MD Culture Club: Refresh

The talent lead…
Lucy Moore, Associate Director

Can you tell us a little bit about the company, before describing the culture at the organisation?

We’re a creative-led PR and communications agency that works strategically with clients that want to raise their profile and have their voices heard. We currently have a team of 13 employees and are based in the Northern Quarter.  

Refresh has an empowering, open culture that we’ve worked hard to cultivate over the past few years. We don’t believe in ‘top down’ approaches and make sure to involve the wider team in decisions, big and small – we find that this really helps with motivation and engagement and makes team members feel valued and heard.  

How does the company go above and beyond to attract and retain tech talent?

We’ve worked really hard on our health and wellbeing strategy and benefits package over the past couple of years, which is helping us to attract and retain brilliant talent. Our five pillars of wellbeing focus on physical health, mental health, giving back, financial wellbeing and social. For example, the financial wellbeing strand ensures everyone is paid a fair wage which is above the Manchester living wage to give the team financial security. We also have an Employee Assistance Programme which helps our team access discounts on shopping, free dental and eye care, and physio and counselling should they require it. 

I’m sure many agencies will relate when I say that recruitment of employees with the relevant skills is difficult at the moment. For that reason, we work hard on our employer brand especially across our social media – essentially shouting about the fact that Refresh is a great place to work via sharing some of the fun, creative campaigns we’re working on and profiles and testimonials of our team members. 

Finally, we’re huge believers in recruiting locally, where possible, so we work with a number of local educational institutions to secure talent. We’ve had some great applicants and successful applications through our work with a couple of the lecturers at MMU, for example. We also get out and about promoting roles in PR/comms/digital whenever we can, including giving talks at local schools, colleges and unis. 

What does the future look like for the company and its employees?

If I could sum it up in a couple of words it would be sustainable growth. The work we’ve done over the past couple of years is really starting to attract attention and we’re getting a lot of new business leads coming through the door. So, at the moment it’s about being sensible with what we can realistically take on so as not to overwhelm our team – the last thing we want is burnout! Exciting times are ahead though, and we recently made member status to Greater Manchester’s Good Employment Charter, demonstrating excellence across a number of categories including secure work, fair pay, health and wellbeing, learning and development and good recruitment practices. 

The new starter…
Danielle Cope, Account Executive

Can you describe your role at the company?

I’m an account executive at Refresh. In a nutshell, this means I support the account managers and directors on the day-to-day running of client accounts. From tech to construction clients, I work across a wide variety of clients and campaigns so no two days are ever the same, making this a hard question to answer. 

Since joining Refresh, I have had the opportunity to get involved with lots of different aspects of PR and communications, including developing web content, writing blogs, attending strategy sessions and client meetings, planning and creating social content, writing press releases and pitching to the media.

What was it about the organisation that attracted you to the role?

My career started in an in-house role, and I often found myself wondering about agency life. For this reason, I started looking at roles in agencies across Greater Manchester. It was important to me that my next role was somewhere where I wasn’t just a number and where I had the opportunity to develop my skills and grow as a communications professional. This wasn’t something I was willing to compromise on, which led to a rather long job hunt. 

Then I met with Refresh and I came away from my first interview confident that it was somewhere that would tick both of those boxes. It was clear that Refresh genuinely cared about its employees’ wellbeing and development, running regular wellbeing activities and having its own training programme in place. Everyone that I met during my interview process instantly put me at ease, and after explaining a bit about themselves and the culture at Refresh I was sold – the company ethos aligned with my personal values and I couldn’t wait to be a part of it.

Can you describe the onboarding process you’ve experienced?

The onboarding process could not have been smoother. From my very first interview, everyone at Refresh has been so welcoming. Some would say I was thrown in the deep end, as within the first couple of weeks I was on a train to London for the weekend with the whole team for our annual away day, but it was definitely the best way to get to know both the team and the business in a short space of time. 

I got stuck into client work straight away too, learning as I went. I feel this approach has helped me pick up the role much faster than I would have in a typical classroom/training environment. Despite there being a few aspects of the role that I haven’t done previously, the rest of the team have been so supportive and are still always on hand to answer any questions I have. I couldn’t have asked for a more positive experience.

The long term employee…
Libby Zbaraska, Senior Account Manager

Can you describe your role at the company?

As senior account manager, I work closely with the rest of the team on day-to-day client liaison, media outreach and campaign activity. On top of this, I am also often involved in strategising for client campaigns, growing existing accounts and supporting with new business pitches.

My role is extremely varied! I work with a number of different clients each targeting different audiences/sectors, meaning there is no ‘set way’ to run an effective campaign – different audiences are impacted by different methods of communication. This means that Refresh is far from a ‘one trick’ agency and in one week I could be on a filming/production set, attending an event, overseeing a social media or press campaign, chatting with key journalists, planning an awards ceremony or working on a new business pitch – the list goes on! This is brilliant as it keeps me on my toes, meaning I get a lot of varied experience, and am lucky enough to meet lots of amazing people in the sectors I work in. Ultimately, this means I’m constantly learning and feel able to bring fresh ideas and perspectives to the table. 

What has kept you at the company for so long?

The reason I have stayed at Refresh is partially because of the above – lots of varied work and exciting campaigns to work on. But in addition to this, it is also because of the tight-knit team at Refresh, we’re small, so we’re very close and supportive of each other. This goes hand-in-hand with the fact that Refresh is great in supporting and developing its people – I feel it has given me the backing and encouragement to confidently throw myself into new opportunities and situations, which has enabled me to build on my experience and work towards my career goals.  

Other longstanding members of the team include our MD and talent lead who have been with the business for 13 and 5 years respectively! 

What would you say to a person considering joining the company?

If you are enthusiastic, keen to learn, creative, and would love to benefit from training and opportunities, Refresh is a great place to work. As an agency, I think it goes above and beyond other workplaces in spotting potential and developing its people. On top of this, wellbeing is major focus at Refresh and we constantly have wellbeing activities, socials, bonuses, annual pay increases, and regular one-to-ones with line managers, this means you always feel supported and appreciated for the work you do. 

In addition, we hold regular creative brainstorms and team away days which enable everyone – no matter their position or seniority – to input into the direction Refresh is going in, as well as having a say on the work that they really want to do. This leaves the team feeling empowered and excited to be part of a “bigger picture”.

To find out more about careers at Refresh, click here.

If you’re a member and would like to take part in a future edition of our Culture Club series, please contact ami@manchesterdigital.com.