Remote-first
Switching to remote-first to work with new people
By moving to a remote-first model we have improved our diversity while reducing our environmental impact.
Intention
We create solutions for our clients, who are themselves solving some of the most important problems in our society. The solutions we create are directly reflective of our perspectives as a team. The more diverse these perspectives are, the better the solutions we create will be.
By switching to a remote-first model, we aim to increase the number of people and diversity of perspectives that can be a part of our team. In turn we hope this will improve the quality and inclusiveness of the solutions we create for clients.
Our ambition is to have a disproportionate effect on the people who enter the digital and creative sector. By becoming remote-first, we hope to find and attract people to work with us who would not normally consider a career in these industries.
We are also excited about the impact that this switch will have on our environmental sustainability. Finally, we hope that by continuing to pay ‘London wages’ but with these being earned across the country, we can play a small part in rebalancing the economy to be less centred around the capital.
Results
Geographic diversity
Our team now lives in an area covering over 18,500km² compared to under 5,000km² at the beginning of the pandemic.
This increase in geographic diversity wouldn’t have been possible without the switch to remote-first working.
18,500km²
The area our team now covers
270%
Increase in geographical area covered by our team


Carbon footprint
If our team had been commuting into London as before the pandemic, then we would have emitted over 20,500kg of CO2 each year. By switching to remote-first working and only visiting the office once a month, we have reduced that to 1,110kg of CO2 per year – a 95% decrease.
95%
the reduction in our carbon footprint by removing commuting
What’s next?
Remote working mental health
The shift to working in a different physical location to our teammates has had different impacts on everyone. For many it has brought about huge benefits – from a reduction in commuting costs to spending more time with their families to finding time to take up new hobbies.
However others have deeply felt the reduced interactions with people and the increase in self-directed working.
We want to build the support that we offer people to not just survive, but to thrive in this new way of working. This will definitely include more support for their mental health using services such as the newly implemented Spill.
It will also involve iterating how and when we come together as a group to build our understanding, empathy and support for one another.
Work out how best to use office space
We currently still have a retained office in Vauxhall, London. We had anticipated using this regularly for team and client sessions. However in reality, these have not happened frequently and we’re not sure the space is worth keeping.
We have no doubt that meeting regularly in person is a vital activity for our team’s health, but we’re not sure we need to pay for a single studio to do that.
Even if we do keep the space, we’d like to work out how to use it to better have a positive impact on our community. Ideas that we’d like to test include free hire of the space to charities or social enterprises or hot desks for young people starting out in their careers.
Understand the climate impact of remote-working tools
While the near elimination of our commuting has undoubtedly reduced our carbon footprint, the increase of our use of tools such as video calls or Mural boards will be having a counterproductive effect.
We want to fully understand this impact and take appropriate actions wherever possible to further reduce our carbon footprint.