Where We Work: Mosaic Group, York

Andrew McQueen, Managing Director of Mosaic Group, outlined the background of their redesigned space…

“Our founder Tony appreciates how important a working environment is and wanted to invest in our people, hence involving the team was vital.

“Developing a space where people could work, collaborate, and relax – while using the finest materials and hitting sustainability goals – was no easy task. Mosaic have established several new services over the past 18 months and having an environment that inspires creativity has been priceless.

“It’s wonderful to hear how proud everyone is of what we created. We now look as good as our work.”

Where is it?

York House, Wetherby Road, Long Marston, York, YO26 7NH

How big is it?

The majority of our 25 staff members are based at our 5,700 square foot office space in York House business park, which is owned by our CEO, Tony Gill. The building of York House was initially used in World War II as a storage facility – it was built in 1939 specifically for the war effort and was literally bomb proof.

Tony purchased the property in 1997, and since then has turned it into the business park it is today. The site is home to several businesses, one being Mosaic Group. 

In late 2019, £250,000 was invested into creating the new Mosaic Group office space, which includes a 3,500 square foot working area and 2,200 square foot social and meeting area. This substantial working area provides us with opportunities to grow our Mosaic family of experts. 

Mosaic Group has sole access to a free on-site gym with showers and multiple changing areas, as well as 1,000 square feet worth of board rooms. These board rooms are often used as showroom space, to exhibit our retail activation projects.

What happens there?

We’re a marketing execution company – so we make ideas come to life. We offer our clients an assortment of services including print management, design, packaging, insight, technology, retail activation, corporate gifts, workflow technology and motion graphics.

Due to our plethora of services, we’ve had the privilege of working with a huge range of industries from finance to charity, to education to travel. 

The office houses our team of experts; most of which are based in the York office, though we do additionally have a few members down South. Our Yorkshire workspace is used to encourage collaboration, host meetings, and to welcome in clients to showcase projects.

What sort of work goes on?

Our insight service discovers what makes people tick through consumer research. Our design team guarantees clients receive the best creative solution for their brand, by their side from beginning to implementation – always striving for marketing automation.

Our print team are to this day some of the UK’s leading experts for any print or procurement requirements. Our activation team ensure projects run as smoothly and cost-effectively as possible. Finally, our technology service allows clients to manage the workflow of their campaigns; seeing them from estimating through to supply chain management. 

One day Mosaic can be working on building out a virtual tour for a school, the next working on printing brochures for a massive home furnishings company, and then the day after that building out a point-of-sale piece in a huge department store. 

Our objective is simple – always put the customer first and make it happen. 

Why is the workplace appropriate?

For us, it’s not just an office. It’s where we do our best work. 

A fundamental part of being at Mosaic is understanding that we see ourselves as a genuine family. We don’t just come to work to do a job, our team comes into the office because they care. Why do they care? Because we provide genuine support and have built an approachable management team, meaning everyone helps each other.

Mosaic recognises people don’t have to work for us; we make it so they want to work with us. Our workplace is the true reasoning as to why we’re great.

The renovation was centred on giving back to the Mosaic family. To inspire creative thinking, the new office is designed open-plan; workspace interlinked with kitchen area to support organic concept creation through general chit-chat. 

Within the open space are places to collaborate, including Nook’s huddle pods, built for wellness and neurodiversity. They provide a personal and intimate feeling, manage noise and disruption, with adjustable lighting. These Nooks support our smaller meetings. For larger meetings, we have our new glass meeting room.

Ideas don’t always appear when you’re sat in a meeting room though. It’s usually when you’re relaxing – that’s why we have a ping pong table, a pool table, and a gym. The team can access these any time they wish to unwind or take a step back. Not only that, but we’ve also dotted bookshelves around the office with some of our favourite marketing books to fuel inspiration. 

Space is essential for a happy workforce. We provide our team with their own desk, a comfortable chair and own desk storage. It supports the feeling of belonging. Little office pick-me-ups consist of Fruity Tuesdays, yoga, and locally-made Pizza on the last Wednesday of every month. 

Mosaic is situated in 25 acres of our own nature reserve. By planting 12,000 trees and encouraging natural lakes to form, we’ve turned ordinary arable farmland into a British wildlife hub. Swan, deer, lapwings, dragonflies and geese now roam the premises in their own preserved area. 

Who works there?

Mosaic is a team of 30 people who directly work for us, with 22 working from the York main office. Our largest teams are our print team and our studio team – roughly ten in each team – with our remaining team members supporting Mosaic’s other services. The management team consists of our CEO and four directors. 

However, as we often work in partnerships to achieve the best marketing solution for our brand, the Mosaic family could add up to hundreds. We will always find the best solution and expert for our client’s needs.