You may have been to one of Bristol Media’s monthly Vision keynote events, which exist to open your mind to new ideas and ways of creative thinking. We host a variety of world-class speakers throughout the year for our community to experience ideas and creativity from global thought leaders and visionaries.
We want to ensure our Vision keynote events are accessible to all our members, whether they’re a large agency organisation or an independent freelancer. So, we want to remind you about a new offer available exclusively to Bristol Media Member freelancers:
For many of our Vision keynotes we’ll release 10% of tickets to Bristol Media freelancers for just £10*
Our next Vision keynote is Patrick Collister with ‘Permission Denied’ on 17th September at Foot Anstey. We’ll release a limited amount of £10 tickets to Bristol Media freelance members this Friday 9th August. Head over to Eventbrite and choose Bristol Media Freelancer from the drop-down to claim your £10 ticket. We don’t expect these to last long so be quick!
*Tickets include lunch and are available on a first come, first served basis to Bristol Media freelance members only. Price excludes VAT and Eventbrite processing fee.
If you’ve not yet joined Bristol Media, take a look at the benefits of being a member and join today. We’re planning more fantastic keynote events later this year, so keep an eye out for announcements in the coming months. We hope to see you at our next Vision keynote event!
Missed the announcement first time round? Then sign up to our newsletter to stay in the loop with news, exclusive member offers and more.
A new £100m institute, based in the centre of Bristol, is set to transform the way we create, utilise and evaluate new digital technologies to benefit our society now and in the future.
In a unique collaboration, University of Bristol engineers will work with social scientists and with tech giants, corporations, local government and community partners to answer these big questions and create transformational technologies for the future.
The Bristol Digital Futures Institute (BDFI) will be based at the University’s new Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus in the heart of the City of Bristol’s buzzing new Enterprise Zone.
This international leading research facility is being funded by a £29m grant from the Research England UK Research Partnership Investment Fund (RPIF), which has received more than double that in £71m of match funding (£16m philanthropy and £55m from 27 partners including organisations such as BT, Dyson, the BBC, Airbus and Aardman).
Professor Hugh Brady, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bristol, said: “So many of the research solutions to contemporary global challenges are now discovered through creative collisions at the interface of traditional academic disciplines.
“The new Bristol Digital Futures Institute will apply this multidisciplinary paradigm to exploration of our rapidly evolving digital world. We are creating a unique research ecosystem where world-class engineers, computer scientists, social and behavioural scientists, psychologists and legal scholars can work shoulder to shoulder with our partners from industry, social enterprises and civic organisations exploring the opportunities and challenges posed by new digital technologies.”
Professor Nishan Canagarajah, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of Bristol, said: “This funding announcement is fantastic news for the University, the city of Bristol and the wider region.
“It provides an opportunity to think about our futures differently – to build on expertise from right across the university in collaboration with industry, government and people in the City; to think about the world we are creating with digital innovation and ensure that this ethical, socially responsible and inclusive – helping to support the creation of future ‘tech with a conscience’.
“It will add further to the University of Bristol’s growing reputation as a global leader in responsible sociotechnical innovation, and the epicentre of a unique partnership ecosystem where public participation and citizen co-creation is key.
“It will also ensure the UK can remain at the forefront of a rapidly advancing sociotechnical world by integrating areas of policy, economics, society, law and environmental impact with technical development, to ensure that emerging technology is useful, safe and secure.”
Among the partners who pledged their support and financial support include: Aardman, Ashley Community Housing, Airbus, ARM Ltd, Babassa, BBC, Bristol Media Group, Black South West Network (BSWN), BT, Business West, Digital Catapult, Dyson, Evolyst Ltd, Frazer-Nash Consultancy, Gregg Latchams Solicitors, Hargreaves Landsdown, Knowle West Media Centre, National Physical Laboratory (NPL), Quin, System C Healthcare Ltd, Thales UK Ltd, Three, TM Forum, Toshiba, Ultrahaptics Ltd, Watershed, West of England Combined Authority (WECA).
David Sproxton, Co-founder of Aardman, said: “Engaging audiences emotionally and authentically with screen-based entertainment is a little understood art. The Bristol Digital Futures Institute will build new knowledge using state of the art facilities to create truly immersive and engaging experiences with aim of supporting the creation of the next world class character franchise like Wallace & Gromit or Shaun the Sheep here in Bristol.”
