2021 Wrapped!

2020 was rough on all of us. Being thrust into a global pandemic left us all a little unsure of how to navigate life. As our fellow businesses can probably agree, there was a lot of uncertainty and we were all forced to learn and adapt to a new way of working.

We’re now coming to the end of 2021 and while the pandemic is still withstanding, so are we – and we couldn’t be prouder. This past year, we have thrived. We’ve implemented lots of changes, made great partnerships and produced some of our best work.

It’s been a blast. Here’s our 2021 wrapped.

Launching Our Way Through the Year

This year, we’ve worked on a wealth of incredible projects; from website builds and replatforming projects to brand redesigns and digital strategy overhauls. It feels like we’ve done it all!

One of our biggest projects to date, 5 of Monwell’s online bookstores launching on BigCommerce – a mammoth task with amazing results. Our team continues to astound us with what they can pull out of the bag! We’re finishing the year with a great portfolio of work and solid client and partner relationships.

Check out more of our 2021 projects below:

• Harrison
• Wearth London
• Monwell
• Peter Christian UK & USA
• Point Safety & Gas Monitor Point
• Virbac UK & Italy

Hello Brindley Place!

While we loved our Digbeth office, our ever-expanding team meant we needed somewhere new that allowed us to fulfil our vision. Our new office in Brindley Place is a dream workspace, it’s been great to see it start filling up as people return to the office.

Speaking of returning to the office… this year we introduced our new Hybrid Working Policy. We did this because the pandemic highlighted a few things for us that were always important to us. We have a varied team with various responsibilities outside of work, and because of this, flexibility is key. We now focus on Hub Life. This means, time spent working in the office vs time working from home will vary depending on how far away you live from a 5874 Hub. This means we not only get to expand our business but we get to reach more people and have a team that isn’t constantly worrying about picking their kids from school on time or making that doctor’s appointment. We promote a healthy work/life balance and we’re hoping this new policy benefits everybody overall.

Putting the Focus Back on People

We’ve always been a people business, but admittedly, our rate of growth meant that we couldn’t quite keep up. It was important to us – especially after the catastrophe that was 2020 – to work on our office culture and overall well-being of the team. We introduced a culture team who do an amazing job at organising team days out (Go Ape was a highlight!), have implemented a mentorship programme and work on ways to improve happiness and mental health within the team. They’ve also been working on a manifesto alongside the leadership team so that we have a single document that showcases everything 5874 is and will be.

2021 has also been about creating opportunities for growth. This year saw two employees promoted: Chris Baker to Creative Director and James Folkard to Project Director. These guys have worked so hard and are truly deserving of these titles – well done both!

Another great achievement this year was Michelle Rooker reaching her 5 year milestone with us! The company looked very different 5 years ago and Michelle has played a vital role in getting us where we are today – thanks for your hard work, Michelle. Now, get planning that sabbatical!

Growing the Partnership Family

We welcomed some new partners into the 5874 family this year! We’re thrilled to offer our clients best-in-class technologies from Fast, Comestri and Akeneo. We can’t wait to collaborate more in 2022 – stay tuned if you want to see what we have in store!

The Nominations Kept Rolling In!

We’ve had the honour of being nominated for numerous highly sought-after industry awards this year. While we haven’t always won, we’re overjoyed to be recognised in these top categories alongside some seriously tough competition.

• BigCommerce Make It Big Awards – People’s Choice Award for Peter Christian
• UK eCommerce Awards – Fashion/Apparel or Footwear ecommerce Website of the Year for
• Peter Christian, Medium Agency of the Year
• Ecommerce Awards 2021 – Best Website or Relaunch for Peter Christian
• SearchSpring Award – UK Partner of the Year WINNER

Events Are Back!

The pandemic may have put a stop to a lot of our plans in 2020, but 2021 was the year of the comeback! In September, we attended the BigCommerce Partner Summit – the only in-person one globally – which was a feast of information on the future of the platform and industry as a whole.

In October, we dusted off our name badges as we returned to IRX as exhibitors. It’s been great to get back out there and connect with partners and prospective clients. Here’s hoping for more of it in the coming year!

Cheers to 2022!

We have so much planned for 2022 – next year’s wrapped post is going to be jam-packed!

You might want to keep an eye on our socials for some exciting announcements as we launch something we’ve been working incredibly hard on… watch this space!

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year from 5874 Commerce