Chloe Thirlwall, Head of People and Success
Chloe Thirlwall, Head of People and Success, shares her thoughts on the HQ…
“Whilst the way we work has undoubtedly changed, with hybrid working now the norm we still recognise the importance of having a space for our team to work from that is exciting and inspiring. With that in mind, our office space couldn’t be more conducive to Distology’s ambitious growth plans.”
Where is it?
2nd Floor, No 1 St Peters Square, Stockport SK1 1NZ
How big is it?
The office, which is located on the second floor of the No 1 St Peters Square development, spans 4,175 sq ft. The open-plan design has three meeting rooms and a collab area. All named after British-born iconic figures, such as Alan Turing and Tim Berners-Lee, our meeting rooms are a reminder that great innovation has been happening in the UK for centuries.
The meeting rooms are the perfect spaces for the team to collaborate on new ideas, host training sessions and even represent the organisation in third-party webinars. We also have a more informal space which is named after Emmeline Pankhurst, where we encourage the team to take time away from their screens to either have some downtime, or catch up as a team.
As well as meeting rooms, the office also has a breakout area for the team to enjoy, complete with a large TV, a ping pong table, and video games. Not only does this give the team a space to wind down and socialise, but it also acts as another area for ideation sessions. Our kitchen is another space for the team to come together, hosting many team breakfasts since we moved in and is the location of our charity tuck shop, in support of our charities of the year, which most recently were Bury Hospice and Maddie’s Butterflies.
One of the greatest things about the office is that being based in the heart of Stockport means we are surrounded by a wide range of amenities. It was important to us that the team could enjoy their time at work, so having a number of cafes, shops and bars close by was essential.
What happens there?
We offer our employees autonomy over how they work, so no two days look the same. We work on both a flexible and hybrid basis, with most people coming into the office two or three days a week, so there’s always a buzz in the office. Whether they’re working from home or from the office, there’s flexibility with working hours too as we know how important a work-life balance is.
People and culture are at the heart of Distology, so beyond being a co-working space, there is always something going on in the office to bring the team together. From bake-offs and sports days to lunch and learns, there’s always an activity or two in the calendar. We also understand our social responsibility as a business, so we often host events designed to engage the wider community and address issues currently facing the tech sector.
What sort of work goes on?
We work in a distribution channel for cybersecurity technologies. What that means is we partner with leading and emerging cybersecurity vendors to help build a market for their products via an extensive network of IT resellers, solution providers, and service providers across the EMEA region.
Working with highly complex products and solutions means the channel needs to be supported by specialist services such as product design, software engineering and solution architecture which is where our in-house professional services team can help.
From sales and tech, to HR and finance, the work that goes on in our offices is varied, to say the least!
Why is the workplace appropriate?
The biggest benefit of the UK office is that we are all now in one open-plan space (the team were split across two rooms in our previous office). We wanted a space that was fit for easy communication and collaboration as we’re all working together towards the same goals. We are lucky to have such a talented, diverse team of individuals, each with their own skill sets, expertise, and perspectives.
Having a space that allows the team to come together, share ideas and support one another when needed produces amazing results, as well as boosting morale.
In addition to the space itself, the location of our base is ideal for our brand growth. Being located close to Manchester Airport is crucial for our brand growth and provides easy access to our offices in the Netherlands and Germany.
We’re also just a short walk away from Stockport train station which has excellent links to both Manchester and London creating access to a diverse talent pool during recruitment drives, and our team take advantage of the train links to visit vendors and channel partners across the UK.
The complete rebuild of the transport interchange and development of town centre apartments will aid with our business growth by attracting professionals to live and work in the immediate area. Having easy access to these transport hubs and amenities without paying the price tag that a Manchester city centre office space would bring means our funds can be redirected into other initiatives such as employee benefits packages, which include health insurance, employee assistance programmes and wellbeing events to name a few.
Who works there?
The Stockport office is the largest Distology location and is home to 42 full-time members of staff across all areas of the business, including sales, technical services, marketing, people success and operations.
