About us
The Surgery was founded in 2013 by Paul Cohen and Nick Cordell, built on a heritage of graphic design, brand thinking and digital craft. From brand development, print and sponsorship activations to retail environments and digital experiences, our roots have always been in creating work with clarity, intelligence and unmistakable creative polish.
As our relationships with clients deepened, one discipline consistently drew us in: internal communications. With the insight and encouragement of client and internal comms specialist Sarah Meurer, who later joined our leadership team, we made a deliberate decision to specialise. Carly Murray soon followed, strengthening our strategic capability and helping us shape a rare blend: design thinking and internal communications working seamlessly together.
Today, Sarah has returned client‑side, but her influence runs deep. As part of her legacy, we continue to run Barn to Boardroom – the internal comms event she and Carly launched over a decade ago. Now in its eleventh year, it remains one of the sector’s most valued forums for insight, challenge and connection.
This integration of disciplines has become our hallmark. Insight sharpened by creativity. Creativity grounded in human understanding. A combined practice designed to create communication which resonates and transforms.
We’ve grown intentionally, not exponentially. A 20‑strong team, proudly independent and purposefully lean. Strategists. Designers. Brand thinkers. Writers. Internal Comms specialists. All working side by side to deliver clarity, confidence and meaningful change for some of the world’s most respected organisations.
Our studio sits in a converted barn on a working West Sussex farm, a place with room to think, challenge, create and breathe. It shapes how we work: focused, thoughtful and always curious. A setting that invites fresh thinking and fosters great ideas.
We’re proud of our blue‑chip client list. Proud of the awards we’ve earned. But most of all, proud of the impact we create – work that helps people understand, connect and move forward with confidence.
This is The Surgery.
Independent. Insight‑driven. Creatively led.
Work that works®.
What drives us
Our mission
To create work that works – strategic, insight‑led, creatively crafted solutions that move people and organisations forward.
Why we do what we do
Because when people understand, believe, and feel connected to what’s happening around them, organisations thrive. Clear, purposeful and creative communication changes everything.
What we do
We combine human insight, strategic intelligence and creative craft to deliver internal comms, EVPs, brand, design and digital solutions that align and inspire your people.
How we do it
We listen deeply, think boldly and design with intention. We cut out the unnecessary, focus on what matters and turn complex challenges into clarity – and clarity into action.
What if you could sense-check every comms decision and see how people might react to it before it goes out?
With a Surgery Employee Persona AI Agent, you can.
We can help internal comms professionals like you to:
• Build realistic employee personas
• Test messaging before it lands
• Improve relevance and targeting
• Communicate with greater confidence
It’s like having your audience in the room. Except you can gauge their reaction before speaking to them.
Interested? Talk to us at The Surgery today. Link in the bio
Ever found yourself staring at a blank page, knowing the challenge isn`t writing something, it`s figuring out what you actually think? 🤔
In this episode, we caught up with Erik Sebok, a senior internal communications professional, to talk about using AI for strategy rather than simply content creation.
The conversation focused on how AI can help sharpen thinking, improve stakeholder relationships and keep strategy alive long after it`s been written.
💡 Bringing business context, stakeholder input and employee feedback into AI at the start of strategy development
💡 Building AI agents that hold strategic context
💡 Breaking work into stages rather than asking AI to solve everything at once
💡 Using AI to challenge assumptions and reach better decisions faster
It`s a thoughtful reminder that the real value doesn`t come from the tool itself, but from the thinking, judgement and experience behind it.
Link in the bio and available from all the usual places. Take a listen
Thank you, Angela, for everything!
We are going to miss our fabulous Internal Comms Specialist and Account Manager Angela who is moving on to pastures (not so) new.
You’ve been brilliant and we’ve all enjoyed working with you.
Good luck, enjoy what’s coming next, and of course, up the Albion!
Love it, hate it or just worried about it, AI is here to stay.
But where does it fit in your internal comms team’s day-to-day, and how can you harness it to make your internal comms planning and output more efficient?
Our AI in IC Workshop helps you cut through the noise and focus on what’s useful… to you.
✔ Practical use cases
✔ Less repetition, smarter workflows
✔ Clear next steps you can actually apply
No jargon. No fluff. Just what works for you and your team.
We’re all about work that works – so get in touch with one of our Surgery humans and let’s make AI work for you and your organisation.
That sound you just heard might have been the champagne corks popping 😊
That’s because we`ve gone and done it again!
We’ve been shortlisted again for the Institute of Internal Communications Best Medium Agency award 2026.
Thanks so much to all our clients for putting their trust in us and being brilliant along the way. We genuinely love working with you all.
Good luck to everyone who’s been shortlisted in the IOIC awards 2026 and we’ll see you there.
All the AI training in the world doesn’t necessarily mean people feel confident about it and are ready to embrace our new robot colleagues.
Behind the scenes?
Uncertainty. Scepticism. Maybe even quiet panic about what it all means for them and their jobs.
Our AI Hearts and Minds campaign helps you:
• Open up and start having honest conversations about AI with your people
• Build belief and trust
• Bring people with you rather than leaving them behind.
A feel-good AI campaign to help you and your people unlock all the benefits it can provide.
We’re all about work that works. So, if you need your people to believe and to feel engaged and confident about AI and where it’s heading, talk to one of our Surgery humans today
Sorry, it`s too painful to write a caption for this post.
Most internal comms teams get loads of positive feedback… but still have a nagging feeling something didn’t quite land 🤔
In this episode, we spoke with Amanda Atkinson, an internal comms professional, about how she’s using AI to dig deeper into that gap and support her day-to-day work.
💡 Writing the core narrative herself, then using AI to scale it across invites, posts and supporting content
💡 Analysing event feedback alongside original objectives to uncover what didn’t land
💡 Using AI to turn gut instinct into a clear, data-backed story for stakeholders
💡 Capturing ideas, feedback and stakeholder signals in real time, then regularly synthesising them
💡 Treating AI as part of the workflow rather than something separate to learn
It’s a really honest take on where AI genuinely helps and where human judgement still matters most.
Link in the comments and available from Linktree in the bio. Take a listen
