End of an Era: Growing Startup Lunio Says Goodbye to our Chorley Offices

Outgrowing your old office because the company is doing so well is an exhilarating experience, albeit one that comes with a mix of emotions.

It’s an opportunity to start fresh, explore new surroundings, and solidify the strong company culture that we’ve built at Lunio despite being a hybrid workforce dotted around the country.

Opening our permanent headquarters in Manchester is a time for new possibilities and opportunities, and the chance to create new memories in a new space. But it’s also a good time to reflect on just how far Lunio has come, and say thank you and goodbye to the Chorley office we’ve called home.

So to do that, we asked our three founders, Neil, Segev and Alex, to share what this milestone means to them:

First things first: what do you remember about moving into the Chorley office?

Neil: How big it felt! We actually had the option to take more space (the two offices next door) and we decided that would be far too big…. Except now it would be far too small!

We were also super excited about getting the chance to do our own fit-out, everywhere we had been previously was shared space, or spaces where we couldn’t add our own flair to it.

Alex: Moving offices always feels like confirmation that you’ve moved to the next stage in the life cycle of the business. From no office to a small 4-person one, to a larger ~8-person one, to the Chorley one each time felt so exciting like it was the opening sequence to the sequel in your favourite movie franchise, but it’s actually a good sequel and it’s not, you know, Fast and Furious 14.

For the Chorley office specifically, I was excited to get to turn it into our own space, it was the first time we had a large space with a lot of flexibility in what we could do, so it was exciting to finally get to do something other than put desks into a room.

What’s your favourite memory of working in this space?

Neil: When we announced our Series A. That was the point at which it all very much became “Ok, this is real and it’s big!” — seeing the space go from being underutilized with just 10 people or so, to being massively overcrowded with 50+ in such a short time was something I think we can look back at and be proud about (not the overcrowding, the successful growth!).

Alex: The colour. From the vibrant desks to the arcade machine it’s such a nice office space full of bold colours that match who we are. One of the most exciting projects in this space was the rebrand and how we covered a wall with colour palettes, fonts, logos, and illustration ideas. The office felt like the right place to enable creativity.

Segev: Looking at the windows and seeing how they built the nursery next door to us — the progression they made and how parallel it was to our growth as a company.

What will you miss about working here?

Segev: The nature around the office and how calm it is.

Neil: The 5-minute commute home will be sorely missed! Our new city centre space is incredible, but working here in Chorley does add a sense of peace, tranquillity and greenery that you just don’t get in a city. Plus, the reception staff downstairs are amazing — we’ll definitely miss them.

Alex: The peace. Working in a city centre is ideal for a lot of reasons, and it offers great options for lunch and team bonding, but if you’re having a hectic day in the office you can’t just walk out into the countryside, because the city outside is just as busy. Fortunately, the Library in the new office should offer that tranquillity.

What are you most looking forward to for the new Manchester office?

Neil: So, so many things… For the office itself — having enough phone/meeting booths, having a much bigger space, having a proper coffee machine (at last!) And of course, the quiet library room which seems to be a team favourite already.

Outside of the office, a huge range of food & entertainment options are available in the city. As much as I love Chorley, the same three restaurants start to get a bit boring after a while!

Alex: The library will offer a place to escape the noise and business of both the office and the city. I’m also excited about the social ideas we have in the space for both after-work clubs (board game nights and Dungeon&Dragons!) As well as community socials which will offer an opportunity to meet new people, and chill away from technology.

Segev: Everything about that office is something I’m looking forward to. How central the location is and how close it is to restaurants. How big the space is going to be and all the function rooms we’ll have in it.

The fact we’ll not have to rely on taxis to travel to the office, but public transportation.

What made you choose Manchester (beyond just the convenient geographical location!)

Neil: We’ve always seen ourselves as a Manchester business. When we started the business that led to the creation of Lunio (a performance marketing agency), we were working out of an apartment in Manchester city centre — so really our roots belong to the city.

Ultimately, as a scaleup, it comes down to where is best for attracting the best talent into the business (both in terms of quantity and quality). Naturally, there are two options for this in the UK — Manchester or London (sorry Birmingham! You might like to claim it but you’re not the second city….). We strongly believe you don’t need to be based in the capital to build a successful tech scaleup, and the Manchester tech scene is one of the most exciting in Europe right now. With 3 universities on its doorstep and several unicorns of its own already there’s a wealth of tech talent and experience to tap into here, whilst still keeping that small-community feel that London sorely lacks.

Segev: Coming from Haifa (3rd largest city in Israel, after Tel Aviv and Jerusalem), I didn’t believe the stereotype of “you have to build a startup in the capital”. I think Manchester is one of the best cities in the UK to grow a startup. So much talent here, and everything is more reasonably priced (office space, salaries, entertainment). Manchester has a “home” feeling and everything is so close.

What does this move mean for Lunio now?

Neil: No more sharing desks and wondering if the office will be full today!

More seriously, it signals the next stage in our scaleup journey. It allows us to do so many things we haven’t been able to do so far, such as regular networking & meetup events (keep an eye out for these!), have a more collaborative working environment and also retains extra space for future growth.

Alex: The ability to do more than just sit at a desk and work. The new space has different ideas to encourage different ways of working, from the library for solo work to the creative studio for group collaboration. From tiered seating to the entire of Manchester, the new office will provide us with so many more opportunities to create a world-class product (and brand).

Segev: The new space will enable people to collaborate, not just “be present”. This means more sessions to work with colleagues from other departments, more social activities and more fun.

How many staff did we have when we moved into Chorley?

Neil: There were only ten of us back then.

Segev: Which is wild to think about, because we’ll be moving into the Manchester offices as a team of 75+ and are already planning for when we outgrow that space as well.

Before Chorley, where were you using as an office?

Neil: We had a (very) small space in Bolton, Greater Manchester, which was your cliche startup office! Bars on the window, damp on the walls and a carpet that probably needed replacing 25 years ago… It was cheap, though!

How did it feel to leave there and move in here?

Neil: Definitely different to this move. Whilst this one is all about prepping for the future, moving from Bolton to Chorley was a different kind of excitement — a type of “Maybe we’re on to something here?!” as we got our first “proper” office.

Alex: Moving to Chorley was exciting because it was a serious upgrade and offered us a lot more flexibility on what we can do with the space. This move is different because whilst the location offers something new, and the office will be larger and beautiful, I don’t have a dislike for the Chorley space, so this time I leave the office with a mix of excitement and sadness, rather than just pure joy.