Paul Appleby, Director of Media CIC, said: “Bristol Digital Futures Institute is a great addition to the strength of the Bristol region in creative technology (CreaTech), providing a research base for creative companies here, and stimulating their innovative potential. It builds both the interdisciplinary working within the University of Bristol and its links with other sectors driving the development of the city. Bristol Media’s role at the interface with the creative industries is a clear mutual benefit, and it will be great to work with the University on new, innovative connections.”
Paul Coles, Group English Regions Director for BT said: “Bristol and the West of England is an incredibly important area for us. Our long-standing research partnership with the University of Bristol underpins the very foundation of modern and future communications technologies. We are very excited about Bristol Digital Futures Institute and are already in discussions about how we grow our partnership further.”
The Institute will aim to generate 30 new collaborative projects per year. It will be jointly led by Professor Susan Halford, a social scientist and professor of sociology, and Professor Dimitra Simeonidou, an engineer and professor of high-performance networks.
Professor Susan Halford added: “The digital world is changing fast – we’re building new artificial intelligence and faster networks, which are becoming much more connected with our day to day lives. This will bring opportunities, but also huge challenges.
“Rather than waiting for the future to happen, we’ll get ahead of it and drive our digital future for the benefit of society, economic growth and prosperity.”
Professor Dimitra Simeonidou added: “The new research facilities are vitally important to understand our digital futures. They will allow a step-change in sociotechnical research and help us to gain new insights on the challenges and opportunities brought by disruptive digital technologies.
“These insights will enable us create new technologies and deliver our vision for a future digital society based on opportunity, trust, human control, resilience, openness, diversity and inclusion.”
BDFI is being funded through Round 6 of Research England’s flagship capital investment scheme the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund (UKRPIF).
It is one of 11 projects being funded totalling over £670m of new investment into UK research and innovation. Funding includes £221m of public funding from UKRPIF and over £450m of committed co-investment from businesses, charities and philanthropic donors.
This is the second edition in our featured members series, where we profile our members and showcase the amazing businesses and individuals within our network. In the last edition we interviewed AMBITIOUS PR, if you haven’t seen it, give it a read here.
This month we hung out with Kerry Harrison and Richard Norton from Tiny Giant, here’s what they had to say…
Tell us about Tiny Giant, who are you?
Tiny Giant are all about moving ideas with minds and machines. They’re a studio that wants to create and create and create. They’re a house of ideas, not just a house to inhabit, but to live in and I think that’s what separates them so much…because they’re so passionate about their ideas… it’s very much about feeling like you’re a part of something larger, a part of what’s important.
Well that’s what a neural network would say, but if you asked Kerry and Norts then…
So it’s us, Kerry Harrison, Richard Norton, plus our technical director Derek Ahmedzai. Fun fact, Ahmedzai means the tribe of Ahmeds. Do you notice that the last 2 letters of his name are AI? That’s why we asked him to join our merry jamboree. We also love to collaborate – so if anyone is keen to join forces, give us a call.
What do you do?
We do quite a lot of different things, but I’d say there are 3 main things. We help our clients tell compelling stories with social media, websites and content, we’ve both been doing it for over 20 years. We’re also interested and excited by online bots and smart speakers like Alexa and Google, lately we’ve been playing around with chat bots and voice technology. Lastly, AI, we use it to supercharge our client’s creativity and make headlines with fun things like AI cocktails and cakes.
How long have you been a Bristol Media member?
We’ve both been with Bristol Media for a long time prior to Tiny Giant. Before we took the plunge and set up Tiny Giant, we both worked for other local agencies who were members of Bristol Media. It’s a long history!
What are you most proud of as a business?
In terms of what we’ve achieved so far, creating the first ever AI curator for the Cheltenham Science Festival is a huge highlight for us. It’s been really cool working with them because the person that came in as the coordinator wanted to create some noise and excitement, so she was open to everything. We’ve done some amazing things like live interview with Aida on BBC Radio Gloucester, featured in plenty of blogs, plus an animation is on the cards. It pushed us creatively because we’d never done anything like it before.
