November 2023 – What We’ve Been Up To

I probably say this every month, but it seems these end of month articles come around much sooner than every 4 weeks. This year has passed by in the blink of an eye. It’s our last traditional EOM blog post of 2023 as we do something a little different in December, and we’re already feeling festive with lots planned for December.

The Twilo Christmas Party is booked and I’m looking forward to doing something a bit different with the team. We have a head-to-head escape room booked, followed by a bottomless “brunch” (at 6pm), and then some console wars at Pixel Bar, where we can let our inner-geek out after a few drinks. It doesn’t seem 2 minutes since we moved office and it’s fair to say that the business has been running me since then, rather than the other way around, so this will be our first team outing since the move to Leeds.

Speaking of which, as this may be our last traditional EOM post of the year, I’ll take this opportunity to mention a couple of things:

1. The office move has been a huge success. We still have some bits to do in terms of signage etc, but the move has been a huge positive in many ways. We have so much space to grow into, a conference room and private office, as well as the breakout room complete with foosball table and dart board, and plenty of space for people to sit and chat over lunch. The latter being the highlight of the move, as I feel this area has brought the team much closer together.
2. Speaking of the team, I’m immensely proud of what they’ve achieved this year. I’ve mentioned before that finding the right people is one of the most difficult challenges of running a business. There are so many factors to consider which may be overlooked from the outside. You have to find people who can match the standards that are expected from a high-level agency, and equally they have to fit in with the rest of the team, while buying into the company’s vision and values. That’s a lot to consider, and it can be mentally tough

When we set out on our ambitious Growth40 plans earlier this year, the office move and team expansion were two of our biggest milestones. It’s been a massive challenge on top of what already is a fast-paced business, but I’m really pleased with where the company is positioned now. I’m feeling confident heading into 2024 as we move on to the next stage of Growth40; client growth, and office culture.

We’ve just completed a huge project which we started working on in Q2 of this year. We’ve developed a web application which allows apprenticeship providers to monitor the progress of learners, fully equipped with assessments and unit progress, user management, document storage, alerts, an internal messaging system, and much more. This project has been worked on by most of the team and it’s been a big challenge as we’ve been going through a transitional year. This will be a great case study for us and is the type of project which tests our developers, while also providing lots of learning opportunities, both in terms of technical skillset, project management, and communication. Keep an eye out for the case study in the near future.

Speaking of BIG projects, our new website is coming! I don’t want to give too much away at this stage but I’m really pleased with how the design is coming together. We’ve done our best to align the design with our business values, which is very much straight talking, and getting to the bottom of where our client needs to be. We’re currently putting our case studies together which has been enjoyable to jog the memory and look at the great projects we’ve delivered. It’s also created an opportunity to take a little step back and see things from the outside.

This site is the start of our first venture into outwardly marketing Twilo, as we’ve grown almost exclusively on word of mouth recommendations to-date, so this will very much be a case of proving our service.

Before I finish I’d just like to end with a quick note on Jen and Tom who joined us in November. Both in very different positions, but equally as enjoyable to work with and have been a great addition to Twilo.

Pupdate!

Fred started his puppy classes this month which was actually quite refreshing, as it turns out he isn’t the naughtiest puppy in the world as we keep calling him. His legs are starting to out-grow the rest of his body as he resembles a teenage boy at the start of his growth spurt, looking like a Star Wars Micro Galaxy Squadron. The cuts on my hands are easing a little, although some scars will remain for life. Here he is looking guilty as I caught him eating another label. Oh, and “he’s not allowed on the sofa” lasted all of 1 week!