Looking forward
Published in News on 05 January 2021 By Steve Kemp, Co-Founder & CEO
Most of us will be glad to see 2020 in the rearview mirror and are looking forward to what 2021 can bring. Hopefully with vaccines beginning their extensive roll-out, it will be one more of the ‘precedented’ rather than the ‘un-’, of more positive news, and confidence and unity.
My New Year’s Resolutions (apart from the perennial ‘drinking less and stopping eating crisps’) are to not moan about the situation we’re in and to continually look to accentuate the positive. We also have a couple of occasions on the horizon to celebrate. This month marks our first anniversary of employee-ownership and this June will be 25 years since Noel and I opened Emperor’s doors to business.
Our new Midlands Creative Hub
We have the keys but are not allowed in yet. This month also marks a new era, with the opening of our new office, or ‘creative hub’ as we’re calling it. The teams formerly known as Birmingham and Bicester are moving under one roof to state-of-the-art premises at the Warwick Innovation Centre. Aligned to Warwick University, our new location has given Emperor the opportunity to redefine the purpose of the office and to adopt a blended-working model.
It looks unlikely that we’ll be physically inhabiting the hub any time soon, but enforced remote working has provided us with a golden opportunity to create a fit-for-purpose management and organisational structure, where the key focus is on outstanding creativity, greater flexibility and client centricity.
Personally, I’m very excited about this move and the fact we've been able to apply some innovative thinking to our physical locations. We might not be there in person yet but the essence of what the ‘office of the future’ might become has already taken root. I believe we’ll gain valuable insights, especially once people return to offices and we can understand more about blended working and the role of an office in supporting this new kind of hybrid model.
This will undoubtedly help inform our approach and shape the future of other offices across Emperor. We will be sending a more detailed update shortly to all clients concerned, but if you have any immediate questions, please do not hesitate to get in contact with me.
Lockdown 3
With new measures coming in this week, it will no doubt place a huge burden on our customers and colleagues with parental duties. We are reviewing as a matter of urgency how we can provide the support mechanisms both internally and externally, in what is traditionally our busiest quarter.
Festive cheer
A big thank you to everyone who got involved with our Christmas campaign. We reached our target and raised an amazing £5,000! As part of this, you watched our good news stories 5,123 times, 101 of you entered our daily prize draw and 8 chocolate hampers were won. Thank you for taking part and helping us raise awareness and vital funds for Maggie's.
Here’s to a great 2021.
