A Peek into MadeByShape’s Environment

A good workplace environment is crucial because it sets the stage for happy employees, teamwork, and getting stuff done.

It’s scientifically proven that the interior design of an environment promotes creative thinking, innovation and productivity. Our office is designed by our team. When people get what they want from their office space, they want to come here every day.

We now reside 15 minutes from Manchester, in a very convenient location, near 2 train stations, a motorway, and the East Lancashire road. We found a space and over the years have gradually increased the size and spent money on interior design. The space now looks fantastic but it has slowly improved as our business grew.

Let's go back to the start...

If we skip a few years to the point when MadeByShape was born, our thought process was very different. We had to create awareness of our new brand to bigger companies and attract new clients. We could no longer rely on network connections to give constant work for a growing agency. To create a successful agency, our thought process was the following:

• We need a studio where we can work, and where clients can come to meet us.
• It needs to be in Manchester, so we can connect with our businesses in the city, and people can walk past and see our studio.
• We need a space we can grow into when we hire more staff.
• A studio makes us look bigger, better and more professional.
  

Which out of the above do you think caused us problems?

It was the fact that we ‘thought’ we needed to be in Manchester city centre. When in fact, we didn’t, and we still don’t.

Some people could argue for the benefits, and I understand some of them. But for us as a company, and how we operate - it simply doesn’t work. For starters, the commute wastes at least 3 hours for each member per day. 3 hours stuck in traffic every day is not good for anybody. Getting to work and feeling stressed before opening a computer is also not good for anybody. We didn’t want staff to be stressed and on edge. So now that we are in a convenient location - all my staff drive away from traffic and feel fresh on arrival at work. The maximum commute takes 30 minutes.

Our clients are all over the world, but some are in the North West of England, and further afield that needs travel organising. If I was in Manchester, these local commutes would be much harder - getting out of Manchester in traffic sometimes takes 1 hour to do just that. If a meeting was needed at short notice, we are now in a much more convenient and flexible location. We also have an onsite car park which is free of charge which is a bonus.

When we lose client pitches, I always ask why. And nobody has ever said that we lost a pitch because we weren’t in the city centre of Manchester. And as we have grown over the years, we have clients all over the world. From clients in Australia, China, Miami, London, Dublin, Paris, Manchester, Cheshire etc. Most of the communication is done via email or phone.

Our brand and our culture is massively important. Our studio interior reflects us as people, as a business and how creative we are.

We believe a studio or work environment should reflect the nature of the business you run, and therefore support all of your personal needs.

Not only do our staff use the space, but we also have clients and potential businessmen and women visiting your office frequently, making it even more important that our space is visually appealing and inviting. It's a great opportunity to impress and reinforce our uniqueness and individual approach. Not only do we want to show how creative we are, but how we understand brands, direction, brand image, and also the comfort and purpose of our working environment.

Inside our studio, we have a kitchen, a working area with iMacs, a small library, a chill-out area with comfy chairs and a sofa. We have a big meeting room with all the latest tech, and bags of personality throughout.