Meet Oktra Regions | News Post
Home / Insights / Meet Oktra Regions
Arrow left Arrow Right
IMG_9831-2_3840x2160_acf_cropped_3840x1414_acf_cropped

  • Meet Oktra Regions

Share LinkedIn Facebook Twitter

min read

  • Our Oktra Guildford office is growing – by 1,770%.

    “We started about a year ago, but we’ve flown under the radar. It’s not necessarily our style but it is how I’ve always been.” Despite Managing Director Mike Murray’s humble description of Oktra Guildford, the team has a lot to be proud of: They’ve moved from 226 sq ft of serviced office space, to their own 4,000 sq ft workspace in Friary Court, Guildford. And they designed it themselves.

  • The transition comes at a time of quick growth for the team, providing the tailor-made space they need to continue to excel. “There are eleven of us in the current office and we’re on top of each other,” Murray explains. “It’s impossible to have a meeting without everyone getting involved… the new office is going to be amazing for us.”

    But being your own client isn’t always a smooth process, “You’d think it would be easier, but it’s actually not” says Murray. The Oktra Guildford team designed and built their new office, incorporating input from every single team member.

  • OktraSouth-7-HighRes-1_2640x1980_acf_cropped

  • When asked about the space, Murray lights up; “Everything is centred around a long table, so we’ve got this great communal space where we can spread out or come together. The rest was designed around us – every space we need is in there, meeting rooms, workshops, breakout spaces, it’s all there.”

    Oktra Guildford are used to listening to the wants and needs of clients in order to understand how to challenge design briefs, creating spaces that inspire people to do amazing things. The team have recently delivered new offices for numerous clients including Huel and Utilize. Guy Hocking, Group Managing Director at Utilize, recalls that “right from the initial engagement, Oktra listened to what we wanted to achieve with the overall design – bringing our company culture to life and putting our people at the centre of every aspect.” 

    The Oktra Guildford team currently have two major projects on-site, Vertical Aerospace and CleverTouch, and have recently completed work for UKPC, Huel, Utilize and Thomas International.

    From a Junior Project Manager on the build of Oktra’s current London Head Office in 2015, to the design and build of his team’s own workspace as Managing Director at Oktra Guildford, Murray has come full circle – and is only getting started.

  • Oktra-South-Squirrel-Infographic-REV-2-Option-2_3840x1414_acf_cropped

  • We asked each member of Oktra Regions to share the highlights of their time on the team so far, and this is what they said:

    #1. Tom Evans | Director 
    “Our trips away to Porto and Bike Park Wales.”

    #2. Laurence Shanks | Design Director 
    “I can’t really pinpoint an actual moment (as there have been loads!!), but each time we employ someone is a MASSIVE highlight for me!”

    #3. Mike Murray | Managing Director 
    “I have multiple highlights every time we win a new project… I love the massive boost of energy and happiness it gives the team for all their hard work and dedication – it really brings us closer together!”

    #4. Brian Nolan | Project Manager
    “The UKPC slide test run. After months of consulting over a partial structural redesign of the building to create the opening in the floor slab, and then a redesign of the slide to incorporate an extended sheer drop to avoid the M&E equipment – we finally got to put ‘the world’s fastest slide’ to the test. Topped off by the location of the new beer tap at the bottom of the slide, which was also duly put to the test!”

    #5. David Hollis | Technical Design Manager
    “My most recent highlight is today, our 15m long “collaborative workstation” landed in our new home. Seeing the concept of working without departments and all mixing together on a massive hot desk coming to fruition is fantastic.”

    #6. Richard Brassington | Pre-Contracts Manager 
    “Downhill mountain biking in South Wales with the guys, everyone giving 100% and loving it!”

    #7. Sabrina Bradley | Business Development Manager 
    “Highlight from my time at Oktra Guildford has to be the first win – CleverTouch; and our first team social to The Hogs Back Brewery, when alcohol cemented what a flippin’ cool team Oktra Guildford are. There was a lot of love and a lot of hugs on that night!”

    #8. Daisy Sarson | Designer 
    “Can’t pick one particular moment as my whole time here has been amazing working with this bunch of legends.”

    #9. Cyril Sauer | Project Manager 
    “Highlight for me is the first day I met everyone at the Hogs Back Brewery for a brewery tour and us all ending up at the Kings Head pub afterwards. I was made to feel a part of the team before I had even started working here. It’s been amazing ever since!”

    #10. Alex Stewart | Project Director 
    “Seeing the new office come together after all the design and planning.”

    #11. Nathan Watson | Senior Designer 
    “Helping the design team to glory by sinking 5 hole-in-one’s at the pub ‘Toad in the Hole’ game.”

Related articles