The House London Ltd.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the former CEO, founder, and owner of a footwear company. The company produced smart shoes for people that work in the aviation and hospitality sectors.

What challenge were you trying to address with The House London Ltd.?

We needed a partner to help position our brand and products globally.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The House London Ltd. provided us with consultancy and mentorship about our brand positioning and marketing strategy. Michael (CEO) developed a comprehensive branding strategy and provided me with a workbook we filled out as we went along. At the start, we had diagnostic conversations around what our business needed and set up key milestones. 

He also assisted us in empathy mapping to discover who our customers were, how to approach them, and which sales channels would be better for them. Then, we developed our sales channels; for example, The House London Ltd. helped us with our Squarespace website. Additionally, they assisted us with social media management (SMM).

What is the team composition?

I worked with Michael directly. He also had a partner helping him.

How did you come to work with The House London Ltd.?

I was part of an incubator program to accelerate startups, and the program's investor recommended The House London Ltd. to us. I chose them from a list of 3–5 mentors. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around £10,000 (approximately $12,000 USD) with The House London Ltd. Since this project took place during the incubator program, which received funds from the EU, The House London Ltd. was paid through an external company.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with The House London Ltd. throughout 2019.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Thanks to The House London Ltd.'s diagnosis and analysis, we focused on branding, developing our website and communications engagement strategy, and revisiting our sales channels. After working with The House London Ltd., I was able to communicate our business' mission and vision, I understood our market product, and we launched our website. The project was 100% successful, given the budget we had. Every time they delivered an end product, they delivered value. Everything was tested and measured.

Overall, we found their work extremely valuable; they charged us five hours for the branding guidelines, something we couldn't have done in that time. Therefore, we could easily justify the price we paid; they went above and beyond. 

We walked away from the project because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which directly impacted our industry, so it didn't make financial sense for us to carry on. Since then, our team has gone their separate ways. Although our company didn't thrive, Michael delivered what we asked him to; our issues had nothing to do with his services. 

How did The House London Ltd. perform from a project management standpoint?

We worked in an agile and lean way because, in a startup, there are usually limited resources. Because there was a lot of work to do on my end, I was delayed with responses, but Michael was always there to guide, mentor, and help me offload some of the work. Overall, we had a positive experience with The House London Ltd.

We would meet face-to-face once a month, and sometimes we did virtual meetings. If Michael delayed a deliverable, he would communicate it in advance. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

What impressed me the most about The House London Ltd. was their guidance and mentorship; it was a thinking partnership. They went out of their way and stepped out of their comfort zone to challenge my thinking. While many consultancies settle and go with the client's needs, The House London Ltd. would test everything about five times. 

They demonstrated incredible agility and flexibility in execution. I loved Michael's attitude towards failing, which was to fail until you can't do it anymore. I learned that we don't have to do things a 100% since we were a startup and had limited resources; we had to get to an 80%.

In conclusion, the highlights of The House London Ltd. were the thought leadership, the way they tackled challenges, and the landing around startups; these are things I carried with me for future ventures.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I didn't think there was anything The House London Ltd. needed to improve. If anything, I wish we had had more budget; we were a fresh new startup, and they were great at meeting us halfway.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I advise potential customers to put the work into your project. You can be sure that The House London Ltd. will do the job you hired them for, and then it's up to you to decide what you do with that work. They're very knowledgeable and will teach you processes, mechanisms, and a mindset that'll help you later in your career.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the founder of Buildiro.com, a construction materials metasearch engine that allows tradespeople and DIY enthusiasts to locate and purchase building supplies online in minutes.

For what projects/services did your company hire The House London Ltd., and what were your goals?

We were launching our first version of mobile app for tradespeople and the goal was to get this app live and target tradespeople across the UK.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We managed and set up a strategy for the steps and ways how we target this specific group such as tradespeople.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and marking tools used.

We used online marketing tools such as emailing or Google Ads. This helped us get the first early birds on board.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked with Michael, the founder of the company.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

The email campaigns were successful, but based on the results we get, we decided to quit mobile app development and start again with the common website app.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We had meeting once a week in-person, but we did communicate via email with some fresh ideas and improvements. Michael always did come with some great solution every week.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They do their job really well as we get some good practices and experience that we use till now.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Personally, I was happy with the work that Michael did for us. I like the analytical people, and Michael has always been analytical more than enough.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a Trustee of The Family Initiative, a non profit who work with children and families in delivering initiatives that produce community led, evidence-based and measurable outcomes.

For what projects/services did your company hire The House London Ltd., and what were your goals?

A national review by the UK Government concluded the need for information for children & young people in the middle of divorce & separation. Our goal was to meet this need directly by the creation of a website resource - www.voicesinthemiddle.com

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We choose The House London due to their clear development framework, focus on user experience and journey, whilst being cost effective.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We kicked off with a 'Discovery Phase', with The House London supporting our team to produce a clear creative brief, focused on the outcomes for our end users, and priorities for development. Following this, the 'Design Phase' delivered:

• moodboards
• concepts
• style guides
• wireframes
• key page designs
• user journey presentations

 to ensure that we would meet our experience and brand requirements for our end users.With clear and helpful advice from The House London, we were also able to finalise our brand styling, the scope of technologies to be used and build costs. In the 'Web Development' phase, The House London developed our new responsive website to the specifications agreed.

This included a dynamic Wordpress / PHP site, with features such as integration of third-party API widget, content pages, forms, user-generated content upload tool, WYSIWYG custom editor including the ability to add various page elements, donation forms, and various image & content galleries. The 'Launch Phase' ensured an effective and smooth launch of the new website.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

The CEO, Michel, worked as our direct point of contact thoughout the project, with various developers and designers working in the background.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

The launch of the website was a great success, with children & young people using the information and tools created. In addition, the new website was adopted by the family law and mediation sector as an authoritative source of information and support for children, young people and their parents.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

We had regular calls and communication with The House London, working clearly through the stages of web develpment. Information was shared via Google Docs, for ease of collaboration. Part of our team was based overseas, and The House London accomodated our time differences and remote working style.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They gave us a great website that met the required scope within our available funding. The website continues to be used by thousands of young people, and it very easy for our team to administrate and update.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

We found The House London process to be very effective, structured and also flexible. When colloborating on elements such as design, they listened to our feedback and made changes and explored alternative options in a constructive manner.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am CEO of Sun Bear Bioworks, we're on a mission to reimagine farming through precision fermentation. We are producing every day essentials that are more healthy and sustainable, such as our alternative to palm oil.

For what projects/services did your company hire The House London Ltd.?

We hired The House to guide us and carry out the design work on our new branding, logo and design ideas for our website.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

The House came highly recommended and their previous work really spoke to us so it was an each choice to go with them.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

The main work focused on our new logo and identity. This started with a couple of informal discussions, which were formalised through their briefing document, which allowed us to more clearly describe to them our goals and desires. From this a series of designs were produced, which we discussed and fed back on over 2 or 3 rounds of feedback before the finished results.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked with Michael, who was really supportive and patient as he guided us through the whole process.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We have received lots of positive feedback on our new logo, and we're continuing to work with them on developing our website.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was very smooth. The House London Ltd. was very responsive and quick to turnaround work despite the tight deadline, whilst remaining patient and supportive throughout the process.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Their approach to supporting you in fleshing out your ideas and developing your brand with the Story Cube was really helpful and unique.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

No.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I look after the marketing for Toolfix Joinery & Construction Supplies. We specialise in supplying ironmongery, hardware and workshop consumables to joinery manufacturers who predominantly produce timber windows and doors.

For what projects/services did your company hire The House London Ltd., and what were your goals?

We are introducing our own brand or window and door ironmongery with the aim to sell it to our current customer base but also to sell direct to end users and developers.

How did you select this vendor?

We researched a number of agencies and selected The House based on the previous work they have undertaken as well as the comprehensive briefing process which showed that they understand the task at hand.

Describe the scope of their work in detail, including any steps and the final deliverables.

We undertook an in-depth briefing process (which was based on their template) which allowed them to understand what the brand stood for, what our goals were and the industry and competitors. Based on that they compiled a draft of a comprehensive brand included value proposition, logo, colours & typography, stationary, social networks and packaging.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked directly with Michael, CEO and FOunder of The House.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We are still in the initial stages of the brand and the manufacture of new products is in process so it is too early for any direct outcomes to be noted.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Everything was clear and concise from the beginning. The initial brief process was detailed which meant that once they had the information, there wasn't the need for lots more questions once the project started.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The detailed approach to understanding our company, the brand and our goals.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

We would have liked to have had a few more ideas presented on some sections however we were happy with the final outcome.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Managing Director of an edtech company specialising in timetabling and schedule for the K-12 market

For what projects/services did your company hire The House London Ltd., and what were your goals?

At the time, we were expanding globally. Our brand was a little dated and inconsistent. We were targeting a specific segment of the market and we wanted a new brand that would represent a quality, modern product and company

How did you select this vendor?

We asked The House to prepare a proposal of options for our rebrand. Michael and his team went above and beyond with the proposal, which was comprehensive and clear. His proposal quality gave us confidence that we were making the right choice in selecting him and The House

Describe the scope of their work in detail, including any steps and the final deliverables.

