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.
Hearing from leaders who don’t just talk about influencing with impact, they live it… sounds like something you’d only get at Barn to Boardroom! This July, we’re bringing together a speaker lineup packed with expertise, energy and real world insight. Get ready for a day of bold ideas, practical strategies and some game‑changing, take-back-to-the-office inspiration.
Sarah Meurer – VP Global Internal Communications, Elsevier
Shan Chatoo – Global Internal Communications Director, SThree
Rebecca Lindsay – Internal Communications Manager, hyperexponential
Justine Williams – Leadership Coach & Communications Director, Grove Leadership
Simon Andrew – Behaviour Change & Employer Brand Consultant, The Surgery
Carly Murray – Internal Communications Director, The Surgery
Find out more about our speakers and join the waitlist here https://ineedsurgery.com/barn-to-boardroom/
Are you a pinger? Would you like to learn? Pinging is fun after all.
If you’ve not pinged before, don’t be shy. Pinging is easy. You just ping and off you go. One ping and you’re a pinger. Congratulations!
What the ping are we on about? Well, pinging can be a useful arrow in your good mental health quiver.
A useful thing to fall back on if you need a little lift here and there.
Basically, some boffins in Sweden or somewhere have proved that associating a happy moment, a happy thought or a time when you were, well, really happy with a physical action means you are more likely to remember it.
So that’s where the ping comes in. Ping an elastic band on your wrist, or better still, one of those silicone bracelets whenever you’re experiencing a happy moment. A fab day at the beach, a birthday, that smell of freshly cut grass, you get the idea.
When you need a little lift, give your bracelet another ping and hey presto, all those lovely feelings will start flooding back.
We, well, James our Mental Health First Aider, does go on about pinging quite a bit, but it works!
Now that #MentalHealthWeek is coming to a close, why not ping soon and join the merry band of pingers!
Ping in the sunshine or go pinging in the rain, or when you listen to Ping Crosby, or when you’re playing Ping Pong or (insert own pun here!)
#MentalHealthAwareness #MentalHealthMatters
Big fish, little fish, cardboard box… 🕺
It might sound like a throwback dance move, but what if the “shapes” we use every day are doing more than we realise?
As our Head of Animation, Bradley Poston, explains, great design doesn’t just look good—it creates an emotional connection, cuts through noise, and helps people actually remember what they’ve seen.
In a world of endless scrolling and information overload, that`s the kind of impact that matters more than ever.
So next time you’re building a campaign or sharing an important message, ask yourself: Are you just saying it… or are you showing it in a way people will feel?
Read the full blog to discover how to use shapes and characters more strategically 👇
https://ineedsurgery.com/big-fish-little-fish-cardboard-box-the-secret-meaning-behind-shapes-and-characters/
And it’s live… we are really pleased with the outcome of our work to develop a brand-new website for Morelli Consulting Ltd And thankfully, they are, too!
Clear and to-the-point copy and content demonstrates who they are and some of the incredible work they can do for their clients, all within a search optimised structure using striking story-telling imagery and branding.
It’s the culmination of our work with them developing their new story and brand.
Thank you to Morelli Consulting and the team for all their support and trust in us.
Check out the new site https://morelliconsulting.co.uk/ and if you need a digital solution for your organisation, drop us a line today!
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/