What’s your favourite office gadget?
Our Alexa, we can’t even remember a time before smart speakers. Tiny Giant even has its own Alexa skill, Tiny Giant Tales, so you can stay updated on what we’re up to.
Whose work do you admire and why?
In Bristol, we love Fiasco Design, they create beautiful work plus they do an event called Thread which always gets inspiring speakers. Outside of Bristol, a company called Lord Whitney, who create these otherworldly dreamlike sets for music videos and advertising.
What’s your favourite place in Bristol/this area?
[Kerry] The Watershed, I really like what they do there, plus I really love independent films and going to their cinema. A little place out of Bristol I love is the view from the top of Ashton Court, where you can look over the whole of Bristol, it’s gorgeous.
If you could sum up Bristol/this area in 3 words, what would they be?
Welcoming, chilled, collaborative.
What’s the best tip/trick you’ve learnt as a business?
Resilience and positivity. As a start-up it’s not always easy, but it’s much better to DO the thing and think about what could go right rather than what could go wrong. You need to have a positive mindset, keep going and always look on the sunny side.
What exciting plans have you got coming up this year?
We’ve got a few talks coming up, we’ve just finished Social Media Week and K In The Park with the BBC’s Hannah Fry. And there are lots more in the pipeline like the World of Work Conference at the Henley Business School. We’re going to build some storytelling bots, and generally doing a lot of festivals – look out for all kinds of things – bots, AR filters and lots of creative AI.
If you’re interested in collaborations (particularly if your name has an ‘AI’ in it!) get in touch with Kerry and Norts. Thanks to Tiny Giant for getting involved.
Fourth Floor Creative (www.fourthfloorcreative.co), the fast-growing social influence agency has hired its first Chief Operating Officer – Catherine Cheetham.
An operations and product specialist, she joins the Bristol agency from renewable energy company, Good Energy where she oversaw product. With more than 15 years of specialist experience, Catherine held senior management roles at the start-up MyLife Digital, international law firm, Herbert Smith and the utilities unicorn, OVO Energy – now valued at over £1bn. Catherine won the prestigious IT industry ITSMF Service Management Award for her work there.
At Fourth Floor – Catherine reports to chief executive Rich Keith and will focus on ensuring the business is operationally ready for its next phase of growth and looks forward to The agency now has over 30 specialists bringing together many of the Internet’s biggest content creators and online influencers with brands like Activision-Blizzard, Sega, Twitch, One-Plus, Square-Enix, Channel 4.
Catherine Cheetham, chief operating officer, Fourth Floor, said:
“While the world of influencer marketing is brand new to me – my skills and experience are perfect to help Rich and this talented team grow and shape Fourth Floor. I’ll be focused on enabling organisational value both for us and our clients. Getting the right balance of structure and creativity is key – operations is about allowing our team of experts to work with creators and clients to deliver awesome campaigns, whilst being the most efficient we can.
“Fourth Floor felt like the perfect opportunity for me – the team’s ethics and what we’re trying to achieve seems really fresh in an emerging industry. This work deserves recognition, and I can help make that possible.”
Rich Keith, co-founder and chief executive, Fourth Floor, added:
“Our mission to support online creators while focussing on execution to make working with influencers as simple and rewarding for our clients as possible has led to incredible growth. Catherine’s operational skills mean we can continue to scale while also maintaining our company culture, something that’s been vital in our journey.”
Catherine is the second major hire in two months, following the arrival of games industry veteran Mark Cantwell, who joined the business as Product Director – focusing on merchandise and retailer operations for a growing number of influencers. The agency now has offices in Bristol, Bordeaux and Toronto with more planned for later in the year.
Earlier this year, Bristol Media’s Marketing, Events & Operations Manager, Kirsty Phillips, headed off to the beautiful Backwell House for the one-day workshop ‘LeadershipiD’. Read on to discover Kirsty’s experience of the day.
“Leadership iD is an immersive, one-day experience that promises to help discover and define your personal leadership brand and action plan. The interactive workshop is set in the peaceful location of Backwell House and facilitated by Bristol Media Member Coaches, Mette Davis and Katie Scotland.
Surrounded by beautiful countryside, Backwell House is an escape from the everyday and certainly a welcome location to take time out to focus on your personal leadership style.
