Copper has established a new leadership team for its creative services division, promoting Alexandra Hardwick to Strategy Director, Creative Services and Laurie Roche to Strategy Director, Brand.

Copper has recognised the significant impact that outstanding design can have upon infrastructure brands and the projects they deliver. The infrastructure industry is information rich, but that is all too often presented in ways that are hard for people and stakeholders to engage with. Copper is keen to drive the continued evolution of our sector, using digital techniques and rich engaging content to bring organisations and projects to life.

Both Alexandra and Laurie bring a wealth of experience from high profile consumer brands, and public institutions, enabling our clients to think differently about their brands and the ways that we can engage influential audiences.

Discussing the establishment of the new team, Annabel John, Director of Communications and Engagement said: “The infrastructure industry is critical to all our lives and the future of the UK. But it can seem distant, technical and very difficult for people to engage with. We are determined to help change that using outstanding design and world class content to bring the projects we work on and our clients’ ambitions to life. Alexandra and Laurie are already playing a critical role in that ambition.”

Copper’s capabilities in creative design, content creation and digital communications include brand creation and strategy, video and animation, web-design, social media management and print production. Examples of our work are available here.

As a specialist communications consultancy that’s dedicated to infrastructure, we have a unique opportunity to become involved across the whole development lifecycle. We have a role from policy development, through planning, construction and eventual operation of everything from roads, to windfarms to schools and hospitals.

Despite the brief hiatus caused by Covid-19, we are enormously optimistic about the state of our sector. The UK has faced numerous challenges for decades, from imbalances in the economy, to low levels of productivity and poor connectivity, to the looming need to decarbonise energy generation and transport.

These problems have seemed insurmountable. But that may just be changing.

There has been an acceptance across all levels of government that things can and must change fundamentally if we are to establish a successful net zero economy. That change will be all pervasive, impacting our working, as well as domestic lives, and it is inspiring an infrastructure revolution.

The outcome is that the infrastructure sector is booming, and Copper is growing fast to help accommodate and support it. We have expanded substantially in recent years, increasing the number of projects we are working on, the sectors we support and the services we offer. We expect to continue that growth in years to come, and see that our partners across the infrastructure sectors are experiencing the same increase in opportunity.

The biggest single thing that we need to capitalize on that opportunity, and to enable the change to UK infrastructure that’s needed, is to boost the availability of great people.

We have worked enormously hard to attract people into Copper, but more broadly into the infrastructure sector. We recruit at all levels, from those beginning their working life, to experienced seasoned professionals, and we are continuing to do so.

But the whole industry needs to capitalize on our moment in the spotlight, not to achieve short term growth, but to revitalize our offering to the people we work with and ensure that we are able to attract the brightest and the best people, from all walks of life.

We can offer a career path that provides rapid development, but perhaps more importantly enables people to make a tangible difference to the country. We cant promise an easy life, as infrastructure projects are complex and frequently demanding, but we can promise a job with an enormous amount of satisfaction and sense of achievement.

But that must be matched with offering ways of working that are compatible with modern family life, that are flexible and that trust people to work how, when and where will deliver the best outcomes, rather than forcing people to comply with outdated office-bound structures.

In our own really small way we are trying to take a lead in this area, enabling a completely flexible working arrangement, and allowing our highly capable team to work in ways that are right for them. People at Copper can work from any of our three offices in Bristol, Birmingham and London as suits them, but also remotely, and to decide how they structure their working week.

We support a wide range of working arrangements, with a number of our team choosing to work part time to support family commitments or academic studies.

We also offer an increasingly flexible range of benefits, including a fitness fund to support wellbeing and a flexible training fund to support personal and career development, in addition to on the job training and support.

We are far from a perfect employer and we are continuously striving to do better, with our dedicated People and Culture Director helping to ensure that we do everything we can to attract the very best people from across our industry and beyond, and to demonstrate the wonderfully fulfilling career that infrastructure can offer.

