Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Aberdeen marketing agency named one of world’s best places to work

The founder said a "complete absence of office politics" is among the reasons for the recognition.

Ian Ord and Fifth Ring staff during a team bonding session. Image: Fifth Ring
Ian Ord and Fifth Ring staff during a team bonding session. Image: Fifth Ring

Aberdeen marketing agency Fifth Ring has been named one of the best places to work in the world.

The Huntly Street base firm has been certified as a Great Place to Work in what it has described as “the most respected workplace accreditation”.

Fifth Ring, which also has offices in Singapore and Houston, took part in the comprehensive two-step certification process earlier this year with staff all taking part in the survey.

Results showed 93% of respondents said they were proud to tell people they worked for the company.

Key to Great Place to Work success

Fifth Ring founder and chief executive Ian Ord believes open communication, work recognition, mentoring and no office politics has been key to the award.

He said: “There is precious little that we do not share with colleagues about the business.

“Individuals are empowered, challenged and supported to do their best work.

“There is engagement right across the company in our annual business planning and our quarterly reviews so that we are all aligned on where we are going and how we are going to get there.

Business growth at Fifth Ring pictured is founder and chief executive Ian Ord. Image Fifth Ring

“And, a complete absence of office politics. Above all we strive to create a fun working environment.

“Achieving this certification is testament to our commitment to creating a culture of excellence where every team member feels valued, engaged and inspired.

“It’s not just about being a great place to work, it’s about being a place where people truly love to work, and creating an environment that retains and attracts the very best talent.”

Aberdeen recruitment drive

Fifth Ring, which employs 50 people globally, offers a variety of services including brand development, web design, and public and media relations.

It employs 31 people in its Aberdeen office with a recruitment drive currently underway for another four members of staff.

Ian said: “We’ve got four positions available which includes a junior copywriter.

“We are a firm believer in youth. It’s a youthful business and often recruit for entry positions in the hope we can bring people on.

“We have a recruitment plan that goes in to 2025.”

Strong year of trading

The business-to-business marketing firm has seen a strong 12 months of trading with revenue totalling almost £5 million for the year ending March 2023.

Ian said: “We finished the year with the additional £1.5m. It took us to almost £5m in revenue to the end of March 2023.

“Right now our revenue is looking on track to be by more than a million on this year.

“So far we are up on last year quite significantly, running ahead of our target by about another £200,000. It’s tracking well.”

Great Place To Work is the international authority on workplace culture, employee experience and the leadership behaviours proven to deliver market-leading revenue, employee retention and increased innovation.

Sarah Lewis-Kulin, vice president of global recognition at Great Place To Work, said: “By successfully earning this recognition, it is evident that Fifth Ring stands out as one of the top companies to work for, providing a great workplace environment for its employees.”

Conversation