Katie and Mette introduced the overall concept of LeadershipiD and set expectations from the beginning by providing each person in our intimate group with a blueprint template to input into over the course of the day. The structure was based around a combination of working in pairs and group work, with self-reflection nestled in at the appropriate times.
I found the whole experience equally as rewarding as it was challenging. Participants delve into a spot of emotional soul searching and draw on previous experiences to help distinguish the key behaviours and traits that drive you as an individual. The end goal and final product – your unique, personal, tailored leadership iD to take away and put into action.
Moving through activities centred around topics such as: goal setting (from a personal, team and business perspective); challenges; enablers; and identifying developmental needs, Katie & Mette provide crucial guidance and framed questions in order to complete the sections of the blueprint.
Several weeks on I’ve started to put my learnings into practise. Having identified the key themes and behaviours I value as a leader which (reassuringly!) align with the values of Bristol Media, the blueprint is a useful prompt when discussing objectives with your team. One of my key leadership values was collectively celebrating achievements – so I now encourage my direct report to share the experiences that have gone particularly well in her working week. I’m looking forward to implementing the other elements of my action plan over the next 6 months.
LeadershipiD is not your typical leadership day – devoid of stuffiness, Katie and Mette ensure the whole experience is highly relatable, personal and all in all it’s thoroughly enjoyable. I’d recommend to anyone who is looking to discover and define their personal leadership brand and action plan.”
Katie and Mette are running another LeadershipiD workshop in September where Bristol Media members can attend for a reduced rate. Contact Katie Scotland or Mette Davies or details.
It’s just over two weeks until the next keynote event in our Vision series where we welcome Steve Chapman, artist, philosopher, TEDx speaker, and all-round supporter of the weird and wonky, to Bristol.
Steve’s entertaining talk promises to explain how to nurture what makes us uniquely weird so that it becomes our creative super power, if you haven’t got your ticket yet then book HERE. We spoke to Steve ahead of the event to find out more…
1. What can attendees at ‘You’re Beautiful Wonkiness’ expect from the event?
Some stories and conversations about what it really means to be a creative human being and the importance of weirdness (or as a minimum being just weird enough) if we want to make a difference in the world.
2. What do you hope attendees will take away from the event?
I hope that people will gain a re-kindled love for their natural born wonkiness: those unique talents, quirks, and ways of seeing the world that we consciously or unconsciously traded to fit in better and be more like everyone else. I hope people will leave with a sense of creative mischief and a bold experiment to make a difference to something that’s important to them.
3. When we first spoke with you, you mentioned that your philosophy was “screwing around with normality.” How do you live by this?
The short answer is that I’ll share some examples of this at the session! The rather longer answer is that I am constantly curious about how common sense and expertise stifles, rather than enables, change. So, when I spot stuckness I’m intrigued by how I can create an experiment that is counter-intuitive or the opposite of what is “normal” simply to see what would happen. And the important thing about an experiment is that you don’t know if it is going to work or not. So learning to live with failure and rejection is as much part of this as the joy of seeing something take-off and have a life of its own.
4. How should organisations be embracing the idea of celebrating employee weirdness?
The first thing I would say is that there is no point in doing it unless a) you are serious about it, and b) everybody brings more of themselves to the workplace, be you a work experience person or the CEO. I come across so many organisations that say “We want more creativity in the workplace” but are really saying to me “Can YOU get THEM to come up with more ideas for ME!”
This work is much more difficult than people appreciate as it requires a fundamental shift in the cultural permission to be more “mad, bad and wrong” in the workplace, to be counter-cultural in service of the change they are wanting to see. This requires loosening the grip of what is regarded as “sane, good and right” around here, just enough to promote bold experimentation, creativity and innovation. I wrote a blog a few years back that I would send to organisations that wanted to speak to me, to check how up for it they really were: https://canscorpionssmoke.com/2016/11/05/want-creativity-workplace-serious/
5. If you could only offer people one piece of advice about their approach to creativity, what would it be and why?
Be more obvious and try much, much less. Work on becoming more of what you already are rather than striving to become something you are not already. And if those around you reject you, humiliate you or shame you for doing this – find some different people to hang around with!
