AND Digital is a tech consultancy, helping its customers to build digital products and platforms. The company operates a unique operating model with individual “clubs” across the country.
Founded in 2014, AND Digital works with a wide range of customers across Yorkshire including Sky, Lloyds Banking Group and Yorkshire Water as well as The Department for Education.
In addition to its three clubs in Leeds, AND Digital has Club Spärck, based in Halifax. We spoke to Club Executive Jim Moran about his club and their brand new clubhouse at Fearnley Mill.
Jim Moran, Club Executive at AND Digital, introduces us to the Halifax clubhouse:
“We opened Club Spärck in Halifax during 2019, initially to support a significant partnership with Covéa Insurance, but with the ambition to service multiple clients across West Yorkshire and the surrounding areas. Sharing space with our Cloud Engineering and Onboarding teams, we had an office (or clubhouse as we prefer to call them) in Halifax Town Centre.
“The Covid 19 pandemic saw our ways of working change, with most of our ANDis working between client offices, their homes and our own office. We needed a dedicated space where our people could come together and collaborate and host client meetings and workshops.After looking across the town centre, we decided to take a space in Fearnley Mill, part of the huge Dean Clough mills complex, which was once home of the largest carpet manufacturer in the world.”
Where is it?
Fearnley Mill is located on the Southern edge of the Dean Clough Mill complex, just off Old Lane in Halifax. It’s a 10 min walk from the town so is ideal for our ANDis, clients and visitors to get to.
How big is it?
3,500 sq ft, split into open-plan working areas and six meeting rooms and workshop spaces.
What happens there?
We have a blended working model at AND Digital so our people have the opportunity to work from the clubhouse, from home or from our client’s offices. We encourage people to use the clubhouse for collaboration, both for internal meetings as well as bringing in clients and partners for meetings and workshops.
The space has also been created with a view of providing a community hub so it can become a central place for tech-minded people across Calderdale. We are committed to supporting local businesses and building strong ties with local colleges and universities in the area. Having an open, modern clubhouse provides us with plenty of opportunities to host and facilitate meetings, events and workshops.
What sort of work goes on?
All of our ANDis are focused on providing our customers with dedicated support and expertise for their digital projects. We have several squads, all of which consist of a breadth of analysts, developers and designers supported by delivery experts, who meet on dedicated days in the clubhouse. Our shared working space encourages collaboration, develops team cohesion and gives the squad members time to build great relationships and socialise with each other.
We also invite our clients to join us in the clubhouse and work alongside our team. This works incredibly well during any phase of a project from discovery through to handover, but is also great for training and coaching sessions. The clubhouse has various purpose-built spaces that can be used for small and larger groups.
Why is the workplace appropriate?
We feel the clubhouse inspires creativity and collaboration. We want to make Halifax an attractive place for people in the industry to work and live. The investment we have made in the office space is a reflection on the high value we attach to the well-being of our ANDis. Providing a comfortable, secure office environment is crucial to nurture and retain our talent. We take great pride in making sure everyone feels included and can bring their best selves to the office.
Who works there?
We have a tight-knit team of analysts, developers and designers, who form the core of club Spärck. With the support of the service delivery and club management team, we have around 65 people working in the clubhouse. Once a month we all get together to share what’s happening across the business, talk about what we’ve been working on and enjoy some food and drink together.
Take a look around the space in this video:
