Liverpool Echo tips Angel as having the ‘coolest office ever’

With a ball pool, a circus big top tent and several life-sized zoo animal sculptures, you’d be forgiven for thinking you’d stepped foot into a soft play centre.

But staff at Liverpool’s Angel Solutions haven’t run away to join the circus, they’re simply working in what is possibly the coolest office ever.

Based in the Liverpool Science Park, workers at the software company have access to a range of quirky facilities including a popcorn machine, a unicycle and a big top circus tent themed meeting space.

Staff presentations are held in a colourful ball pit – with the speaker stood amongst the balls and the rest of the staff members surrounding them in circus themed stadium seating.

The walls, which are decorated in bright circus colours, are adorned with ‘fun house’ mirrors, and the floors are filled with huge coloured balloons in order to celebrate the company’s 16^th birthday.

But, far from just a gimmick, CEO Andy Kent says the choice to bring a bit of fun to the office has proved a savvy business move.

He said: “Our offices are circus themed, but it’s not a gimmick. It’s a reflection of our business and so we haven’t just painted a few walls and slapped a circus theme on it, we’ve gone to town on it.

“We’ve got a gypsy caravan meeting room, a ball pool with thousands of coloured balls in, stadium-style staggered seating for presentations, and even our own ‘big top.’

“Most of our clients are in the education sector – and so we need to show how creative we are and it’s worked. A lot of them run nurseries and they say that our offices are more exciting than their nurseries, so we must be doing something right.”

“When potential employees apply for jobs, they will usually mention it in their covering letter – we get a lot of people getting creative and saying ‘I want to run away and join the circus.’ but the most creative was one of our developers who got on our unicycle and started juggling during his interview.”

The make over, which was completed in phases, has cost around £40,000 – but Andy says it has been worth every penny for the business.

He said: “As well as being a fun place to work, it’s also proved a completely practical move.

“I’d have never guessed the amount its saved us a lot in travel costs because people always travel to us rather than the other way around.

“The first phase cost under £8,000 and had a massive impact, so bosses don’t have to spend absolutely loads to notice a big difference in their office – and it was that much of a success that we developed the theme further.”