You’re Beautiful Wonkiness: The rise of the outsider is taking place from 12.30 – 2.15pm on Tuesday 16th July at Origin Workspace, Bristol.
Did you know The Professional Contractors Group estimates that there are 1.4 million freelancers working across industry sectors in the UK?
The South West’s freelancer economy is booming, so we’re pleased to offer this workshop with Sarah Williamson, Partner, and Jenny Marley, Associate, from Ashfords LLP.
Who’s it for?
Specifically for freelancers, self-employed individuals, and agencies/organisations who employ individuals on a temporary or contract basis, attendees will get a true understanding of the statutory employment rights involved when working as, or with, a freelancer.
About the workshop:
There are enormous benefits in employing freelancers in the creative industries. Freelancers regularly provide a flexible and diverse pool of talent, offering benefits over the traditional employment model. Similarly, it’s becoming an increasingly popular way for individuals to work enabling them to choose when and where they work.
Engaging freelancers and working as a freelancer is not without risks. Simply labelling an individual as self-employed, is not enough to remove an individual’s statutory employment rights. The status of an individual is a question of fact. Following the much publicised Deliveroo and Uber rulings and the rise in the number of individuals working as freelancers, we look at the so called ‘gig economy’ and some of the key employment law and commercial issues to take into consideration:
Tickets & Entry:
The freelancer economy workshop will take place at The Square Club from 3.00-5.00pm on Thursday 11th July. Tickets are £15+VAT for Bristol Media and Square Club members, or £25+VAT for non-members.
About Ashfords
Ashfords is a national provider of legal, professional and regulatory services. They help many different kinds of clients make the most of their opportunities, whilst effectively managing risk by providing legal advice that is not just technically sound but rooted in a wider appreciation of the real world in which we all exist. They aim to always provide straightforward, timely advice, delivered in clear and simple language.
Sarah Williamson is a Partner in the Commercial Team and Technology Sector. She handles complex technology and digital media work and has specific digital media experience in marketing and advertising, adtech, the licensing and monetisation of data and converged technology and media.
Jenny Marley is an Associate in the Employment Team. Jenny advises employers on a wide range of employment law issues including the gig economy and the impact on employees and employers.
Newly open Square Works is a unique workspace for individuals and businesses with unrivalled services, located on the leafy Berkeley Square at the top of Park Street.
With its doors now open, Square Works is Bristol’s most luxurious workspace yet. The Grade II listed Georgian mansion has undergone extensive renovation work to be a highly stimulating working environment, focused on light and greenery. Inside, the workspace comprises of a mixture of co-working desks, designated spaces, meeting rooms and private offices – perfect for the growing business.
Square Works is fully serviced to an exemplary standard throughout, and boasts services such as delicious meals served right to your desk, reprographic facilities, 24 hour phone answering and post handling. With a community manager on hand, a decadent lounge area, bespoke events, and all the benefits of a members’ club, it’s already somewhat of a premier destination for professionals.
Square Works has limited spaces available to join its thriving creative community. Show-arounds to the public will open again on 1st July, book yours now: https://squareworksbristol.com/
Deloitte welcomes Bristol-based Stitch Communications to its Global Employer Services practice.
Stitch Communications – owned and managed by local entrepreneur Emma Dawson – is an internal communications agency, specialising in creating pay and reward communications that help employers to better engage their staff. Stitch’s team officially joined Deloitte at the beginning of this month, expanding the firm’s footprint in the South West and enabling it to harness the region’s specialist expertise and talent to benefit local, national and global clients. Stitch will help enhance Deloitte’s current offerings for HR programmes, such as reward and benefit strategies.
Martyn Gregory, practice senior partner for Deloitte in South West & Wales, commented: “The Stitch team is renowned for innovation and quality. They are a natural fit for Deloitte as we enhance our ecosystem in the South West to help our clients make an impact that matters.”
Ian Stone, head of tax services for Deloitte South West & Wales, added: “Our clients are increasingly focused on and committed to increasing their engagement with employees. Our decision to invite the Stitch Communications team to join Deloitte was about enhancing the services we can provide to clients by having industry leading communication experts who specialise in making the complicated clear. Bringing the team on board will further elevate the service we provide our clients in designing, implementing, managing and communicating HR and reward programmes.”
