client stories...

Developing Ernst & Young

Theme: Organisational change, staff and client engagement
Country: UK
Participants: 350 employees of Ernst & Young, Leeds office
Key content: disposable cameras, photography master classes, curation, facilitation

Our brief was how to make the most of the impending Ernst & Young office move to the prestigious Bridgewater Place development in Leeds. We really wanted to co-create something that achieved three hits in one and needed to:

Involve Ernst & Young people in shaping their new working environment.
Create a sense of cohesion and “connectedness” across teams moving from three floors in the old office to one open plan floor.
Develop a powerful client message that centres on the talents and stories of the individuals working for them.

This was the starting point for “Developing Ernst & Young” – a photography project that involved 350 black and white disposable cameras, mass staff participation, a professional photographer, a gallery curator and an amazing client launch.

Over a period of three weeks just before the move, every person working in the Yorkshire office was given a small camera and a creative brief to capture what they value outside of work and what they value about each other in work.

And the results were amazing!

With the images we got back we were able to create a truly impressive, curated gallery of framed black and white photos. These are now displayed throughout the new office and came together to form the centrepiece of the client launch of the new office.

In terms of outcomes for Ernst & Young, they now have:

- A new working environment that people feel at home in
- Engaged and involved staff who now know a little more about each other.

All resulting in a very strong and engaging story for clients about the values and talents of the Ernst & Young teams they are working with.

Image Gallery

All images copyright of Ernst & Young LLP and reproduced with kind permission.

What happened next?

Another client, from a major University, decided that they wanted to recreate a similar kind of experience for staff from across the campus. As with Ernst & Young, their concern was to engage people from different departments in a common sense of journey, also coincidentally linked to the opening of a new, iconic building.

Some of the results of this project can be seen below...



All images copyright of Leeds Metropolitan University and reproduced with kind permission.