Find out how we made work work for MarCloud

MarCloud started in 2017 as a team of two. Within a few years, they’ve grown to 26 passionate full- time team members, delivering consulting expertise to address the resource shortage and knowledge gap around marketing automation.
 
Located in one of the most innovative buildings in Liverpool, just minutes from Moorfields train station, MarTech Consultants Tom Ryan and Jake Bond talk to us about their vibrant surroundings, the community, and the state-of-the-art facilities that keep their business thriving.


Why did you choose this part of Liverpool?
Jake: We have been in Moorfields for the last year and a half to two years now. 

Tom: We have grown with Bruntwood.

Jake: We were in the Cotton Exchange to start with because it is just down the way, and we’re in The Plaza now. I think being in the business district of Liverpool is quite an empowering thing.

And why Bruntwood Works?
Tom: The convenience. The Wi-Fi is included, the office, the chairs; you don’t know how much of a pain buying chairs and tables are and setting them up; we have built chairs before. To have that all in the contract means that when we leave, all we do is pick up our laptops and move. Before it would be hiring a moving crew, or maybe we would have to move it and take a day out. So it is much easier in this building on this contract. 

Jake: Another reason we love The Plaza is the breakout spaces are incredible. In our team, we have got a hybrid business, some at home and some here, but the people who are here don’t sit in the office all day; they will come and sit in the lounge, and they will use the breakout spaces we’ve got on our floor, or they will go to the coffee shop on site. So people just scatter. It was just me and Tom three-and-a-half or four years ago. There are 26 of us now.

You clearly love the space; how did Bruntwood Works make the move work for you?
Jake: We laid our stance down at the start that we are a rapidly growing business, we’re very flexible, and we need that to be the case. So we worked with Joe from Bruntwood at the start, who looked after us from a sales perspective and then Simon, more recently. We just negotiate contract terms at the beginning and say, ‘We expect to scale. We expect this to be the case. Can we introduce some break clauses, or how can we be flexible?’ It is definitely about planning it in at the start, and Bruntwood are always open to helping us out with that.

So, it sounds like the move was made easier?
Jake: We actually left our Cotton Exchange contract early to move over to The Plaza, which was great. So, to be able to just exit a contract a little bit early to move over to a new one was amazing; it was really helpful. They let us come in a little bit early to bring any stuff that we wanted to come over. They allowed us to come in and set up our laptops and computers, so we didn’t lose any work-billable time. That was all on a Friday. They kept a suite open for us, and then security shut it at the end so we could get that done and then on Monday morning, the team could come into a nice, new office and just get working straight away. So I think that was probably the biggest perk to the onboarding process because there is nothing worse than having to sacrifice your working day to move office. I think it’s something that just needs to fit into your schedule, and you need to make it work somehow. So I was appreciative of that, and that really helped us.

What do you think being in The Plaza says about your business?
Jake: I think it has got everything you would want from a trustworthy business, but it feels laidback and creative enough that it allows that room for people not to be rigid and sit there day-to-day in a suit sort of thing. I think for us, and that is our business model, we’re professional and smart, but we’re also quite laid back in what we do. We’re just experts. We’re knowledgeable. We don’t try to force anything, and we don’t have a particular dress code or anything like that. I think, to be honest, it really aligns with us, and that is partially why it has been such a success because it has hit our sweet spot, it’s laid back, it’s cool, it’s creative, I think it could probably fit most businesses, to be honest.

What do the amenities mean for your team?
Jake: Here they’ve got a yoga studio, an exercise studio, places you can put your bike. They generally have classes; last week, I got an email about a free PT session with a trainer that came here, which was quite cool. The changing rooms are like a five-star hotel; it is amazing.

Tom: We’ve got a tool that tracks happiness. Literally every Friday, it sends out a survey at 5:00, ‘How was your week?’ and obviously, we noticed happiness went up when we were here, and people do tend to like coming in because the environment was nice, we’ve got a coffee shop, there’s going to be a restaurant, there are bars around here. I think the environment definitely helps.

How does it feel to be with Bruntwood Works?
Jake: It feels good, and I know enough about Bruntwood’s values to know that it is a good thing to be a part of, like going to cities and renovating areas that need renovating. It is what Bruntwood stands for that resonates with me the most. I think it is really important that you want to come somewhere day-to-day that aligns with your business from both a perspective of feeling like you’re a part of something but also feeling like you’re supporting the right cause. I think more so now than ever, the business owners will look for that, and I think that will be a part of what they do. 

So, do you feel that Bruntwood Works has made work work for you?
Jake: I guess it has given us that space to thrive. I think our team definitely does work better when we are all here together, we have space to have meetings, syncs, plan accounts, raise any potential blockers that people would have on an account. What Bruntwood has given us is a place to be able to do that together. The place has got a really good feel. 

Tom: They have made it more of an experience to actually move somewhere, so we have been excited to move into this building, to this office, and with their help, it has made our growth a lot easier because we haven’t had to think about certain things. They’re able to be flexible enough that they can say, ‘Here’s an office, we’ll shape it to however you want it and put your branding on it, give you chairs, give you tables, give you Wi-Fi, here’s a breakout space that you asked for, here’s a coffee shop, here’s all this stuff. On top of that, we’re going to have events, the gym and community events, football, all this stuff on top.’ It also hasn’t just stopped now we’re in. They’re still looking after us, and it’s more of an experience than just hiring an office space, which makes them better than some of the other offices we were looking at, which were really good, but Bruntwood just had that edge. 

Jake: I think creativity throughout our team has increased; people are coming out with significantly more ideas, and people are contributing to business development a lot. 

Tom: A bit more vibrant as a business, I think. 

Jake: So much more vibrant. People are typically having better weeks at work. In answer to the question, how has Bruntwood made work work for us? I think it has supported us in breeding a happier, more creative team.

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