Emma Dawson, managing director of Stitch Communications, said: “This is an incredibly exciting moment for Stitch. We’re proud of the expertise we’ve built in creating bold and engaging communications strategies that help businesses to truly connect with their employees. Being part of such a recognised and trusted team as Deloitte’s Global Employer Services will enable us to enhance our communications offering further than ever before. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for Stitch as a Deloitte business.”
Somerset family farm enterprise, Yeo Valley, also Britain’s leading organic dairy brand, is expanding on the success of both its dairy product range and its Blagdon-based farm, café and garden in deepest Somerset by opening its very first London outlet, comprised of a two-storey café, shop and workspace on Queensway in west London, designed by award-winning South West creative agency Phoenix Wharf.
About Yeo Valley
The Yeo Valley business has been developed over two generations. From the acquisition of its first Blagdon farm in 1961 to becoming a successful organic dairy producer with a British Friesian herd, adding beef cattle, sheep and a second farm along the way, Yeo Valley went on to work with other co-operative farmers and fruit-growers and is now Britain’s leading organic dairy brand, as well as a thriving local centre of activity. Offering hospitality in the form of an award-winning Canteen and access to a beautiful, Soil Association-certified organic garden, the company’s Blagdon HQ also offers a lively events calendar throughout the year, including educational trips, art days, garden masterclasses and a ‘Farm to Fridge’ day, with all food produced and cooked on site. As a brand, Yeo Valley is synonymous with the quality of its products and its ethical approach to animal husbandry, with the farm’s famous herd digitally-monitored, given only the best organic feed and mattresses to sleep on. The Mead family, who run both the farms and the Yeo Valley enterprise, speak regularly about an approach to business and farming that’s good for animals, people and nature, drawing on the wisdom and experience of family head, Mary Mead OBE.
The move to London
As part of the company’s natural growth and evolution, an increased London presence became desirable and the decision was taken to create a branded shop and canteen offer in London, as well as creating additional company meeting and workspace. A two-storey site was located in Queensway, an area of London currently undergoing major regeneration, which offered a great location between Hyde Park and Notting Hill. The site is located directly opposite Queensway Station, making it prime for people coming out of the station or the park and looking either for eat-in or takeaway food.
Phoenix Wharf gets involved
‘Phoenix Wharf had already been involved with the client prior to this project’, Phoenix Wharf Associate Director Emma Gullick explained. ‘We first worked with Yeo Valley to explore the feasibility of using part of the Blagdon HQ as a brand experiential space for group clients, conferences and events.’ The creative process and ideas that came out of the project created some bigger questions on how to showcase what Yeo Valley is all about and a relationship was created between the two parties, which led to Phoenix Wharf being invited to take part in – and go on to win – a three-way pitch for the design of the new London space.
The brief
The brief for the new space was to create an engaging, inviting showcase for Yeo Valley, incorporating a dine-in café, grab’n’go produce and a mini retail store, as well as a work and meeting space on the site’s upper storey. The designers were asked to maintain and express the brand’s nature-inspired ethos and friendly, fun and unpretentious feel, whilst also creating links to the existing HQ. This included integrating the work of artist-illustrator Natasha Clutterbuck, who has a long association with the brand and whose murals are part of the Blagdon Canteen, as well as creating artwork for special editions of the product range.
Design walk-through
The new café-store has two street-facing, retail-style, full-height boutique windows to either side of the main double-door entrance, with backlit storefront branding above for The Yeo Valley Café, using the brand’s existing heart-shaped identity. On the inside of the store, the backs of the windows are dressed in curved floor-to-ceiling timber panelling, with hidden doors allowing easy access for updating displays.
The interior features a dual ‘warm and cool’ concept, with a white and bright ‘cool’ area to the right for grab’n’go produce and the mini retail area, underlining the freshness of the dairy produce range, and a warmer ‘natural’ sit-down area to the left, underlining the brand’s countryside origins and authenticity.
A central off-white flooring corridor is for circulation and unites the spaces, with a feature flooring apron to both sides in a black-and-white, star-patterned Spanish Hex tile with a matt finish. White, horizontal timber-style slats line the upper walls and the angled ceiling, whilst an eye-catching, huge-scale ceiling feature down the centre of the space takes the form of a stained-glass-style light-box installation, showing an abstracted map of the Yeo Valley farm HQ in Blagdon.
