A communications and consultancy based near Newport has overcome the hurdle of trying to carry out some of its work in areas plagued by political unrest by using a global network of freelancers called Elance.

Hyderus was co-founded by Chris Nial in 2005 after more than a decade of project management jobs in London working for companies such as Natwest, Bloomberg and Polycom. He moved the business to rural Gwent near Cwmfelinfach after craving somewhere greener to be based.

An integral part of what Hyderus offers clients is market research conducted across the globe.

Frequently the research needs to be undertaken in countries plagued by political unrest such as Egypt or even countries which don’t officially exist like Somaliland. As travel to these areas is both costly and at times dangerous, Hyderus needed a way to conduct research on the ground.

To overcome this problem, Chris began searching for ways to source researchers in their native countries and came across Elance. With more than three million freelancers worldwide in 170-plus countries, Elance gave Chris immediate access to a global pool of freelancers.

For each new client project, Chris posts a job on the work platform clearly outlining what the role involves, skills required, the timescales involved, ways of working and client expectations. He often gets more than 10 offers for each of his posts.

Chris now works with up to 28 online freelancers across 22 countries alongside his nine full-time staff based in South Wales. He manages and communicates with his team of freelancers on Elance and via free online working tools such as Skype and Google Docs.

This hybrid workforce model has enabled Chris to keep fixed costs down while seizing new market opportunities for clients and his business. In the past seven years, Hyderus has grown rapidly and freelancers have become an integral part of his business strategy.