LONDON, UK — House 337 – formed from the merger between marketing agency Engine Creative and architectural and design firm ODD – has officially launched, inspired by new post-pandemic working practices that offer its founding employees greater control over their working lives. The new business will operate as a collective with forward-thinking and collaborative working practices at the heart of its business model.
The business will leverage its award-winning heritage in Advertising & Communications and Brand Consulting while expanding its Experience Design and Communities & Content offer. Adding an Innovation service to its already wide range of expertise, and taking into account its existing broad client base, House 337 will be able to offer clients specialist insight into the fashion, wellness & lifestyle areas of business, alongside in-depth knowledge of the Government and not-for-profit sectors.
House 337 CEO Phil Fearnley said, “Businesses are more complicated than they’ve ever been, and to assume that any one person at the top can know everything is a huge mistake.”
“In building House 337 as a collective, we have been inspired by the notion of distributed organizations, empowering decision-making and engagement throughout the organization. It’s about the power of all, not the power of one.”
House 337 launches as a collective of diverse talents, capabilities, and experiences. A leadership team has been assembled from Engine and ODD executives, alongside new recruits, reflecting the collective nature of the business. Phil Fearnley is CEO, Matt Rhodes is Chief Strategy Officer, Kate Kelsey is CFO, Charlie Hurrell is Chief Client Officer, and Tayo Arewa is Head of People.
The creative team across House 337, with over 100 years of experience between them, will have shared responsibilities. In the new setup, there will be lead creatives for each of the different products and sectors. Leon Jaume and Jo Moore, Executive Creative Directors, to lead Advertising & Communications; Matt Fenn as Chief Design Officer, leads Experience Design; Angus Mackinnon, ECD, and Zara Ineson, ECD, to lead Fashion Wellness & Lifestyle, and Kim Lawrie, Head of Emerging Technology, with Angus, leads Innovation.
The collective is a workplace designed for the post-Covid era and built around the needs of its employees. It offers the founder employees more control over when and where they work, observing core work hours from 10:00 am to 4:30 pm so employees can avoid rush-hour commutes, hybrid working with a guideline of two days a week in the office, and up to 10 days a year working from anywhere in the world.
In light of economic pressures and the cost-of-living crisis, House 337 pledges to never pay an annually adjusted salary below £25,000, and interns will always be paid above the London Living Wage.
Instead of annual reviews, House 337 will offer continuous feedback and quarterly check-ins, with two salary reviews and promotion opportunities per year and an enhanced training budget for each department. So that staff can share in the financial success of the collective, a targeted bonus scheme will launch next year and there is also a bonus scheme in place for employees who bring in new clients.
As part of the launch of House 337, a new living brand identity has been created that works both for the company and its employees. The branding comprises a set of icons designed to be put together in different combinations to form a unique “house key” for every member of the collective and for every client. Each expression of the “H” icon is machine-generated from an online questionnaire completed by each House 337 member, which will be theirs forever as their own key, and awarded to them as an NFT.
The house key will not only serve as an identifying marker for individuals and brands, it will also function as an electronic device that can unlock access to the physical and digital workspace and other online tools.
In the coming weeks, House 337 will make further leadership positions announcements as it launches new products and services.
