About us
Ah, the early 90s… great times. It’s when The Surgery took its first breath as the child of three ambitious design and digital lads from London; ‘PC’ Paul Cohen, Nick Cordell and Robin Nicholl.
Zoom forward to 2015, and The Surgery expanded to bring IC consultancy into the business driven by client need.
We’ve grown up since then and moved to the country, a fabulous, converted barn space in West Sussex. We’re an agency with a difference. Okay, hold on, you’ve heard that line a billion times, right? But you see, the thing is, we really are an agency with a difference.
Let us show you what we mean
Our eclectic bunch of ‘Surgeons’ (all 19 of us) really do care about each other, the work we do and our clients. We’re a proper blend of wise heads and the next new best things. Decades of experience all mixed up with people who know their way around a TikTok.
It’s a blend that works
Our clients come back to us not just because we’re award winners in design, digital and internal communications, although that does rather help. It’s mostly because of that blend thing. It means we can provide design, copywriting, content services, internal communications strategy and campaigns alongside unique behavioural and psychology expertise, all under one big old barn roof.
We understand our clients’ why
We’ll audit, research, research and then do more research so we understand the challenge and create the best solution. We look at everything through our ANTI-BORING (trademark pending) lens. It helps to make the complex simple, meaning you get to engage with your audience at a real, authentic, people-to-people level.
Talking of people
We love seeing our people grow, develop and learn. We give them space and encouragement to try stuff out, to go for it and then learn from it. We celebrate the small stuff, the birthdays, the anniversaries, the life stuff. It’s all about that work-life balance. We might work from the barn or remotely from our homes, cafes, and even campervans. But we always make sure we get together, too. Because we have fun, our clients tend to as well.
We’re totally committed to encouraging equality, diversity and inclusion and eliminating discrimination. Not just because it’s our legal duty but because it’s the right thing to do. Our social impact and the footprint on the environment we leave behind us matter, too. We work locally with community groups and help global brands and charities do some good around the world.
So… let’s kick boredom up its boring old backside, and let’s create something beautiful together!
Our mission
We want to create a world where boring is banned… forever!
Why we do what we do
Because we love engaging people through creative solutions that tackle real-life challenges.
What we do
We banish boring through killer IC campaigns, empowering EVP and employer brands, daring design and dynamite digital solutions.
How we do it
By making the complex simple.
March has marched by and now spring is springing! We enjoyed lots more creative design and internal comms work over the past few weeks, here’s some quick highlights. We…
📅 Added another 46 jobs onto our production sheet for clients old and new.
🙌 Delivered insightful AI personas work for one of our loveliest and longest-standing clients.
✈️ ‘Connected’ with an aviation client to help them soft launch a brand-new member platform.
🎸 Really enjoyed helping out in our local community by designing posters for our friends at Haslemere Fringe.
🎬 Completed a mammoth storyboard session of 76 frames and 53 frames to help our clients keep people and communities safe.
☀️ Celebrated the return of the big yellow orb in the sky with some outdoor lunches (as well as a hotly contested Easter egg hunt) all while cooing over the new farm puppies.
🔋 We also add a new twist to working from home by working in Turkey (while some of us recharged the batteries on breaks to Thailand and Germany).
So, thanks March, it was a blast. 💥
Get in touch if you need our help and let’s get Spring swinging!
Last week, as part of our design away days, the Surgery studio team took a creative field trip to Chiharu Shiota’s Threads of Life at the Hayward Gallery.
Getting out of the barn now and again definitely helps us to stretch our creative legs and to see how others see, think, and make.
It’s worth a trip – Shiota’s work is built from thousands of hand‑woven threads that fill entire rooms, binding everyday objects into immersive environments. Her installations explore connection, memory and the unseen systems that hold things together.
It sounds like it might be a bit random, but every thread is placed with care and understanding. Scale, density and negative space all come into play, reminding us that strong ideas don’t always need explanation when the craft is right!
We love our away days, they keep us curious and feed our imagination, so we’re ready to create our next design solution and work that works.
If you’re in town, go and take a look, and as always, get in touch if you need a bit of design inspo!
Puppies, chicks, and lambs.
Not a start to a Cher song but the new arrivals down on the farm where our fabulously idyllic barn is.
Spring is springing!
If you’re passing pop in and say hello!
The lure of the barn is strong, and we have already sold out of places for this year’s Surgery IC event, Barn to Boardroom!
But don’t despair, cancellations are sometimes unavoidable, so if you would like to join in, register for our waitlist now. Spaces will be allocated as they become available on a first come first served basis.
https://ineedsurgery.com/barn-to-boardroom/
When Breedon GB united its materials, cement and surfacing businesses, it marked a major step toward becoming a more connected, future ready organisation. And with 3,000 colleagues spread across offices, quarries, plants and sites, needing to hear all about the new strategy from their leaders in a clear and connected way, we were delighted to help!
Working closely with Breedon’s Internal Comms Business Partner, we developed a refreshed internal communications strategy designed to bring clarity, confidence and connection. The resulting campaign focus was fourfold: create our story, make it real, support GB leaders and engage all colleagues. So, we created the ‘Growing Together’ narrative, delivered an upskilling workshop for leaders and brought everyone together through a leadership conference supported by clear follow up communications and support.
The impact was immediate. Post conference results showed strategic clarity among leaders soaring from 14% to 66% strongly agreeing. Role alignment jumped from 19% to 59%, and confidence to cascade the strategy rose from 22% to 54%. Cross business connection moved from 11% to 39%.
Momentum continues through active working groups, regular Strategy Hub updates, newsletters and pulse checks, ensuring the strategy and the need for cross-functional collaboration stay front and centre.
This work highlights the power of shared storytelling and confident leadership in driving organisational alignment (we’re looking forward to seeing even more positive results in the next survey point).
This was a fun one for us as nearly every member of our team was involved, too, so thank you, Breedon, for putting your trust in us.
If you`d like to explore how we can help you hit your strategic comms or leadership engagement goals, get in touch today!
One of the best things about our annual Barn to Boardroom event is the chance to get together with fellow internal comms, HR and employer brand peers and colleagues. That’s what our lovely clients and industry friends tell us each year anyway!
If you haven’t heard about Barn to Boardroom (or B2B as we call it) it’s not only a chance to get the low down from insightful speakers but to spend time alongside your industry peers in immersive workshops and fun activities. There’s also dedicated networking time and opportunities to chat and mingle while sipping local wine and lovely grub, all in a fantastic setting in rural West Sussex.
This year’s theme is Influencing with Impact and will take place on Wednesday 1 July, so come down, pick up some really useful knowledge and get networking!
Our early bird offer of 50% off tickets ENDS ON FRIDAY, so don’t delay, register https://lnkd.in/e-ZVrEFG
We can’t wait to see you there!
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Your people are already talking about AI.
Just not always with you in the room 👀
Some see opportunity.
Others feel real worry.
But silence isn’t the answer.
We help IC teams turn AI anxiety into action.
👉 Link in bio
There’s not long left to secure your half price early bird tickets for the event for IC, HR and Employer Brand colleagues – Barn to Boardroom.
A fantastic annual event set in our glorious barn in the West Sussex countryside, this year we’ll be deep diving into ‘Influencing with Impact’ – and how professionals like you can use influence to improve relationships and outcomes in your organisation and teams.
Come and join us on Wednesday 1st July for networking, inspirational speakers, practical actions to take back to the office and of course lots of fun and food.
Register for your early bird ticket here https://lnkd.in/e2jMBEjp.
