Published by Sue Johns-Chapman
Published Date 20.08.2025 
By Sarah Yeats, Managing Director, Sledge
Placing people at the heart of any agency is essential, because ultimately, a business is only as successful as the people working within it – those doing the work, managing the client relationships, and bringing in the business.
Employees are more discerning than ever, though. The days of Friday drinks trolleys, foosball tables and complimentary snacks, while nice, aren’t enough. Ultimately, they’re not really an attraction and retention strategy.
A move that could be worth considering? Employee ownership
Proudly independent, we’ve always been a people-first agency, and our flat-level management structure has ensured we’re aware of the wants, needs and expectations of our employees.
Following the pandemic, two things were glaringly clear: they wanted their work to serve a true purpose, and the climate emergency just couldn’t be ignored.
We landed on the Employee Owned Trust (EOT) model – and made the transition in 2022 – because it enables employees to have skin in the game. They’re all shareholders, have a stronger voice, and in turn, are empowered to shape their own career progression, and the future direction of our agency in a way that positively impacts their colleagues, clients, and our planet.
How it’s helped us embed sustainability
It was initially purpose-driven client work that really highlighted to us the need to take action and play our part in the climate emergency, and the notion that everybody doing something can, when combined, have a big impact, really stayed with our team.
We recognised that to embed sustainability best practice throughout our agency, however, we needed to evolve our structure and place our people firmly at the centre of the business, as this would ensure alignment towards the same goals.
Almost three years on, when it comes to our sustainability journey, active participation, action, and commitment on behalf of each and every employee is the norm, plus, as they have the confidence to openly engage in agency-wide discussions and share their views, we’ve ensured our people have the tools, systems and frameworks to apply best practices to projects, our operations, and our client and supplier relationships.
We’re the first to recognise that this is a continuous process, yet gaining employee buy-in has, and will continue to be, essential to achieving the agency’s sustainability goals.
Why invest so much time and energy?
There are countless benefits associated with formalising a commitment to your people in this way.
For us, we’ve found employees are now even more empowered to share their thoughts, ideas and opinions no matter their department or seniority level, and this notion of contributing to something bigger than themselves – in terms of both the agency and people and planet – has boosted both motivation levels and our creativity.
Our project output has been enhanced, and our client relationships strengthened. The EOT shift hasn’t just benefited us, it’s benefitted our clients, the planet, and those in need, too.
Additionally, in a world where people increasingly look to work at purpose-driven companies, we’ve retained our employees – the agency’s median tenure rate sits at 9.6 years, which is well above the 3–4 year UK average. Being an EOT is a powerful talent attraction strategy, too.
If you only take one thing away from all of this…
Try to avoid a “set and forget” approach.
All too often I see agencies make a change or achieve some sort of accreditation, shout about it and then, well, we don’t hear much after that.
Instead, aim for transparency. Keep yourself accountable and continue to live and breathe the model you’ve switched to, the vision you’ve developed, or whatever it might be you’ve done to enhance your culture and wider agency.
Sometimes, it’s fairly easy to make the initial change, but continuous progress? That’s where the real work comes in.
For us at Sledge, we’ve been continuing on both our EOT and sustainability journey, and launched a new agency value proposition earlier this year, as well as Employee Value Proposition (EVP).
The agency value prop highlights our commitment to making client projects not only more memorable and remarkable, but sustainable, and our EVP, which is inextricably linked to the EOT, ensures all people have the tools, opportunities, and support to craft their path and enjoy a positive employee experience.
The beauty of being an independent agency is that we have the freedom to operate in agile, personal and transparent ways, and being employee owned too? That gives us an extra edge.
It means we truly thrive together. We’re united by a shared vision and passion for doing good, and this plays out in our operations, projects, charitable work, and supplier and client relationships.
Sledge, a purpose-driven, employee owned live events and film agency, is shortlisted in this year’s Best Agency Culture and independent Agency of The Year (Large) categories.
