A good company but could be a great company - Anonymous employee McBains Employee Review

3.0
25 Mar 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Some really nice & talented people work at McBains. Clive Dowcra is very visible and tries to foster a spirit of openess and team work. Social and volunteer opportunities are present Good opportunities for graduates. Hybrid working. Free tea & coffee Relaxed dress in office Variety of projects is good

Cons

High turnover of staff seen in last 12 months. Unprofessional management practices including the quite obvious intention to 'force' people out if their face doesn't fit. Very little confidence that concerns over some management styles or practices would be addressed appropriately. HR very much in the background and not visible. Poor on boarding with no effort made to train new staff or provide an overview of company practice or project background. Disparity in treatment of people within teams. Under resourced in some disciplines creating unduly heavy workload. A shame that the culture promoted is not uniform across all the offices. Trust is missing between staff and senior management and in some cases between disciplines.

Explore other reviews about McBains

2.0
14 Jan 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great people to work with

Cons

Lack of senior leader ownership

1.0
26 Aug 2025
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

A lot of younger staff. Would fit in easily if you're also young. Good office location

Cons

Very high staff turnover. About £250,000 spent on recruitment fees in 2024 alone. One department had about 60% of staff leave in 2024. Some people join and then leave within a few months once they realise how bad things are internally. Low staff morale. Boring and repetitive projects. Very tight deadlines which results in working overtime with no additional pay. Some people work on the weekend to complete projects. You might want to consider this place a "workplace retirement home." You'll understand what I mean by this when you start working here

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McBains Response
5mo
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. I’m sorry to hear that your time with us was marked by challenges such as high staff turnover, low morale, repetitive projects, and demanding deadlines. Your feedback is important and appreciated. We understand that these issues can significantly impact employee engagement and satisfaction. While some projects may be routine by nature, we are actively exploring ways to diversify work and provide more stimulating opportunities for our teams. We also recognize the need to better balance workloads and timelines to support wellbeing and productivity. Your insights will be shared with the relevant teams as part of our continuous improvement efforts. We value your perspective and wish you every success in your future endeavours.
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