a delivery partner on the Digitising the High Street project.
