Brightec Nominated for Two Company Culture Awards

As a team built on genuine relationships, we’re more than just an innovative app development agency. We firmly believe that a culture rooted in openness, support, and friendship is the cornerstone of our success, both for our clients and for our team.

This philosophy of company culture has driven us to create an environment where people love to work, a fact evidenced by our incredible team loyalty. In the past year, we celebrated five team members reaching their 10-year anniversaries and another three marking their five-year milestones. We’re incredibly proud to have a 0% staff turnover in the last 2.5 years.

These stats lead us to think that we’re getting something right, but how can you ever really know? Are other agencies doing better? Being shortlisted for both the ‘Most Innovative Culture’ and ‘Best Agency to Work For (Small)’ awards is a wonderful validation of the hard work and dedication we’ve invested in building a unique and thriving culture at Brightec. It reinforces that our efforts to prioritise innovation and employee wellbeing are resonating within the industry.

Brightec Initiatives

Our commitment to fostering a strong team dynamic goes beyond our studio in Shoreham. In 2024, we enjoyed a team-together day of wilderness survival, testing our fire-making, shelter-building, and wood-carving skills, and another day focused on understanding our individual strengths in the workplace. These experiences created countless moments of fun and connection, solidifying our bond as a team.

Recognising the importance of continuous growth, our Head of Engineering, Rob, developed a comprehensive career framework, driven by countless hours of research and thought. This framework ensures our production staff can evolve their capabilities over a longer-term horizon. We were thrilled to see this initiative recognised with the ‘Best Employee Development Programme’ award at the UK Company Culture Awards in 2024.

Beyond our internal culture, we’re dedicated to ‘Doing Good’ in our local community. In 2024, we introduced volunteering days, enabling our team to take additional paid leave for charitable work. Our team members have used this opportunity to make a tangible impact. Two designed and edited an e-zine for Survivors’ Network, supporting abuse victims and another volunteered at a charity providing meals and activities for low-income families.

One of our core values is “Making Things Better.” This ethos led to a unique team-building exercise where we paired individuals with their ‘opposite’ strengths, fostering understanding and collaboration. One pair of team members even meet fortnightly to explore ways to improve the company, utilising their complementary strengths.

 Overcoming Challenges

We faced a significant challenge last year when our largest client drastically reduced their contract. Instead of succumbing to fear, our team innovated. Stemming from a passion for accessibility, they created the Brightec EAA website, helping clients navigate new accessibility laws.

Rolling out the new engineering career framework also presented a challenge, requiring careful implementation to avoid disruption. We achieved this through an 18-month phased approach, open communication, and individual conversations, leading to clearer career paths and improved job satisfaction. The impact of these initiatives is clear. Since implementing the career framework, two engineers were promoted within six months, and we’ve achieved 100% staff retention since 2022, growing our engineering team by seven in eight years.

The Brightec Exchange

Recognising the unique challenges faced by our enterprise clients, in September 2024 we launched the first Brightec Exchange, an invite-only conference designed to foster leadership growth and connection. Inspired by the quote, “People rarely remember what was said, but they always remember how they felt,” we aimed to create an unforgettable experience.

The event featured keynote speakers from Virgin Trains Ticketing and Waterstones, a leadership panel, and networking opportunities. We faced the challenge of positioning ourselves as leadership facilitators without diluting our app development expertise. We overcame this by inviting clients to speak as experts in their fields, with our team providing coaching and support.

The Brightec Exchange was a huge success. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with 50% of attendees calling the Waterstones talk “life-changing.” New client relationships were formed, 100% of attendees expressed interest in attending future events, and we are excited to be planning our next Brightec Exchange later this year.

Why Brightec Stands Out

We’re proud to demonstrate that a company can be both profitable and people-centric. We are selective about the projects we undertake, ensuring they align with our values. This award shortlisting highlights that our business goals of innovation and growth are directly linked to our culture.

“We strive to be a company that our clients love working with, and our team love working for. Building a head-turning culture where creatives output exceptional work is also attractive to new clients. This recognition is really valuable to us as a team and a helpful indicator to new clients.“

Joshua O’Riordan, MD