New premises are a work of living art

PicassoHR, a successful HR outsourcing consultancy has been in a converted barn in the heart of Henley near Ipswich since 2004, moving twice during that time to bigger premises on the same site.

Earlier this year, needing more space again to accommodate the growing business, the directors started a hunt for a new office.

An opportunity arose to move to a barn two and a half times the size of their current premises on the same business site. Being a shell unit, it gave the directors the opportunity to create something truly unique for the next stage in the company’s development. “We saw this as an opportunity to create something very special that we could sculpture and design to our needs.” said Lina Hogg, managing director.

At the beginning of November Picasso HR moved to its brand new headquarters and with words, colour and images, the walls are “talking” to staff and visitors.

So why has the PicassoHR team included walls that “talk”?

“Over the last 14 years we have become known for thinking differently and we’ve certainly demonstrated that in our design of the new premises. We revealed all to our clients at our grand opening which, along with a red carpet, fun casino and photo booth, made for an excellent night and our clients certainly seemed impressed. The evening also raised money for Action Against Hunger to support the Philippines disaster which was fantastic,” said Toby Durrant, director of operations.

Lina Hogg added: “We wanted to reflect our company’s personality and core values in a fun and creative way. As a result, we have created a bright and airy space with plenty of room for expansion. We used colours, photographs and words around the building which all have a story to tell. For instance, the photo of the ballerina on a tight rope, reflects our core values of taking responsibility, being focussed and the rope reflects integrity. If anyone one of us lacked or behaved without integrity then the rope becomes weaker as a result. We have been bold in our thinking and I’m glad to say it has worked very well.”

On their red, yellow, blue and green walls are words that help visitors identify their personality colour. Personality Palette is a workshop that the company runs to assist individuals to better understand their own personality and that of their colleagues which in turn helps to build stronger relationships and reduce conflict.

Additionally, the PicassoHR team is committed to helping small enterprises throughout the world by giving charitable loans via Kiva, www.kiva.org. A large world map shows where each team member has made a loan to an entrepreneur and a chart monitors repayment of the loan. “This is a really great way to create team spirit and at the same time help those less fortunate than us.” added Toby Durrant.