Salad: 2024 Unwrapped

Jumping on the “unwrapped” bandwagon, we thought that an article celebrating the year was due – a year when we’ve proved the benefits of a consciously curated team of experts and what we can achieve together.

And so, here’s to 2024, and our top six celebrations for the year…

A record-breaking number of websites launched

This year, we’ve broken a longstanding record and launched eleven completely new websites. Built from the ground up, all by the team here at Salad.

Launch is obviously the last of the things to do whilst creating a website, but it’s the culmination of a carefully choreographed scope of work undertaken by a group of specialists: planners, designers, developers, SEO consultants, UX consultants, account and project managers. For most of our clients, just getting one site done is enough for a year, so getting through eleven seems like a pretty mighty achievement.

In parallel to all the launches, there have been rebuilds and extensions, takeovers, design systems and a few things still in development which won’t launch until 2025. But as far as 2024 goes, we’re pretty proud of all we’ve achieved and grateful to our clients for trusting us to deliver these hugely important projects.

Delivered brand & identity projects across multiple categories

Much of our work is connected by way of the services we provide: brand, creative and digital. But what we’re most proud of, and what keeps our team on their feet and happy, is working across multiple sectors and categories. In this respect, 2024 has been a year of variety. We’ve learnt about process safety, education, more about architecture and we’re just starting to dabble in the world of property.

When we deliver brands, specifically the brand strategy, the visual identity and its implementation, and the website, we have to learn fast. Not exactly subject matter experts but pretty close. And it’s not just the specific subject matter of our clients, but the constellation of services and products that surround them.

For example, learning about education for our client Tute, meant researching all forms of complementary education, understanding more about how the Dept’ of Education works, the effects of the pandemic on learners and the myriad reasons that a learner may be outside the traditional classroom.

Learning about our client’s competition, whether that be direct or indirect is often a treasure trove of information that can be used to our client’s advantage. Understanding the differences between a small, niche business and its huge corporate competitors presents a communication challenge with regard to positioning and differentiation. Being aware of a business’s specifics means that we can empower them to defend their ground and position their product or service on customer benefits as much as the value provided.

Every branding project is a steep learning curve, and whilst the process may stay the same, or at least similar, the context changes dramatically. Often these contextual differences provide clues across the breadth of our client work, and something that works for a process safety expert may work equally well for a law firm. At the end of the day we’re in the business of recognising value and allowing our clients to communicate that value across all of their touchpoints.

A thoroughly wholesome Cotswolds weekend

In the last couple of years, we’ve moved away from traditional Christmas parties in favour of extended trips during quieter months. Nestled in a charming complex of cottages, our wholesome weekend included sharing delicious home-cooked meals, engaging in hilarious (and fiercely competitive!) board games, braving a muddy countryside walk, and savouring an indulgent pub lunch.

Sometimes the most valuable team moments happen away from our desks – whether it’s over dinner or during a country walk – and we’ve come to appreciate the value in time well spent as a team away from the day-to-day. 

And as the year draws towards a close, we’re already wondering where our next adventure will take us. With so many amazing trips behind us, the bar is set high!

Michelle (re) joined

Recognising the value in adding a higher level of excellence to our client services, this rare recruitment drive was the first time we’d decided to grow our headcount for over two years. 

Michelle’s appointment carries special significance as she previously worked with us from 2017 to 2019. This prior experience means she brings not only professional expertise but also established relationships with both our team and clients, along with an intimate understanding of our methodologies. Now 3 months into her role, she’s already played an instrumental role in reimagining our client services offer, helping to shape our future as we continue to grow and evolve.

Continuing our journey into employee ownership, from networking events to a conference, and delivering work for employee-owned businesses

Our adventure in the world of employee ownership continues to travel at pace. Aside from our annual trip up the country to attend and deliver workshops and panel discussions at the EOA’s Conference, we’ve been holding small gatherings of our own. Three in fact. The first was a simple networking event with other local employee-owned businesses. It went well and inspired us to continue putting events on at our studio in Poole. Subsequent South Coast EO Networking (to use its official title) events have seen us invite an illustrious speaker, Ian Hiscock. Ian’s talk about his journey through employee ownership, from a long career at John Lewis to now being a serial independent trustee, was an inspiring take on a life in the sector, full of adventure, tips, tricks and best practices. At our most recent event, a panel of four guests from local EO businesses shared their stories of transition and the journey that they’ve all been on so far. Although everyone’s approach is different, we’re all bound together by the common goal of activating our employee-owners to build representative businesses that benefit the majority.

But networking isn’t the only thing we’re doing in the world of employee ownership. Working with other EOs has also been a feature of 2024, delivering on culture and engagement in particular for two very different businesses. The Industry Club and Loadhog couldn’t be more different. One a creative recruitment business, recently transitioned, and in need of some engagement, alignment and comms, the other, a long-term employee-owned manufacturer that needed to redefine its purpose, vision, mission and values to support growth and expansion over the next decade.

Finally, another trip up the country to the EOA’s annual conference. A chance to reconnect with our friends in EO, and an opportunity to deliver some value in learning sessions across the two days. This year we focused on how EO can help deliver both externally and internally. Another fantastic event, extremely well attended and proof (if we needed it) that EO is very much on the up.

Celebrating a wonderful 10 year anniversary

In November we celebrated a remarkable milestone, our Senior designer Natalie’s 10-year anniversary at Salad. What makes Natalie extraordinary isn’t just her exceptional creative talent – it’s the beautiful tapestry she’s woven through her care for clients and colleagues and the creativity and ingenuity she brings to every project. Natalie is also the biggest champion of our carefully curated culture. 

As we’ve evolved from office life to hybrid working, from traditional design tools to new technologies, and most recently to becoming employee-owned, Natalie has been a constant source of inspiration, innovation, and infectious energy. We couldn’t be happier to have Natalie as part of our incredible team over the last 10 years and we look forward to all we can achieve together in the next 10!

The end of a fantastic year

To recap, 2024 has been a year of hard work, great clients, new hires and long-standing milestones. We’re grateful and thankful to all our clients, colleagues, friends and supporters for helping us through the year, ready for a well-earned break to recharge and chomping at the bit to come back strong in 2025.

And talking about coming back strong in 2025, we’re hiring (again)! We’re on the lookout for a new developer to join our team. If you’re interested, or if you know someone who might be interested, here’s a link to the job spec.