Entering our 4th year we got all nostalgic and thought it would be fun to look back on our studio history.

Silk Street (July 2014 - Present)

2 Creatives, 2 Technicals, 1 Operations, 1 Man and his Dog.

Our journey starts here at our new studio at 84 Silk Street, situated in the up-and-coming area of Ancoats.

This is a large, recently renovated industrial building with original features and floorboards made out of an old, old wooden ship (really). It’s a very creative space, with great light and real character. One of its biggest selling points for us was the amazing glass meeting room (below), which hosts everything from client meetings to creative discovery.

We’ve recently re-positioned our brand & identity, so this has worked out great with our Silk Street move and new campaign.

We‘re’ very happy to call this our new home.

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Swan Street (Feb 2013 - July 2014)

Expanding Our Studio & Team was a Move We Were Keen to Explore.

Before Silk Street we had a top floor space in Swan Square, in the Northern Quarter. We were surrounded by other great creative companies, from bespoke dress makers to a PR agency.

This was our first good sized studio, again with plenty of light thanks to floor to ceiling windows that slid open for a heavenly summer’s day. We settled in here quite quickly as a team of 4, hosting client meetings, creating projects and meeting the neighbours.

However it was soon apparent that we needed to invest in growing our digital team now we had the space available to us.

This studio saw us introduce the wonderful Lee Fuller & Louise Hamer to the We Are Empire team making us a strong team of 6.

This location was amazing.

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Piccadilly House (Nov 2011 - Feb 2013)

4 Guys in a 14ft x 8ft Room… Need I Say More?

When searching for a studio in the early stages of We Are Empire it was all about keeping costs down and finding a location that was just as convenient for those of us in Manchester as the guys travelling in.

Piccadilly House ticked all the boxes. Being a very “typically” serviced office we decided to decorate, adding black paint to the walls, vinyl, blinds and lighting.

We worked some long hard hours here, and writing this just reminds me of when it all started and how much effort was put in.

We had a small shared kitchen which would double up to host meetings or just provide a break from the person sitting 1ft away from you.

This place was the first major move forward for us; shit just got real!

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However…

Our first site was built in Pete’s kitchen, we worked every hour possible.

We started with nothing and built our agency with hard work and many long hours, making sure we pushed We Are Empire forward.

Our approach puts people at the heart of what we do, combining creativity with clever technology to form beautiful online experiences.

Let’s make something beautiful.