As prizes go, having your own pub built is quite a nice thing to win. But so it was when McCann Manchester was voted global agency of the year across all of McCann Worldgroup.
Having won the award this year, the Manchester-based communications agency – which is behind the campaigns of Aldi, American Airlines and CrossCountry trains – decided to ask its employees how they wanted to see the money spent.
The staff voted overwhelmingly to have the dilapidated gatehouse at the entrance to the agency's grounds converted into their own private pub (let's not get bogged down in the semantics of “pub” being short for PUBLIC house). So, three months since the vote took place, the pub opened on Friday 13th September.
Yes, Friday 13th – that significant date when all manner of ghastly things might happen. Whether the date was a deliberate choice or not, I don't know, but it does tie in rather nicely with the pub's name: The Haunt – so called because the former gatehouse is allegedly haunted. In fact, even while it was being converted into the pub, various workers said they had paranormal encounters with the resident ghosts of what was Bonis Hall. These ghostly experiences came in the form of noises, furniture moving and power failures – even when there was supposedly no-one else in the building.
Trickery or a wind-up? Well, you're talking to (or reading) the wrong person here, because I'm a hard-nosed sceptic. So yes, how hard could it have been to sneak in somehow and scare the workers witless for a laugh? That's certainly the sort of jape I'd pull, sadist that I am! But apparently, an elderly lady and a Victorian girl (why are they always Victorian, eh?) have also appeared many times in the past when teams have been working late on pitches or when the agency wins a new client.
Anyway, my sceptical nose aside, I can't deny that a company pub is a great idea for how to spend a prize fund. Featuring a games room, a landscaped beer garden, meeting rooms, and a chill-out space for people to relax and work on projects, it's a traditional country pub which can be used for relaxing and for encouraging creativity in the same relaxed environment. This is to complement the outdoor swimming pool, gym and allotments which are already provided for the agency's staff.
Sue Little, Chief Executive of McCann Manchester, said of the new pub: “Having received the accolade of being the best agency in the McCann global network, it felt appropriate to ask our staff to decide how to spend the prize money. After all, it's all of our staff who’ve made the agency what it is and played their part in winning the award.”
“We’ll be pouring the first drinks on Friday 13th September in honour of the agency’s ghosts who have provided the inspiration for the pub name. And will we be serving ‘spirits’? Well, of course we will,” she added.
So, let's see if the old saying is true when it's time for the 2014 awards: that all the best ideas in business start in the pub...
Ashley is a copywriter, editor and blogger
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