Yorkshire: the northern wonder responsible for the naming of great dales, puddings and tea alike, and home to MSQ’s very own full-service digital agency twentysix. If you take a trip to the heart of Leeds you’ll come across Sovereign Street, otherwise known as twentysix’s headquarters.
And what a place to have your office headquarters. With an abundance of independent cafes for all your caffeinated needs, buzzing pubs for that post-work pick-me-up and convenient local transport links to explore wider Yorkshire, what’s not to love?! So, without further ado, here’s a little look into what a week for the twentysix team looks like…
Monday
You may have heard the ancient proverb, “it’s cold up north” at some point, well I can wholeheartedly tell you that this isn’t always true; I’ve seen many a sunbeam across Sovereign Street through the glorious twentysix office window. But today wasn’t one of those days. And a cold Monday morning could only ever really be solved by a coffee. So I took a pit-stop at Out of the Woods coffee shop, ordered myself a macchiato to go and enjoyed it accompanied by the river Aire’s presence on my journey into work. And that is how to set yourself up for a good week ahead.
Tuesday
Tuesday saw a trip a little further up north for a meeting in Newcastle, which of course meant a parmo for lunch and an obligatory post-meeting stroll along the River Tyne. Checking off two of the iconic symbols of Newcastle on our tour, we walked from the Tyne Bridge to the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, where we came across the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art. The centre has an ethos to explore understanding of the world through diverse contemporary art by artists from across the globe through their various exhibitions. I just so happened to run into Ad Minolti’s exhibition: Biosfera Peluche / Biosphere Plush on my visit, which wasn’t just beautifully creative and stunning to look at, but also worked off the basis of shedding light on feminist and queer artistic practice.
Wednesday
It’s funny how you blink and Wednesday’s back around again. Here at twentysix we think we’ve cracked the key to getting past that mid-week burnout, and it comes in the form of morning meditation sessions. Today’s specially-organised twentysix session was done remotely – which meant that we could enjoy it from home or in a quiet corner of the office – and involved a series of meditative activities to create conditions for us to see things more clearly, feel calmer and content. It’s a great way to take a few moments out of your week to get that time to recuperate, and our advice is that that downtime really ups productivity levels at work too.
Thursday
Thursday saw another day of remote working, which presented a great learning opportunity in the form of an online HubSpot SEO course. This particular certification course is great for marketers, content creators and just about anyone looking to brush up on their knowledge of search engine optimisation. Today’s particular lesson was on learning why reporting on SEO progress is so crucial in terms of success, with some insight into determining which metrics we need to be tracking and how to report on our efforts using various platforms.
Friday
It certainly has been quite the jam-packed week for team twentysix. We’ve had client meetings galore, an upcoming event for Procurement on Planning for the Changing Digital Landscape to prepare for and a day of broadening SEO knowledge. A busy week full of work can only mean one thing on a Friday: an evening of drinks on Sovereign Street. Because life really is all about a good work:play ratio after all. We take our Friday drinks nights seriously here in Leeds and tonight involved a highly competitive game of beer pong, followed by supporting our local pub of choice, North Taproom: Sovereign Street. We even rounded the night off with a spot of karaoke. I personally loved the marketing team’s rendition of Rock DJ, but I’m not too sure how the rest of the pub found it.
Saturday
Saturday saw a day in dire need of the great Yorkshire outdoors (I did say that we take our Friday drinks seriously here). That meant a little trip exploring yet another fantastic city of the north, our neighbours over in Sheffield. The Rivelin Valley nature trail is located about a 50-minute drive south of Leeds city centre and the stunning views, valleys and vibes make the trip down all the more worthwhile. Rivelin Valley rises on the Hallam Moores in northwest Sheffield and provides a fantastic Saturday day trip out. You’re bound to meet many an adorable dog and can stop off for a local cider at the end of the trail too.
Sunday
Living and working in the heart of Leeds often means that a lot of time is spent amongst the hustle and bustle of the city. But after a hectic week, today I opted for a relaxing day of self-care at home. That involved a trip to Asda for organic face masks, some rejuvenating eye patches and an opportunity to try out a new herbal tea variety. I knew as soon as I’d returned home that I’d be in for a relaxing night ready for the week ahead. Face masks out, Netflix on, popcorn in the microwave and tea nicely brewing. I did say I set myself up for a good week ahead on Monday, and this self-care day really was the perfect round off.
