THE Hearing Suite is in the running for the New Business of the Year title a year after it was launched.

Founded in September 2018 by Emily Balmer, The Hearing Suite was created to change the concept of hearing care.

In 2006, whilst she was participating in voluntary work in Peru, Emily was given the opportunity to teach children a range of new skills and during this time, noticed the real importance of communication.

We think about someone who struggles to communicate being quite isolated, but what if this person is a child, or someone dealing with struggle or even grief?

Communication is a way of connecting, which in turn supports the way we handle stress and process challenge.

After being exposed to vulnerable people who weren’t able to truly communicate due to hearing loss, Emily was inspired to train in the field and create a solution that could be entirely customer centric.

In 2018, and after two years of working as the clinical lead for hearing aid manufacturer, Phonak, Emily decided to fully commit and create a new concept around hearing care.

Her work was helping her see patterns emerging around the market’s impression of audiology.

Whilst someone would be quick to visit an optician if their eye sight was suffering, they’d be quite happy to simply ‘manage’ if their hearing were to become affected.

For some this maybe a vanity issue, and for others it was just a lack of understanding around the potential solutions.

And so, Emily created the concept of The Hearing Suite: a stylish, welcoming space filled with the latest technology without feeling very clinical or intimidating.

She commissioned branding that wouldn’t look out of place in the hospitality sector and would feel luxurious as well as professional.

When it came to styling the interior of The Hearing Suite, she replaced the typical notion of white walls and tiled floors, with marble surfaces and deep blue walls.

In place of the patients’ clinical chair, is a vintage barber chair. The Hearing Suite is now a stylish location that often gets referred to as “Instagramable” – and far away for the usual connotations of a hearing clinic.

The first 12 months have been exciting, challenging and eye-opening. There are been real highs including collaborations with local charity, Hearing Dogs.

The combination of top-quality service and technology is seeing Emily become a very well-known Yorkshire name.