Welcome to the office

First day at the office

At home Sunday evening before my first day in a new office: After 16 years in big agency land, I’m going to work in a start up.

The office manager/receptionist/recruitment-coordinator calls – can I bring my drill because I’m going to have to make my own desk (an Ikea flatpack)?

That was my first task in the London office and actually we’ve expanded so fast that double-desking is norm, and I mean sharing a desk built for one, rather than the luxury of having multiple desks within the office.

It’s just so different to joining a big agency where typically HR hands you a bunch of forms –including gym membership applications naturally – on day 1 together with a working, set-up smartphone.

But actually such experiences and the flat structure of start up culture have important business implications. We are still a small team in the UK (there’s around 20 of us) and if something needs doing then you just get on with it. It could be dealing with a client query, resolving a publisher issue or emptying the bins. A can-do attitude is being hardwired into the company culture.

Videology is about to move into bigger offices, somewhere that reflects our ambition and growth plans but they will continue to be functional rather than fancy.

The bottom line is that the culture that’s been created in our first UK office will live well beyond the initial recruits.