Workroom, brand agency | Balfour Beatty WorkPlace branding

‘Freedom to Perform’ transforms business

Balfour Beatty Group tasked Haden Building Management’s CEO to grow the business as quickly as possible. Achieving this meant repositioning the business upstream to become a strategic Total Facilities Management Services company.

Impact & Results

41% year 1 increase in revenue (20% more than predicted)
33% rise in average annual orders
565% increase in average value of orders per person
25→50% tender conversion rate
116% graduate applications increase

“I love creative people and Workroom have some of the best – the combination of talent, ability to challenge and guide the client constructively is unusual. The branding is brilliant, both distinctive and flexible, and shines in a very traditional market sector. A true differentiator.”

Keven Craven, CEO, Balfour Beatty Services

New name. Transformed opportunities.

We articulated the vision, purpose and a set of meaningful values for the newly-named Balfour Beatty WorkPlace, encapsulated as ‘Freedom to Perform’. This informed a distinctive and highly visual identity. Although aligned with BB Group guidelines it expresses much more about this company’s own personality, and depth and breadth of services. It’s built on a flexible creative toolkit comprised of over 650 bespoke silhouette illustrations, known as the ‘silhouette soup’. This is a seismic shift in the dry, featureless marketplace of facilities management.

“We’re thrilled with our new brand and it’s no exaggeration to say that it has re-invigorated our business. We now have a unique positioning that really resonates with our people and our clients. Our business is growing faster than ever and it’s abundantly clear the part that Workroom has played in this success.”

Paul Milner, Business Development Director, Balfour Beatty WorkPlace

We work. You excel.

The essence of ‘Freedom to Perform’ was also used as a motivating external-facing strapline ‘We work. You excel’. This sparked an aspirational tone of voice and headline-based communications style. When conveyed through a suite of highly visual and well written marketing tools, this expressive and stand out presentation of the business significantly improved the bid team tender conversion rate from 25% to 50%.

Wise investment. Incredible returns.

Putting the brand at the heart of the business reaped tangible and profitable returns – including a 41% increase in revenues in the first year and an impressive 116% rise in graduate applications. Balfour Beatty Group eventually sold Balfour Beatty WorkPlace to GDF Suez. By that time it had 9,000 employees, an operating profit of £21m and major contracts with HM Revenue & Customs and the Department for Work and Pensions.

Client

Balfour Beatty WorkPlace

Project

Naming, repositioning, brand identity and brand voice

Sectors

B2B
Construction & Property

Disciplines

Advertising
Animation
Awareness
Brand Strategy
Branding
Communications
Digital
Internal Comms
Marketing
Naming
Positioning
Print
Promotional
Strategy
Visual Identity

Awards

DBA Design Effectiveness Awards

Gold: Best Corporate/Brand Identity
Transform Awards

Gold: Best Rebrand
Gold: Best use of Copy/Tone of Voice
Bronze: Best Creative Strategy
Best Business Awards

Best Strategic Design/Creative

Results

41%

Increase in revenue in first year
25% to 50%

Tender conversion rate doubles
116%

Rise in graduate applications
Design investment recouped within 4 months