We completed a detailed questionnaire and completed some interviews with Michael. We also gave Michael a demonstration of the product. Michael then went away to create his detailed proposal and we iterated with feedback twice before selecting the final brand

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked primarily with Michael, the CEO and Co-founder

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The outcomes were excellent. The team loved the branding that Michael and his team created for us. We also got some nice anecdotal feedback from customers that they noticed and liked the new look

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

The project was really smooth and efficient. It was evidence that Michael listened really well to our feedback and took it all onboard for each iteration. We communicated over video calls and email as I was based in Australia at the time.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Their ability to listen, understand and translate this into a strong brand. Their work was comprehensive, thoughtful, and high-quality.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

No areas for improvement that I noticed.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the associate director at EY Breakthrough Incentives, a financial services company. My position entails helping businesses access innovation funding.

What challenge were you trying to address with The House?

We hired The House to get more leads and access their network of edtech entrepreneurs.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The House suggested and later organized a workshop sprint focused on helping edtech entrepreneurs and startups scale and grow as part of a lead generation strategy. First, the team guided us in writing the brief. They liaised with us and gave us plenty of information about the marketing activity needed to get maximum exposure.

During the event, they ran webinars. They also helped us with SMM related to the workshops on platforms such as LinkedIn. The team requested information for their posts to have the best reach and engagement possible. They created some social media content, and we also provided them with some material, and they gave warnings before they posted so that we could interact with the posts. Additionally, we’ve done a follow-up event with The House, where we sponsored branding sprints. 

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with one main point of contact, and other teammates have provided advice regarding the webinars. 

How did you come to work with The House?

I had previously enjoyed their brand workshops, so I knew that The House’s team understood what they were talking about and were experts in their field. When I joined the company, I reviewed my trusted network and got in touch with them. They said they could help me, so it was a no-brainer to work with them.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent £10,000 (approximately $13,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2021. Although we’re not organizing anything at the moment, we keep in touch regularly, so our partnership is ongoing.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

I’m happy with The House — they’ve been really helpful. We’ve gotten multiple leads and conversations as a result of our partnership. Additionally, they’ve communicated our offer to their wider network and the cohorts who did our workshops. They’re focused on leveraging as much value for us as possible. 

How did The House perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is excellent; they communicate well, are on top of everything, and are well-organized. Moreover, they’re proactive and always think ahead. 

We use Google Drive and Google Sheets for collaboration. They’ve kept it simple for us, and working with the same information has been helpful. We communicate via Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and in-person meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m impressed with The House’s honesty and transparency. They’re highly ethical, and they’ve given me a great platform for helping businesses — the team under-promises and over-delivers. 

Moreover, they’re helpful and flexible, and they have our best interests at heart. They’ve sometimes suggested things that may give them extra work but would benefit us. Moreover, they’re consultative in their approach and focused on developing long-term relationships to add as much value as possible. Working with The House has been a pleasant experience.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing I’d have them improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Check out The House’s credentials, get on a call with them, and you’ll see what an awesome team they are. They’re also really friendly; use them if you click with the team.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a Programme Manager for the Enterprise Development Programme

For what projects/services did your company hire The House?

Organisations on EDP are supported to get enterprises ideas off the ground, to help them grow financial resilience and impact. This is done via a mixture of grant and learning opportunities. The House were hired to deliver their Story Cube sessions as part of the programme's learning calendar. These sessions were focused on providing support around selling, marketing and branding.

How did you select this vendor?

Through previous positive experience of the Story Cube methodology via a previous role.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

The Social Sprint comprises of 4 two-hour online workshops across across a two-week period, working the key aspects of the Story Cube. Michael and Robbie have also been on hand to follow up with 1:1 coaching sessions as and when needed.

What was the team composition?

Michael and Robbie

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The participating organisations have been provided with very practical tools and examples to use to help develop or refine their organisation's story. In turn, we feel this will put them in a strong position to sell their new trading ventures with confidence.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Michael has been extremely efficient and quick to reply to queries and get processes set up. This has really helped create a smooth process.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

A combination of (i) a really tangible model for organisations organisations to pinpoint their value and story, that lends itself to group learning, and (ii) and a very open and effective communication style which has led to positive changes being discussed and implemented during the engagement.

Is there any area for improvement or anything that could have been done differently?

The House was open to feedback throughout the engagement to date, and have implemented changes as suggested, which is great. The only further observation I would potentially add is whether alternative ways could be used to 'test' the transfer of knowledge during the sessions.

