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.
Festive vibes were in full swing here at Surgery HQ today
Nick Cordell and Kerri Fullman took on the challenge of creating epic Christmas sandwiches, and let’s just say… we didn’t hold back.
On the menu:
Veggie/Vegan delight – white bloomer stacked with vegan mayo, rocket, butternut squash, nut roast, vegan pups in blankets, and a generous splash of cranberry sauce.
Meaty masterpiece – white tiger bloomer layered with butter, mayo, rocket, caramelised onions, sausage stuffing, turkey, duck, chicken, crispy onions, and (of course) cranberry sauce.
Sides? Potato roasties, pigs in blankets, and vegan pups in blankets.
It was messy, it was festive, and it was absolutely delicious. We love a bit of lovely grub this time of year!
What’s your ultimate festive sandwich combo? Drop your ideas below – we’re always looking for inspiration for next year!
We were proud to support NATS with the project that was shortlisted for Best Leadership Engagement at the 2025 Gallagher – Employee Experience & Communication Digital Experience Awards.
We had a fab time at the event held at the London Transport museum. Sadly, we didn’t win, but a big congratulations to Love`s Travel Stops who took gold and Nationwide Building Society who were Highly Commended.
Thanks to NATS too for trusting us with this important project, we really enjoyed working with you on it!
It’s Chriiiiisssttttmmassss! Well near enough. As we hit December we thought we would consume all things gingerbread flavoured, from crisps to pretzels, chocolate reindeer to tarts and even a splash of syrup for our coffees!
We had a `design your own gingerbread jumper` competition at lunch too, well you can never have too much of a good thing!
It was a lovely and warming way to kick off all our Christmas festivities this year. Are you in the Christmas spirit yet? 🎄
Our Senior Account Manager, the one and only Marvellous Meg, has left the barn!
We’re sad to lose such a lovely and insanely capable colleague (and friend), but thrilled she’s taking everything she’s learned over six-and-a-half years here and running with it in her new role.
Naturally, we all headed to the pub to “say goodbye” but it was more of a ‘see you later’, especially as she’s already promised to be back for our Christmas party!
@meganmorsman229 , thank you for everything, you’ve been brilliant and we wish you all the success in your new role. You’ll smash it!
Inspired by The Great British Bake Off, our Senior Web Developer Caian Keyes took on a weekly challenge, tackling either the technical or the showstopper brief and turning out his own marvellous creations.
And the best part? He generously shared every delicious bake with all of us in the office.
As a thank you and because we’re nothing if not creative, we designed and presented him with his very own brand: “Caian’s Crumbs.”
Thank you, Caian, for keeping our sweet tooth so wonderfully well looked after!
Bowled over! 🎳
We love a bit of team bonding here at The Surgery and last night a group of us headed to Chichester for some healthy competition. Well done everyone in Lane 13 who were winners on the night, and to Adam for beating us all as the best Surgery bowler.
Remember, It’s not how you bowl, it’s how you roll!
Thank you Beth for organising such a great evening!
In a world of boxer shorts, be brief! Keep your copy and content tight and concise, not baggy and airy! 🩲
It’s all about Smart Brevity these days. Grabbing attention because you’ve only got 26 seconds to make an impact. ⏱️
Discover more in our smart and brief Smart Brevity blog written by our Senior Copywriter, James. Link in bio.
We like to broaden our design experience here at the Surgery, so we all headed off to the big smoke for the Dennis Morris: Music + Life Exhibition on Friday. 📸
We loved seeing Morris’ style and composition around something we all love, music. The way he designs album covers and brand logos is very cool. As it was a Friday we had a couple of pints on the way home, too. ☀️🍻
What a fun and inspirational afternoon! Where should we go next?
