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.
We`ll get to the point.
This is a post about Smart Brevity.
Smart Brevity is a communications approach designed to cut through information overload.
It`s a way to get your main message up front and in front of people.
Not easy when we`re all bombarded by messages every day.
To disover more, read our insights on Smart Brevity. https://ineedsurgery.com/a-blog-about-smart-brevity-you-say-this-wont-take-long-then/
What if the most valuable thing AI helped you do wasn`t work faster, but understand yourself a little better? 🤔
In this episode, we caught up with Kate Hughes from Cambridge University Press and Assessment to talk about an unexpected use of Copilot. What started as a weekly wellbeing check-in evolved into a form of self-coaching that helped Kate identify patterns in her thinking and make small but meaningful changes to how she works.
💡 Creating a weekly "Feelings Lounge" check-in to explore what`s energising, draining and looping in the background.
💡 Using AI to identify recurring patterns of self-doubt and imposter syndrome that were difficult to spot alone.
💡 Running small weekly experiments rather than trying to make dramatic changes overnight.
💡 Configuring Copilot to challenge assumptions rather than simply agree with them.
It`s an honest conversation about wellbeing, self-awareness and a potential side of AI that most of us haven’t explored.
Link in the comments and available from all the usual places. Take a listen 👇
Love `em or loathe `em, emails aren’t going away anytime soon.
But maybe, just maybe, we can make them a little less all-encompassing, a little more friendly and courteous, and even, perhaps, reduce the number we get every day.
Check out our top tips or read the full article here – https://ineedsurgery.com/emails-its-time-for-a-revolution/
What’s that sound you say? Oh, well, it might be the champagne corks popping in the background!
We’re thrilled to report that we’ve been named Best Medium Agency in the 2026 Institute of Internal Communications Awards.
A huge thank you to all our clients and to all our wonderful Surgeons and our agency partners for making this happen.
Here’s what the judges had to say: “We were impressed with the clarity with which you explained your redefined ethos, client proposition and 2024 objectives. We love that you recognise the value of integrating employee voice and dialogue as part of the campaigns that you create. You have managed to both exceed your agency objectives and deliver real business benefit for your clients.”
It’s lovely to hear that our determination to make sure employees’ voices are heard in internal communications campaigns, we take great pride in that.
So, thank you, IOIC, and congratulations to all the other winners.
If you’re up for seeing how we deliver Work That Works® head to our website and let’s talk about your new IC project today.
AI is transforming internal communications, from content creation and simplification to sentiment analysis and campaign planning. Where are you seeing AI make the biggest difference in communications? For more IC & Al insights visit our website. #InternalComms #AI
Right…let’s talk internal comms audits. No, wait, come back.. internal comms audits rock!
How else can you get an overview of how your comms are received by your people? How else can you truly understand the strengths, weaknesses, and how your people prefer to be communicated with, as well as where they go for information?
Audits are key to unlocking brilliant, engaging comms, they are the building block of your next internal comms strategy.
If you could improve one aspect of your internal communications tomorrow, what would it be?
To read the full blog, and for more insights visit our website.
#InternalComms #InternalCommunications #InternalCommsAudit #CommsAudit #IC
There’s a lot of AI-generated content out there.
While it’s learned that people don’t have 12 fingers, AI output is often easy to spot.
Lazily shoved out without any checks and balances, bad AI can actually be quite damaging. It smacks of a lack of care and attention to detail.
We help teams change that and spot how things could be done differently.
Join us on our Spot the Slop workshop, and in two hours, you’ll be:
• Recognising weak AI content
• Understanding the human edge
• Creating comms that actually work and cut through the crap.
It’s practical, sharp, effective and will leave you with an oo-this-is-so-helpful feeling!
Get on board and chat with our Surgery humans before the machines find out what we’re up to…
Influencing others feels like an even more important critical skill for internal communicators right now.
And while you might not get much input into new SLT-driven policies or business direction (even though you really should) you do have, as an internal communicator, a bit of informal persuasion power to wield.
Here’s some tactics and skills you can deploy to win friends and influence people in your organisation.
What’s your biggest challenge when trying to influence leaders or stakeholders?
To read the full blog and for more insights, visit our website. Link in bio.
#InternalComms #EmployeeEngagement #CommunicationStrategy #InfluencingSkills #ChangeCommunication