At the moment the structure in the sessions (and afterwards) is reliant on organisations being confident to ask a question. Perhaps there may be opportunity to do things like an anonymous poll to test some of the key points of the session, and then any incorrect answers are used as an opportunity to delve into some further explanation to help ensure a deeper transfer of knowledge.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Director of Rohallion, a web development agency, specialising in Drupal, that helps purpose-driven organisations disseminate knowledge to their communities.

For what projects/services did your company hire The House?

Our website had changed little since it was created when Rohallion was founded over 5 years ago. It no longer reflected who we had become nor what we did.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We looked for an agency who could work with us to develop our story and present it through design and content that reflected us and what we did. The House fitted the bill perfectly as they had developed a process to do this called Story Cube.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

This was a two-stage project. Firstly, a discovery which was a very detailed process looking at the company, our values, our services, inspirations, brand and many other areas. This was then used to develop content and the design.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked directly with Michael at The House who liaised with the rest of his team on our behalf.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The House provided the discovery and design phase of the project and we are delivery the build internally. As such the project is not yet live so no results yet.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Michael was a pleasure to work with and ensured we knew where the project was at every stage. He took on board all our feedback but was happy to challenge it where appropriate.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The time that was focused on the discovery stage was longer that we had previously experienced but this was used to great advantage by The House in being able to understand our story, who we were and what we did.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

The project ran smoothly and was delivered on time and to expectations so there were no areas for improvement.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm an executive at a UK-based nonprofit organization.

What challenge were you trying to address with The House?

We were looking at renaming and rebranding our organization. We've been going since 2002, so this year is our 20th anniversary, and we felt that it was the right time to refresh our brand and create something more impactful to take on the next stage of our journey as an organization.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The House did a creative brief, research, development, and looked at our target audiences. They have a framework called story cube, which enables us to look at the different elements of our brand and other offerings to frame it as a whole. They also did a brand and marketing diagnostic by speaking to our internal committee, which I worked alongside regularly. The House also did surveys and focus groups with mostly warm audiences by sending the material out and setting up focus groups.

We started by providing them with our existing brand guidelines, tone of voice, assets, and how we work as an organization. We have a strategy document outlining our plans for 2025 and beyond, which we also shared. In addition, we had regular phone calls with them to understand our philosophy and values as a charity.

Consequently, their team did various rounds of brand positioning, strategy development, design direction and concepts, brand identity development, and illustrations. This phase included suggesting new names, taglines, a color palette, and more.

Currently, they provide brand positioning and identity guidelines, deliver on-brand assets for digital and print, and advise on a marketing strategy.

What is the team composition?

I'm mainly in contact with Michael (CEO) and Robbie (Co-Founder).

How did you come to work with The House?

We did our due diligence and went through a vetting process where we looked at various agencies and shortlisted three companies. We interviewed them all, but The House was very impressive, and we felt that we would get along with them, which was very important to us. They were friendly, had a strong portfolio, and offered good value for money.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2021, and the engagement is ongoing. We're approaching the final sign-off, pre-launch, and then launch.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

We haven't launched yet, but we're very confident that their work will positively impact our organization in the long run. Also, the internal feedback from our key stakeholders has been very positive as well. Overall, our organization as a whole is very excited to launch our new name and brand.

How did The House perform from a project management standpoint?

They were outstanding and persistent with project management — it's one of their strengths. They follow up a lot, and anyone who works with them should expect a lot of emails and prompting, which is a positive thing if you're keen on having your project move along and not fall by the wayside. They're also meticulous and enthusiastic, which is what our organization needs. In terms of communication and tools, we use email, Zoom calls, and Google Docs to keep track of progress.

Additionally, they've surveyed through Google Forms and also used Story Cube, which is their framework designed to break down key elements of a compelling brand story to make the task of telling a straightforward story much easier. They break it down into identifying the problem we're trying to solve, our motivations, differentiators, connections, and obstacles. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Two things make them stand out. One is that rebranding can often be too expensive for small charities, but they provide great value for money. Also, they were one of the only agencies willing to moderate their costs due to our organization's size and their excitement to work on our project.

The second is The House's personal approach; they're a very friendly team, and their video calls are always light and conversational — they struck that balance between getting stuff done while also trying to keep it fun.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes they need to step back, when necessary, and let the organization run through internal processes. Other than that, I don't want to be too critical of them because they've done a lot of fantastic work for us.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear with what you want to achieve and your ambitions and limitations from the very start. Also, make yourself available for emails and calls if you're busy because they make a difference and help move the project along quicker. In addition, assign yourself a direct point of contact and, if necessary, an internal committee to push the project forward.