Step into our office... CPS Homes' re-brand from behind the scenes
Since our re-brand late in 2012, we've received some great feedback from people who love our Woodville Road office almost as much as we do.
Now that we’re putting the finishing touches to our offices on Albany Road and in Cardiff Bay, we thought it was high time we shared some of the thoughts – and hard work – that went into our transformation.
We wanted our new brand to reflect our sense of personal involvement, and also the attention to detail that we bring to our work. Let us take you behind the scenes of our re-branding process and show you what went into the new CPS Homes!
A change of scene
A change is as good as a rest, they say – though moving offices provided more change than rest, it must be said! Our new office on Woodville Road is at the heart of our student service, based in Cathays, we wanted it to be close to the community both in its location and its approach to business. We want you to feel like you can pop in whenever you want, whatever the query – or even just to say “hi”.
CPS Homes works because we've built up great relationships with our tenants and landlords and responded to your feedback in order to give you what you want. Accompanied check-in & check-out inspections, more face-to-face opportunities to make requests before and after move-in day – we've included these services because you've asked us to. Our close relationships with our clients have always been at the heart of our success, so, getting back to grass roots, we want to recognise and be on first name terms with you - our customers - and for you to be familiar with us. This is why our branches are truly local offices; right in the thick of their local communities and centrally-based. We want our new offices to be the kind of places you’d like to come and talk about things.
We like to think of it as ‘lettings agent meets coffee shop’ – the friendly side of professionalism. We wanted to break the mould of traditional letting agencies and offer a friendly, approachable environment, all whilst remaining professional. We opened our Woodville Road branch during freshers’ week with beer and a barbecue for all, which certainly harked back to our own student days in the early 2000s!
Keeping it local
Llantrisant-based brand management specialist, Huw David, took us from an initial doodle on a page to the branding you see today, and we asked young Welsh designer, Leah Hughes, to offer the same specialist advice on our interiors. Woodville Road offered a conundrum of issues; a strange shape, narrow areas and unmoveable pillars, but with a strong vision in mind, we wanted to embrace the architectural quirks rather than hide them, which is where Leah helped massively.
Leah is a creative designer with a playful, experimental approach to her work – and she’s also a regular presenter on S4C’s design programmes. She understood our vision and was able to balance that with modern office practicalities.
With a nod to the premise’s recent heritage as Peppermint Lounge and Buffalo Bar, we built our beloved, comfy circular sofa, which has since become loved by customers and staff alike.
Taking the design through to our Cardiff Bay and Albany Road branches brought their own challenges, but it’s meant that they both have their own footprint as the design has evolved to suit the different needs. Look out for our new 'shop window' in the Cardiff Bay branch, which ventures away from traditional estate agency displays.
Designer brands
Everyone knows the platitudes about the importance of good branding, but we wanted it to go further than just having a great logo. We wanted our Cardiff offices to reflect us as a company, so we called in the brightest and best to bring our vision to life.
The first thing people spot when they step into our branches is Kirath Ghundoo’s fabulous wallpaper. Dubbed ‘the queen of pretty geometrics’, Kirath is London Magazine’s Rising Star of 2013 and has already been nominated for numerous industry awards.
Her designs are refreshingly eclectic, and her inspirations come from everything she sees – cocktails, Aztec patterns and geometry. She has a real love of quirky colours and we thought her designs were perfect to reflect our individual and personal approach.
Supporting us, supporting you
We’ve paid attention to the most important aspects of business and re-fitted our offices with the greats of technological design to bring you the best service available; Eames chairs and Apple iMacs.
Eames chairs are famous the world over as landmarks in modern design, and are preserved not only in design museums but in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. We want to make sure you’re taken care of from the moment you sit down - and nobody likes to do business when they’re stuck on an uncomfortable chair.
We also wanted to make sure we make the most of modern technology to bring you the fastest service possible, so we kitted our offices out with the best hardware we could find; a CAT5 infrastructure, fibre-optic broadband and iMacs, all giving us the cutting edge in customer service.