In response to increased industry demand for branding and design services, Copper Consultancy is now leading the way in constructing creativity following the launch of its Creative Services practice.

Led by digital designer Alexandra Hardwick and branding and strategy expert Laurie Roche, the practice will bring brands to life in the construction, infrastructure and economic development sectors.

The launch of the Creative Services practice comes at a time when clients and projects are increasingly looking to tell their story in a visually stimulating way that is easy to understand and demonstrates their identity and ambitions to key stakeholders.

Our expert team of creatives are well-positioned to portray this narrative to diverse audiences through visual cues. Such visual assets can work as standalone storytelling devices or to give a project greater sway and help communications cut through with target audiences.

The specialist branding, strategy and design team will draw on the skills and talents of Peter Chan (print and digital designer) and Valerie Adams (brand materials specialist). Collectively the Creative Services team has over 40 years of experience between them having worked on major projects such as the London Resort and Cardiff Hendre Lakes.

Copper’s design and branding services put stakeholders at the core. From the logo to the colour palette, the agency’s work helps brands differentiate themselves in a way that establishes buy-in amongst stakeholders and drives positive recognition of projects.

The Creative Services team will offer bespoke services in the branding and strategy arena that breathe life into your vision including brand workshops, brand creation, perception audits and brand positioning.

The agency’s expert designers will work with clients to bring their brand to life and offer them an opportunity to tell their story through custom website design and build, digital public consultations, social media assets and traditional media such as booklets and leaflets and roller banners.

Each asset is bespoke to a client or project’s needs and designed to put communities and customers at the heart of development in a manner that establishes local, regional or national stakeholder buy-in. The Creative Services team are adept at making complex projects easily digestible without losing sight of the people who are at the heart of the development story.

Commenting on the launch of the Creative Services practice, Alexandra Hardwick, Head of Creative Services said: “Stakeholder journeys are increasingly becoming dominated by what they can see, be it social media assets or a project logo. Copper recognises the importance of bringing brands to life through creative solutions that are effective in setting the experiential standards that take stakeholders on a unique journey that establishes buy-in.

Want to hear about how our creative team can support you? Get in touch by emailing us at alexandra.hardwick@copperconsultancy.com or book a free discovery call on 07715354380.

This week we received the terrific news that Vattenfall’s Norfolk Vanguard Offshore Windfarm has been granted consent by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy.

Copper has been supporting Vattenfall with stakeholder engagement and project communications in the lead-up to this positive decision. This key milestone ensures we are a step closer to ensuring the local and national benefits of this nationally significant infrastructure project become a reality.

With an installed capacity of 1.8GW, when operational Norfolk Vanguard will provide the equivalent electricity needs of 1.95 million homes per year. The project will help to cement and maintain East Anglia as a UK powerhouse, and put the region at the heart of the national transition to a low-carbon economy. It will also support hundreds of local jobs directly and through the supply chain.

As they have evolved together as coordinated projects, we are now keeping our fingers crossed that its sister project Norfolk Boreas, which is currently in Examination, will also achieve this milestone. Copper led the statutory consultation on the Norfolk Boreas Offshore Windfarm and continues to provide ongoing support during Examination.

If both Norfolk Vanguard and Norfolk Boreas were consented and constructed it would mean double the clean energy and double the emissions reductions. These projects would be delivered in a highly coordinated efficient and optimised way, and would deliver greater benefits and economic opportunities to the region.

We would like to congratulate the whole team at Vattenfall for this fantastic achievement. This positive decision shows that the Government is serious about its climate ambitions and about enabling a green recovery as we emerge from the from the Covid-19 crisis. Now and in the future, it is projects like these that will help us get one step closer to reaching the net zero target by 2050.

As part of Copper’s Attitudes series, we asked the public what their views are on the viability of the net zero target and what we need to do to reach it by 2050. You can read more about our results in our report here.