INSIGHT: How our new office helped evolve our culture

By Lucy Scott, Board Director at chapmanbdsp.

As we embark on another lockdown it is a good time for reflection.

It is just over two years since we relocated our London HQ from Farringdon to Gracechurch Street, when, in conjunction with our move, we also launched our rebrand of the business with the primary focus on our culture.

We were so proud with what we achieved and started our journey in our new home, with a focus to drive and grow our business and our people.

Our new office environment was also a catalyst for cultural change and we loved the new way our people worked so much that we then rolled on to relocate and rebrand our Kent and Dubai offices (we had relocated our Birmingham office just before London).

At every given opportunity we hosted client events, technical knowledge sharing sessions, staff socials, quiz nights and we would invite clients and industry peers into our space. It is something we look forward to doing again in the not-to-distant future!

Who would have expected that two years on we would be where we are today - offices running at low capacity and, for many, home being the new workplace.

As a business we continue to learn and adapt through our Covid journey, but I believe our offices facilitate what we do and remain an important part of who we are.

The drive for more collaboration and social space over the last few years has been a big focus and the key drivers from our people, who need and want to be in the office, includes social interaction and the fact that office spaces are, by design, there to help with productivity through multiple screens, sit-stand desks, reliable wifi and activity based working.

Flexibility and working from home definitely has its place, but for wellbeing, collaboration, culture, learning and development, career progression and productivity, the office still feels an important factor.

As we continue to push forward, we are excited of the direction we are heading over the next couple of years.

Until then, We are embracing the ‘new norm’ for our business and cracking-on with doing what we do best.