Laura Ashley reviews

Like past reviewers have said, I don’t see a lot of comments about the Head Office and what it’s like to work at the centre of the company, let alone what it’s like to be one of the designers. Well… where do I begin?! Firstly, I don’t think I’ve ever worked at a company that is this bad at communication. It’s honestly laughable, even within the same team. Whether it’s how a promotional campaign looks, what images are good to use or even simple stuff like incorrect printing or spelling errors. There seems to be no end to Laura Ashley’s management problem. This then leads to inconsistent branding, errors on the website, deceiving customers and bad brand reputation. As a Web Designer, the absence of common tools and processes are particularly frustrating to deal with on a daily basis. No easy accessible cross-department image system (A pain point for the in-house studio), HTML that is hosted on a Google Drive and doesn’t have pure modularity, consistency and a horrific CRM to boot. All in all, I’m sure any developer/designer would run far away if they knew how deep these problems go. As a few other reviewers have mentioned previously, the state of the company head office in Imperial Wharf is dismal. To the point where tarpaulin is used above employees to cover them from a leaky, cold, building and ceiling. Also, in the Winter, this gets so bad to the point most employees where scarves and gloves on a regular basis to help keep themselves warm while they work. It’s no surprise then that office colds and illness spread quickly. This wouldn’t be a problem if you didn’t have to lose out on a day's pay or day of your holiday to ring in sick. Altogether, I wouldn't call my 2 year (A veteran status) employment at Laura Ashley enjoyable. Aside from the near constant turnover of staff, illogical CEO decisions, increasing customer dissatisfaction, outdated and old brand and ethos - I don’t see Laura Ashley (who once was a popular “high street” brand) being around in 10 years time. The company surely seems like they're sliding down a hill in which they can’t get back up again. I guess time will tell

Staff turnover in head office is incredibly high and each time someone leaves they are replaced with a person who will do the job for less money compromising quality in almost every instance. As there are so many inexperienced staff there are constant mistakes that would not be tolerated in another business. Management is extremely lax and never pull people up on this so people never learn and the whole nightmare starts again. Handovers are often non-existent or not detailed enough to allow new staff to perform their roles effectively and communication is dire both within and between departments. Pay is extremely poor and almost everyone who leaves goes on to jobs that pays between £5-10k more. There is no investment in training or developing staff. Everyone is replaceable. Pay reviews often are signed off and then blocked at a higher level leaving to ever more resignations. Some positions remain vacant for over 6 months due to incredibly low salaries offered. No Christmas party, no team away days, no staff bonuses and no pay rises even though the company is performing well. This results in extremely poor moral throughout the company and apathy as hard work is literally never rewarded. Software systems are basic so you find yourself worrying about being left behind in terms of what is current and widely used within the industry. Head office is tatty with carpets that are taped together which does not make a pleasant working environment. Staff discount is 30 & 40% going up to 40 & 50% over selected periods but as products are always so heavily reduced you actually only end up getting 10% more off than customers. No company sick pay, only SSP so you have to use holiday when ill or lose money. Head office hours are 9-5 which isn't bad but we only get a 30 minute unpaid lunch break as a result meaning you have no time to get away from your desk.