New Office: Welcome to Leadly HQ

First stop Ancoats. Next stop, world domination

Meet Ellie. Officially, she’s our People & Ops Co-Ordinator. Unofficially, and by her own appointment, she’s the “Queen of Everything”. For the last few months, the Queen has been leading the charge on getting the Manchester team out of the work.life co-working space and into our very own Leadly HQ.

We’re beyond thrilled to announce that Leadly HQ is now based in Ancoats, Manchester, and Ellie has hand-picked and curated every inch of it. We sat down with her to hear how it all came together, from sleepless nights to rocking chairs.

From office manager to interior designer

It wasn’t quite the job she signed up for. “What started as a future office manager role has really become project managing and interior designing the whole renovation,” she says. “It’s been a journey of many ups and downs, and some sleepless nights, but I’m very proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish for the team.”

She’s chosen everything: the desks, the kit, the amenities, right down to the decorative rocking chairs in the corner (yes, really. Rocking chairs). In Ellie’s words, “it would be good to manically rock back and forth while you’re on a call.” Sound logic, if you ask us.

A space built by the team, for the team

The brief was simple: build a space that works as hard as the people in it.

The team had been waiting a long time for a place of their own, and Ellie felt it. “The pressure was high,” she admits, “but the freedom to do whatever we wanted was fun! Once the messy structural work was completed, that was really when we could go wild.”

Going wild didn’t mean guessing, though. Over several months, Ellie surveyed the team on exactly what they wanted and needed from the space, then used that feedback to create somewhere functional that everyone would love.

I’m very proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish for the team.

Where we’ve landed

Leadly HQ is now in the heart of Ancoats, which puts the team about as central as Manchester gets. We chose it for a long list of reasons. It’s an area with real character, full of independent shops and restaurants, and you get a proper flavour of the Manchester scene, which is what we’re all about.

Ellie, a new Ancoats resident herself, puts it best: “Ancoats is gorggg! Cute coffee spots, unreal pastries, after-work drinks locations and stunning restaurants. What more could you ask for? Plus, we now get to avoid the chaos of Market Street on a daily basis!”

The building is full of character, too, which suits us perfectly. There’s open desk space with brand-new equipment throughout, private offices for when you need to hop on a call, and a community space downstairs with a hatch that opens straight out onto the street.

That hatch was a welcome surprise, and it’s quickly become one of our favourite features. So much so that we’re partnering with Factory Coffee to run it, which means Leadly HQ isn’t only a Leadly space. It’s a bit of Ancoats too. Anyone walking past gets a proper coffee out of it.

First stop Ancoats. Next stop, world domination caffeination.

A plain office wasn’t going to cut it

The team is growing fast, and we needed somewhere that matched the people, the talent and the energy coming into the business. Four walls and a kettle weren’t going to do it.

“We just wanted the space to feel cosy and homey, rather than a harsh, bland, traditional office,” Ellie explains. “It was important to our founders, Tom and Joe, to create a space that encouraged collaboration and people actually wanting to spend time here. Tom is very hot on his interior design, so we needed some top-class features that make it stand out from the rest, like we do with everything!”

We invest in our people. We look after them. What you get back is a team working at the cutting edge of what they do. You name it, they can do it. And if they can’t? They’ll learn it, find the answers, master it, and then rebuild it better than it was.

That’s the bit Ellie has been building a home for.

Home, sweet HQ

The team has settled in, and for Ellie, that’s been the best part. “Honestly, the way it’s brought the whole team together! It’s been so amazing seeing everyone settle in after so many months of hard work. It really made it all worth it.” Our social team are particularly happy, she adds, now they can run around causing chaos without worrying about people from other companies, as they did in the co-working space.

And the goal for anyone walking through the door? “Like they’ve walked into somewhere they actually want to work, not somewhere they have to. Cool, cosy and comfy.”

Mission accomplished, Your Majesty.