A great company ruined by growth and favouritism - Anonymous employee Blue Array Employee Review

2.0
13 Oct 2022
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Overall, a friendly team. Great place to build long-lasting friendships. Talented people with great work ethic. There are a few inspirational leaders in the business. Excellent onboarding and learning opportunities. There is a group dedicated to diversity and inclusion. Lots of interesting clients to work with. A company with a good reputation in the industry. I was really proud to be a part of it for the first year and intended to work there long-term.

Cons

There are favourite team members who have formed the senior team. If you are not part of this group, progression is very tough. As the company has grown, almost all the original employees have left. Senior team members are generally not “people-people”. Premature promotions are given regularly. There is a reluctance to give promotions and pay rises to non-favourites. People do not come before profit. You are overworked. If you are not a favourite, you will be underappreciated.

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Blue Array Response
3y
Thank you for taking the time to submit your feedback, we value your balanced perspective, highlighting some great positives and some suggestions for improvement. We’re super proud of our team and our continued commitment to People and Planet over profit is focussed further by our dedication to B Corp, of which our Sustainability and D,E&I panels form part of. As with most companies achieving growth, new talent is harnessed to help drive the business forward and continuous change isn’t always comfortable. We seek to promote from within, ensuring fair training and progression opportunities. We have robust processes in place to avoid bias, no one individual has the authority to make a people decision.Calibration sessions are held bi-annually with a panel of senior leaders, led by the People team, to ensure consistency across the different teams and managers. Our team are all rounders and each have varying strengths. When opportunities arise we look to give people the chance to fulfil their full potential with us and not just review their current skills and we’ll look to improve such frameworks as the team grows. Should you feel there is more to discuss here, please do reach out to people@bluearray.co.uk. We wish you all the best in your future endeavours.

Explore other reviews about Blue Array

2.0
4 June 2025
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

+Remote work +Half-day Friday at the end of each month +Decent work/life balance That’s pretty much it.

Cons

- Lack of progression, especially after recent redundancies. - Lack of investment in growing the departments. The business will not grow if you’re not willing to risk hiring more people to do a better job for existing clients. - You’re forced to work on too many clients at the same time which makes your work subpar. That then results in managers telling you that you’re not doing good enough. - Nobody listen to the feedback and the end-of-the-month QA with the management team isn’t productive. The questions stay questions, there’s rarely any action taken to address the problems. - There’s plenty of favouritism across the organisation - Lack of clarity regarding job responsibilities - The business isn’t diverse enough for what it claims - Work is repetitive and uninspiring - Work expectations compared to the salaries don’t make any sense - Omnipresent micromanagement - Time tracking system disguised as a way to actually track what you’ve been working on, not “capacity” tracker I don’t think it’s worth it. I believe that the company doesn’t protect its employees from toxic managers. They’re actively trying to protect the people who’re the problem. It’s time to think about why the company isn’t growing and what’s causing people to leave.

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Blue Array Response
11mo
Thank you for taking the time to leave such a detailed review. We’re sorry to hear that your experience at Blue Array didn’t reflect the kind of environment we’re committed to building. We always aim to create a workplace where people feel supported, challenged in a good way, and able to grow, so it’s disappointing to hear we fell short for you. We’d like to respond to a few of the concerns raised: Progression and investment: We acknowledge that recent changes have impacted how some teams experience progression. This is an area we’re actively reviewing, particularly as we look at long-term sustainability and growth. We know our people are central to that. Workload and client expectations: Balancing capacity and quality is a constant consideration for us. We hold monthly capacity meetings to ensure capacity is distributed fairly across the teams. Your feedback highlights the need for us to be even more transparent in those meetings, as well as how we manage resourcing and support teams during peak times. Culture and feedback: It's concerning to hear that our feedback mechanisms didn’t feel effective. We currently have several feedback channels outside of leadership Q&A, including listening boxes, eNPS surveys, and monthly pulse checks, in place as regular channels for team members to share their thoughts and feedback. As an SLT, we also make time to speak with every person in the business each month, between us, not just to check in, but to listen and gather honest feedback. This doesn’t take away from how you felt during your time with us, and we recognise that impact matters more than intent. However, we want to emphasise that we are actively working to build a culture where everyone feels heard and valued. Diversity and inclusion: We know this is an area where we always want to do better. Our commitment goes beyond good intentions, we’re focused on making real, visible change. We have an established and dedicated DE&I panel to help drive this work forward and ensure diverse voices are heard and represented across the business. We also actively celebrate diversity and inclusion throughout the year in meaningful ways, from commemorating Black History Month and promoting meaningful conversations and education during Men’s Health Month, to opening up and creating a safe space on Brew Monday, and fostering open discussions and awareness across the team. We’re continuing to invest in the right conversations, training, and partnerships to support meaningful, long-term progress and to make sure inclusion is embedded in everything we do. Management and trust: Your feedback on micromanagement and psychological safety is taken seriously. It’s never our intention for anyone to feel disempowered or unsupported. We always aim for our leaders to be people-first, not process-first. Over the past two years, we’ve invested in structured management development, including ACAS training, in-person workshops, and the ‘Power of We’ programme, which was rolled out across the business. One of the key outcomes of this training was the co-creation of a Charter, which sets clear expectations around how we lead and support each other., We’re committed to developing a consistent and supportive management culture that truly reflects our values. We’re grateful for the time you spent with us and the contribution you made to the business. While this may not have been the right long-term fit, your feedback helps us continue to evolve. We wish you the very best in your next chapter. If you'd be open to a confidential conversation with our People team, we’d value the opportunity to hear more and learn from your experience. — Blue Array People and Culture Team
5.0
14 Nov 2025
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The people, flexibility, human first culture and access to tools and benefits. Not solely focused on £ profits. Reasonable utilisation and time tracking targets. A founder that stays at the forefront of our industry advancements

Cons

As with most agencies, it can be very fast paced, not necessarily a bad thing just not for everyone.

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