16 Apr Making a Difference with Our Office Move

We are delighted to announce that we’ve finally been able to move into our new office in Delapré Abbey.

Jessica in our new offices

It was nearly a year ago when the then newly appointed chief executive of Delapré Abbey, Richard Clinton, told us of his plans for the Abbey. He wanted to turn rooms previously rented out for meetings and conferences into offices for local organisations. His vision was to carefully curate a cohort of likeminded organisations – ones that shared the Abbey’s commitment to giving back, to nurturing wellbeing and to supporting the not-for-profit sector. And we were one of those organisations.

Richard Clinton, CEO

When Richard invited us to move into the Abbey we didn’t need to be asked twice. What a privilege to be part of this vision. Our new office space, named The Lounge, is tucked inside the 900-hundred-year historic home. We have sloping floors (albeit challenging when it comes to deciding where to place desks), cornicing, tall ceilings and, due to its second-floor location, stunning views of the Abbey’s grounds. Due to Covid restrictions we’ve had to wait to enjoy this, but that is all about to change.

To give a taster of the other businesses that have also been given this honour, next to our office is a team of talented conservators, Chroma Conservation, a company that has worked on much of the Abbey’s restoration and will support in delivering conservation talks and upskilling volunteers.

Warts and All Theatre, whose vision is “to create theatre where everyone belongs, voices are heard, society is fair and communities thrive” are also our neighbours, as are Shoosmiths Gallery, a national gallery which focuses on the artistic talents of Thurston Laidlaw Shoosmith.

Charitable Focus

Until the pandemic we worked with companies of all sizes, representing a range of sectors. But, like so many other people, the challenges of lockdown encouraged me to rethink, refocus and reset. What do I – and the team – enjoy doing? Where do we make the most difference? What are we great at? So, over the last year our client base has changed. We no longer work with big organisations, we now focus on supporting charities, social enterprises and other not for profit organisations. In addition, we have found ourselves drawn to SMEs who share our values – talented business owners who want to grow their businesses but are also giving back to their local communities.

And this feels so, so good.

If all of this wasn’t enough, there is an added bonus – not only are we making a positive impact via the work we do, but our monthly rent is also making a difference. Every penny is used to help the Abbey meet its charitable objectives. To know that even our office rental is helping a good cause is really rather incredible.

Add to that our proximity to the tastebud tingling Hibiscus, an award-winning restaurant, and life really could not be much sweeter.

When we have settled and we’re all allowed to mingle again, we’d love to show our clients, partners, and connections around. We hope to see you soon.