Fast-growing Bath digital marketing agency Social Shepherd has unveiled its new collaborative workplace created by city-based office design company Interaction to accommodate its future expansion.
Founded by Zoe Stephenson and Jack Shepherd, who hired their first staff member just before the pandemic, Social Shepherd now employs 55 people.
Having previously been based in serviced co-working offices, the agency – which works with leading brands including Premier Inn, easyJet Holidays and Uniqlo – urgently needed its own flexible workspace for its growing team.
It called on Interaction to design its first HQ – with its new 7,664 sq ft office in Alexander House on James Street West boasting a mix of work benches, private booths and informal meeting areas with home-style furnishings, where Social Shepherd can shoot video content for its lifestyle clients.
Social Shepherd’s minty-green brand colour is subtly reflected throughout the workspace and in the striking reception area.
The new office also includes a state-of-the-art production studio featuring the latest green screen technology and a central staircase that leads to a mezzanine upper floor and a podcast studio.
A boardroom with centrepiece hanging lights creates a more intimate meeting experience and there is also a spacious kitchen area where staff can eat and socialise together.
Jack Shepherd said: “This is our first-ever experience working on an office project like this, having been in serviced offices before.
“But the team at Interaction were really great and everything was completed right on schedule.
“We wanted a space with a wow factor that is representative of who we are and who we want to be in the market; a place that we can comfortably grow into. Interaction have certainly delivered our vision – it looks just like we had hoped.
“It’s a much more flexible space than before and it’s already changing the way we work and making us more collaborative.”
Interaction director Hayley Blacker said: “Social Shepherd are a real success story and we’re delighted to have designed their first proper home.
“Our brief was to translate their fast-growing digital brand into a physical space with room to expand and collaborate.
“We would like to wish them every success in their fantastic new home as they embark on the next exciting phase of growth.”
Interaction recently completed the fit-out of international law firm Osborne Clarke’s new flagship Bristol base – a cutting-edge office that features flexible workspaces, indoor gardens and a roof-top restaurant and terrace.
Other key recent projects include a new UK HQ for the global cloud-based finance software provider Xledger, GKN Aerospace’s Global Technology Centre in Filton and the redesign and expansion of fast-growing digital transformation and software specialist Amdaris’s Bristol head office, which it described as ‘a drop-dead beautiful space’.
Pictured: The Social Shepherd team in their new office
