Welcome to The Works

This month, some of the Cuttsy+Cuttsy team are slowly returning to office working –seeing familiar faces once again, meeting new teammates in person for the first time and settling into our brand-new home. And it feels good!

While 2020 kept us all apart, forcing us all to change how we communicate, collaborate and work together, we used it as an opportunity to think about how we wanted to work in the future. We paused. We reflected. And while many wrote obituaries for the future of the office, we decided to move... into an even bigger space.‍

Not as strange as it might seem

We believe that people matter. People make connections, they collaborate and they create a culture. Our award-winning culture and the strength of our personal connections helped keep us together when we were forced apart and, at first, working from home meant we learned even more about one another as we caught glimpses inside each other’s homes, met children and pets.

We were grateful to be able to work from home, and recognised its personal and business benefits but, very quickly, it became clear that we all missed in-person interactions. From that little spark as we collaborated and developed new ideas, to just being able to pick up on the body language of a colleague in need of additional support or direction... No matter what the headlines were saying, we were pretty confident that there would still be a role for the office.‍

Best of both worlds

The move to our new location has not only trebled the space we have, but it has given us an opportunity to reimagine how we want to work in the future. For those that want or need to return to the office, how could we blend the best of the office with the best of working from home? We started by thinking about people. How would they like to work together? How would they respond to shared spaces after a year at home? How could the experience be better? With a hybrid working model, how could we ensure that every member of the team had the same professional and cultural experience, in or outside of the office?

We decided to make our new office work hard for us and created a range of spaces to anticipate the range of work modes most of us have during our day. We created collaboration zones for idea sharing and discussion, individual booths for privacy and periods of concentration, bleacher seating for meeting and socialising and even standing desks to help improve our posture.‍

Creature comforts

While the return to the office may mean leaving the loungewear behind, we’ve made sure that everyone feels as comfortable as possible. The industrial style of the re-purposed concrete framed building has been softened with Scandinavian sheepskin chairs in the ‘huddle’ seating area, there’s state-of-the-art sound and acoustics, full size olive trees, and a kitchen (complete with a touchless hot water tap) that any discerning chef would be pleased to use. Fresh air handling systems, our own dedicated entrance and generous square footage ensure a covid-secure and safe return –peace of mind that’s priceless.‍

All in good time

We have to admit that the timing of the move was a bit of a gamble - no-one could predict how long lockdown restrictions might last. But we knew that moving to a new office was the right decision. It took just a few months to find our new location and to get the paperwork completed. A 3-month fit-out and several shopping trips to source interior fixtures and fittings and the office was ready.

We’re so pleased to be able to offer hybrid working to every member of the Cuttsy+Cuttsy team and to allow them the flexibility to work how they want, where they want.‍

Location, location, location

So where did we move to exactly? Our new office is located at The Works, on Unity Campus –a few miles south of Cambridge. We’re close to key transport links (mainline train to London and access to the M11) and remain within the Golden Triangle of cities driving the UK’s life sciences industry.

We’re looking forward to being together again and to the day that we can welcome you and show you around.

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