Welcoming the 10th anniversary landmark, Mike said: “Charlie and I started the Opencast business in 2012 with a mission to challenge the traditional consulting model by putting people at the heart of all our thinking. From start-up through to today’s rapid growth, we have lived and breathed that mission. We’re confident that the plans we have in place put us in a good position for the decade ahead of us.”
Like other businesses operating during the pandemic, Opencast has had to adapt to new ways of working, with its entire team moving to working remotely from home following lockdown in March 2020. Lockdown meant the closure of its offices, and those of its clients, with the delivery of work by people dispersed across the UK.
Lockdown has also led to the emergence of a much more nationwide Opencast team, as new people joining the business no longer need to work from its headquarters in Newcastle. Today around a third of the people working for the business are based outside of the North East.
With careful planning and support, including meetings online and a plethora of communities on Teams, Opencast has ensured that remote working has been no obstacle to it continuing to deliver great services for clients or maintaining its company culture.
Right place, right time
Following the end of lockdown, Opencast has had to consider the best way forward for its people to continue to deliver their work for the business. Extensive discussions and planning have led to the creation of a new flexible ‘hybrid’ policy that does not impose a requirement to be in an office but rather be led by the principle of working in the right place at the right time to deliver impact most effectively.
The focus of its efforts has been on helping people have maximum impact and flexibility through a ‘4H&C’ model giving people the option to choose where they work based on what works best for the work they and their team need to do – whether that is at home, HQ, hub, host or on the client’s site.
Explaining the new approach, Opencast chief people officer Cate Kalson said: "At Opencast the empowerment lies with our people to make hybrid working work in practice. Hybrid working for us is not about being in the office between certain hours or set days. It’s about our people being at the right place at the right time, to deliver their work, with their clients and their team.
"We'll be working hard in the coming months to ensure that we listen to our people, and also our clients, about how the new arrangements work as well as they possibly can – maintaining maximum flexibility throughout."