We recognise the importance of getting together regularly and our all agency Town Halls are a great chance for this. Our most recent event was held at Bristol’s M Shed, which provided a beautiful backdrop of Bristol Harbour, with the sun shining. It was safe to say, everyone was looking forward to seeing some familiar faces and meeting some new ones.

James Ray: Armadillo’s Rocks & Pebbles

Introducing the day, James Ray, our CEO, discussed our 2022 rocks and pebbles, outlining our goals, the actions and stepping stones to achieving them and our progress after this first quarter. It’s really important to ensure the whole agency has visibility of Armadillo’s goals and are all working towards them together.

Chris Thurling: Economics Update & Andy Brown: Business Performance 

The morning began with an economics and finance update. Understanding where Armadillo sits within the industry and wider economy and how we are adapting to the future, was explained by our Chairman, Chris Thurling. Followed by CFO, Andy Brown, showing the first quarter of the year results and again, the predicted future, and how Armadillo are preparing for this, to align with our annual goals. 

Rob Pellow & Nicholas Blake-Steele: Martech Update 

Rob Pellow, Innovation Director and Nicholas Blake-Steele, Head of Technology, shared how our MarTech propositions are always developing, helping us drive more relevant and personalised communications for our clients. In Rob’s words, ‘Staying geeky and staying curious’ means we are always looking for ways to improve efficiency, solve real time problems and meet client’s needs in real time. 

Joanna Penn: Relationships Matter

Jo, our Managing Director, spoke about the McDonald’s Worldwide Convention 2022, which she attended with James this year, and the importance of building relationships in person. Now that the world has opened up again, Armadillo is excited to be able to see our clients face-to-face and work together collaboratively in person, as much as we can. 

James Ray & Jo Penn: Engagement Survey & Feedback 

All our employees completed an Employee Survey back in March, and James and Jo have analysed the results and shared the data with us.  They demonstrated how we are moving forward, how they’ve listened and the actions Armadillo is taking to do the utmost for its employees. This was great positive feedback, and James outlined the new Employee Benefits and plans for Armadillo in the future, directly from the survey. You can definitely say there were a lot of happy faces throughout this presentation!

Wrap Up & Final Team Photo

We’re lucky to be in the lovely city of Bristol, and with the Town Hall being at the M Shed, we had the honour to be placed on the Bristol Harbour and strolled on over, in the sun, to a perfect picturesque spot for the (much needed) whole team photo.

Revolución De Cuba: 

The evening rolled out swiftly, at Revolucion De Cuba, all handed leis, and ready for the evening to start! Refreshments were ready at arrival, with the team chatting about the events of the day. Employee Bingo helped everyone mingle and get to know each other. This became competitive very quickly. From discovering James prefers Blur to Oasis, Charlie has at least three siblings to Clare having the travel bug, with being to more than 15 countries, many shouted Bingo with a few worthy winners!

Armadillo has a tradition of ‘the Armadillo’s’ which are awards voted by the company for individuals that demonstrate the Armadillo values consistently and have provided exceptional work. A big congratulations to John, Megan O, Hiba, Abi, Steph, Helena and Nick B, who were all recognised for their work by their fellow colleagues at Armadillo, and very much deserved. We celebrated with some much needed Cuban food and chatted into the evening. 

It was a fantastic day for everyone and we truly value these days together. Now, we are looking forward to the next one!