‘We wanted to avoid the cliché of a whited-out or black-sprayed ceiling’, Emma Gullick explained. ‘The angled outer edges were designed to echo the inside of a farm building roof, whilst the large-scale 5m x 2m map of Blagdon tells the story of the company, at the same time as adding a bit of extra theatre to the space.’
The left-hand side of the ground floor space features a natural colourway with a slightly 70s retro feel, including a deep olive green used for the left-side booth banquette seating. Loose seating is in the form of retro moulded chairs for a home-from-home feel, whilst bespoke tables are topped in Brazilian cosmic black granite, with a single, central tulip-style metal base. Brand stories also feature in this area, including a picture wall along the first third of the space, featuring a variety of images from the Yeo Valley HQ. The central section of the wall, alongside the booth seating, features exposed brickwork, which is used again to the left side of the rear wall as both a rustic reference and an allusion to the Blagdon company HQ building.
A lighting feature made up of a clutch of 19 pendant lamps in different designs and set at different lengths, with shades in yellows, golds and orangey-reds, hangs over the booth seating and catches guests’ eyes as they enter. The final third of the left-side wall houses a cottage-garden-inspired mural by artist Natasha Clutterbuck.
The rear wall features a large-scale retro-style TV against the exposed brickwork, telling the ‘Yeo TV’ brand story visually (without sound) and offering a distraction for anyone queueing to pay at the back-right pay counter. The remaining rear wall is made up a crittal-effect door and screen with lightbox windows to give a feeling of added depth and an illusory sense of space beyond.
The right-hand, ‘cool’ side of the space features a product chiller wall and then an angled counter, both featuring blue-tinged LED underlighting. The counter has a solid stone, delicatessen-style top and plenty of back-wall interest in the form of mustard-coloured tiling in an angled herringbone pattern. As customers arrive at the pay-counter, a large, glossy, petrol-blue dresser, bespoke-designed by Phoenix Wharf, catches the eye against the backwall. The dresser features a granite worktop that matches the table tops, plus an inset sink, and is used both for drink and glasses storage and for Yeo Valley merchandise display – branded cups and aprons, for example. At the top, a cut-out section features a winking golden cow in glittery acrylic; a reminder of the brand’s dairy farm origins and playful nature.
To the rear left are customer toilets, a fun and stand-out feature, designed as ‘Blagdon Station’ underground toilets as a link between the London and Somerset sites, with curved tube-tunnel corners and ‘pomegranate’ wall tiles, sourced from H.E. Smith, the original London Underground manufacturer. Further details include tube-type platform signage; a ‘priority seat’ sign above the toilet; an ‘All Change Here’ baby change unit; a ‘Loo Roll’ tube-style roundel; a platform-style floor detail saying ‘Mind the Gap’ and a ‘Way Out’ sign.
A door to the right of the dresser leads to a back-of-house area, including a changing room for the chefs, plus food storage. From there comes access up the stairs to the first-floor office, kitchen and meeting room. Here, the crittal-style of doors and windows continues, separating the main workspace from a large meeting area, which has a cork wall with hidden storage behind it (there is further concealed storage throughout), a wallpaper feature wall, a credenza and a large timber meeting table.
The general workspace includes sit-down workstations and a higher, bar seating work area for laptop work. Another feature wallpaper area features alongside, whilst the rest of the walls are painted white, with a rich red stairwell – a visual link to the corridors of the Blagdon HQ. Flooring is either an earthy brown or orange carpet tile in the office and meeting spaces, with a speckled, charcoal surface in the kitchen. The upstairs toilets also embody the brand’s sense of fun, with black glossy tiles, black sanitaryware and a red ceiling, accompanied by wallpaper made up of black and white shots of animal-faced people pursuing leisure activities.
‘The experience of working with Phoenix Wharf was very uplifting’, Adrian Fenton, Managing Director, Yeo Valley Properties, commented. ‘They really helped bring our ideas to life and their visual concepts transferred almost exactly to the finished space, which we’re very happy with.’
Photography credit: Franklin & Franklin
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