At the end of another exciting, but undeniably intense year, I’ve been thinking a lot about perspective - how we find it, how easily we lose it, and why it matters now more than ever.
When The Union chose to become an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) in May of this year, it wasn’t an act of nostalgia for the ‘good old days’ of independence, nor was it a feel-good experiment designed simply to generate positive PR. It was a cold, hard business decision grounded entirely in perspective. As we approach our 30th birthday next year - a milestone that feels significant in an industry obsessed with the new - we had to decide what the next era of this agency would look like. We wanted to ensure that The Union remained a company capable of performing at the very highest level without sacrificing the specific culture that made it successful in the first place. We wanted to prove that you can drive a high-performance business without losing your humanity. That is not a soft sentiment; it is a strategic choice.
Employee ownership changes how you see the business. The shareholders are the people in the room, the ones doing the work. That simple shift transforms how you make decisions. It forces you to think longer-term and how every decision impacts the people sitting beside you. It makes you realise, with absolute clarity, that as a leader the most valuable asset you possess isn’t your billable hours, your intellectual property, or your physical assets. It is the people in the business: their trust, their energy, and their belief. That makes you sit up straight.
The ghost of efficiency present
We have seen all too clearly recently what happens when this human perspective is lost. The industry has been shaken by the Omnicom takeover of IPG, a massive consolidation that instantly threw some of the most historic and influential agency brands into the fire, along with over 4,000 livelihoods. It is a reminder that we are seeing the word ‘efficiency’ elevated to a business goal far too often. The modern business equivalent of ‘Bah, Humbug.’
Across the global advertising industry, many agencies are now trapped in a relentless, quarterly cycle of shareholder updates, aggressive restructures, and margin targets. What gets optimised in these scenarios isn’t creativity, or culture, or client satisfaction, it’s the bottom line. These are extraordinary businesses filled with brilliant, talented people, but when the decision-making centre moves further and further away from the people doing the actual work, something vital starts to slip. The focus on efficiency and scale can erode what made the industry special in the first place: the energy, the irreverence, the risk-taking, and the sheer joy of creating ideas.
For us, remaining independent, punching above our weight creatively, and keeping our people at the very heart of decision-making is the ambition. A model that probably doesn’t scale globally, but it is a model that allows us to place humans and high performance - as one unified concept - at the centre of our agency. We are betting that a team who owns their future will out-perform a team that fears for theirs.
The chains of ‘always on’
However, independence doesn’t make us immune to the pressures of the modern world. There is a very real sense that the pace of our industry keeps accelerating. There is always another campaign, another deadline, another meeting squeezed in between meetings. We have a saying in this business: ‘We’re not saving lives.’, and yet, we rarely act like it. The intensity we bring to advertising can feel misplaced at times.
The culture of constant engagement - the relentless ping of notifications from Slack, the WhatsApp messages at odd hours, the scrolling, the reacting, is exhausting. And that exhaustion doesn’t just affect individuals; it affects creativity, it stiffens collaboration, and ultimately, it hurts performance. We also recognise that our independence comes with a heavy responsibility. There is no parent company safety net here, no global quarterly dividend to hide behind. Our success depends entirely on our people performing at their absolute best, so we must give them the conditions to do so. As employers, we need to take that bloody seriously. Building a high-performing, human business means creating structures that protect recovery, not just productivity.
The time before us is our own
Time away from work should be real time away - not checking emails on holiday or replying to messages at midnight. If we want people to bring their best selves to work, we must give them permission - and lead by example - to rest.
Recently our Leadership team have discussed changes we can make to our ways of working in 2026: turning off Slack for dedicated focus time, limiting online meetings, and better embracing the environment we are lucky enough to inhabit. Our office is located right next to Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Gardens. It is a stunning, calm, green space, yet how often do we actually use it? We often rush past the gates. On our phones.
Last month we had the pleasure of a session with Lucky Generals' founder, Andy Nairn, who was inspired by our location. His book Go Luck Yourself talks about the importance of looking out for opportunities everywhere. There are handy ‘take-aways’ at the end of each chapter (which I love), and one of them struck a chord:
“Convention says: Concentrate on the task at hand. Luck says: Go for a walk in the great outdoors. So ask yourself: What can your brand learn from Mother Nature.”
Of course. It just makes sense. So, as we look toward our 30th year, we are taking some time to think about this and how we can make working with each other a bit smarter and more creative. Taking time out reminds us of something simple but essential: creativity doesn’t thrive in constant motion. It needs oxygen. It needs pauses, reflection, and a bit of stillness. That’s where the real ideas hide - in the space between the noise.
And now, it’s Christmas. That rare moment in the year when the pace finally slows, the inbox quiets, and the space between work and life expands a little. It is a time to reflect, to offer perspective, and to reconnect with the people who matter most.
So, we’ll be doing exactly that. We’ll step away, switch off, and let our minds unfurl. We’ll spend time with family, friends, and the parts of life that make work worth doing. Because creativity doesn’t just happen in the doing, it happens in the breathing.
The best thing any of us can bring into 2026 is joy… real, grounded, human joy. Go find it this Christmas. Rest, laugh, explore, recharge. Then bring that energy back into the workplace. That is how we will keep building a business, and an industry, that performs brilliantly. It is human behaviour and human perspective that keeps everything in balance.
As Scrooge himself proclaimed at the end of his transformation: "I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year."
Not a bad plan.
Goodbye 2025. And see you in a minute, 2026.
