A highly successful North-East entrepreneur has invested over £1.5 million in providing an outstanding workplace experience for his team, steadfast in the belief that a post-pandemic ‘return-to-office’ is fundamental to business success.
Wayne Spriggs, Founder and CEO of the hugely successful Lusso lifestyle brand does not advocate working from home as a productive option for the business which relies upon daily physical team interaction.
Lusso offers single-branded collections of luxury furniture, homewares, fixtures, and fittings for residential and commercial settings. Established in 2014 Lusso has grown exponentially to become a £50m turnover business and features in the Sunday Times Fast Track 100.
Wayne’s sentiment is reflected in the most recent KPMG CEO Outlook Survey which revealed two-thirds of bosses believe that workers will return to the office, five days a week, in the next three years. The survey reports 87% of global leaders believe that reward could be linked to incentivising a return to the office with many saying that bringing teams together increases creativity and collaboration as well as fostering a corporate culture.
After committing to purchase a new 12,000 sq ft headquarters building in Teesside during lockdown, Lusso worked alongside office design and fit-out specialist, Building Interiors to create a space more akin to a luxury apartment to achieve 100% workplace engagement from the team.
Wayne Spriggs, said,
“Lockdown was a necessity, but it has created a mindset that working from home is productive and better for individual wellbeing. I don’t believe that – delivering a luxury product requires outstanding service and it is critical that our customer service team can physically interact with our salesforce, on the ‘shop floor’ every day. We saw a dramatic impact during lockdown, not just in customer service delivery but also in our team engagement and their sense of reward.
“We decided to buy Lusso House because it was highly accessible, just off the A66, with plenty of room for expansion. We enlisted the expert help of Building Interiors to deliver an exceptional place that our team wanted to work in and from which we could attract strong talent moving forward.”
Building Interiors totally redesigned the typically bland 12,000 sq ft office building, transforming three floors into modern and agile workspaces that reflected the high-end nature of the Lusso brand but also provided a fun and motivating environment to work in.
It delivered the full turnkey solution including, space design and planning, M&E installation, bespoke joinery and specification of finishes and furniture. The design supports health and well-being with the entire ground floor dedicated to recreation with a 24-hour access gym, pool table, arcade games, bar and social spaces. Unique design elements include feature walls, zoned carpeting, feature lighting and areas dedicated to neurodiverse needs.
Jeremy Poole, Sales Director at Building Interiors, said, “We were delighted to work with Lusso with a brief to create an engaging workplace where 100% of the team wanted to be. Quite a tall order given that home working has become so popular. The entire team could easily occupy half of one floor in Lusso House, but Wayne was insistent on providing a plenty of breakout spaces for relaxation, fun and engagement.
“We continue to work with Lusso, updating spaces as the business evolves, and we value this project as a flagship for how 100% return to work can be achieved successfully.”
The investment for Lusso has already paid dividends since the team has expanded three-fold in the last two years and the business continues to grow at a rapid pace with Middle East expansion next on the horizon. Wayne concludes, “A business like ours depends on dynamic and motivated teamwork but how can you create that with a fragmented, disengaged team? Whilst I appreciate the prospect of losing strong talent opportunities, the impact of working from home has proved far more negative on the business as a whole. We are immensely proud that every one of our team has embraced the new office with huge enthusiasm.”
To view footage of the new office space, take a look at our case study page covering all of our work at Lusso.
Our commercial interior design company delivers transformational projects for clients across the entire UK with the ability to offer solutions from concept to delivery. For more information about our office design and build service, contact us on 0113 388 6522. Our team will be happy to help!
