Trustpilot, a multinational consumer reviews platform , was recently listed on the ASX and is experiencing a period of significant growth. Regional Director, Cameron Buckley engaged BRM to help with finding a property and delivering a fitout that would establish Trustpilot as an employer of choice. After an extensive property search led by BRM in Melbourne's tech hub of Cremorne, Trustpilot settled on 3 Newton Street - a building well known to BRM. We have previously delivered projects for other clients here so we had a well established working relationship with the landlord, knew the metrics for the negotiation and were aware of the engineering services and requirements of the building. This, along with smooth collaboration with both local and overseas management led to yet another successful project. Below, we speak to Cameron about his experience with BRM and the new space. Trustpilot is well on its way to becoming the world’s leading consumer reviews platform. Can you tell us more about the impact Trustpilot is having on consumers and businesses? Trustpilot was founded in 2007 with a vision to create an independent currency of trust. It’s a digital review platform that brings businesses and consumers together to foster trust and inspire collaboration, we are free to use, open to everybody, and built on transparency. Trustpilot hosts reviews to help consumers shop with confidence and deliver rich insights to help businesses improve the experience they offer. The more consumers use our platform and share their own opinions, the richer the insights we offer businesses, and the more opportunities they have to earn the trust of consumers, from all around the world. Consumers are now leaving a review on our clients every single second, and we’re in the top 1% of most visited sites in the world. Trustpilot was recently listed on the stock exchange and is experiencing a period of significant growth. How did you want your new office space to support this growth? We had outgrown our previous office, not purely from a space perspective but equally in terms of not matching our higher standards with our employer brand aspirations. With the team coming back into the office, we wanted to create an environment that was welcoming, functional and conducive to collaboration, and also having some fun - the amazing communal rooftop with unobstructed views of the city is perfect for client or team dinners, drinks and even the occasional Karaoke session. You engaged BRM to do an initial property search. Can you tell us a bit about your experience working with Gab and the property team? The brief was like most clients provide, find us the newest and best office in an ideal location ( Cremorne ) with the most opportunity to add our own preferences at the lowest possible rate. Not an easy task by any measure, but Gab and the team leveraged their contacts with agents to provide us with a long list of options. After eliminating a few, along with the BRM team we hit the streets of Cremorne on tight schedules going from one open office to the next. By the end of this we had our top 3, but also a clear standout. Gab then went about dealing with the landlord to negotiate on our behalf. He had already worked with some tenants in the building, so he was the best placed to leverage this history, background and subject matter expertise. Given we have stakeholders in parts of Europe and the UK, the BRM team were also very flexible with the occasional evening call to fit in with their time zones and educate them on some of the real estate contractual ideoscyines. Once we'd agreed on the fee and worked through the contract, we then worked closely with Maya and the BRM design team as we had a blank canvas to work with i.e. an open plan without any existing structures. This was also a really smooth and enjoyable experience. Not only did they come up with a superb design, they also dealt with the builders and furniture suppliers over the course of the project, keeping me informed with a weekly progress report and on-site visits. After that Matt stepped in to arrange a removalist and offsee the move. Post a smooth move BRM then worked with the builder to ensure that any issues were resolved quickly and with minimal effort on our part. As a review company, I feel somewhat obliged to share a rating... from the start of the project to the end it was a '5 Star ' experience. Employers in the tech industry face several challenges when it comes to attracting and retaining talent. What is the role of property in becoming an employer of choice? Like most companies, we offer the team a flexible working week, in that they are both working in the office and at home. In the current market, it is more important than ever that you create an environment that people want to make the effort to travel to in the morning. Having a place to work is no longer sufficient. it has to be a place that people are proud of, and the age-old saying that 'location is key' is even more relevant e.g. access to public transport, cafes, pubs. Like your external brand, your building and environment needs to have something about it that is authentically and uniquely yours. It's an important part of your employer brand and your ability to attract and keep the best talent. After conducting a property search, Trustpilot, together with BRM chose 3 Newton St as your new home. Tell us about the building and how it will benefit Trustpilot in the next phase of its business in Australia. I love the NYC inspired red brick building. It reminds me of the meatpacker district and it makes a striking first impression. The office has high exposed concrete ceilings and polished concrete floors, high ceiling glass windows provide a lot of natural light and warmth.
It was designed by award winning architects Jackson Clements Burrow and construction was only completed in late 2020 so it's a new building for Cremorne. The communal rooftop area with an amazing city view is great if people want a change of scenery to work in, or for team or client entertainment. People like to ride to work these days and being close to a number of bike tracks, the after-trip facilities ( showers etc ) were also important to us. Last but not least we're in the tech hub of Melbourne amongst not only our industry peers ( other and global and local market leaders), but we're also close to a lot of our clients, digital agency partners and tech integration partners. Comments are closed.
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