A seething pit of vipers - Anonymous employee Cult London Employee Review

Great people and a good atmosphere

I have no cons to give

You'll make some good friends

Between the performative activism, fake 5 star reviews, the most toxic work environment you'll ever encounter, and two co-founders with absolutely no experience working in creative or a creative environment, this place is a recipe for disaster. You will realize very quickly, after just a few weeks at the company, how toxic, disorganized, and self deprecating this place truly is. You will lose every ounce of self esteem you once had and built up over the course of your career all within the first few months. You are constantly made to second guess your decisions and talent, to a point where you even wonder if you’re good enough to continue working in the industry. You’ll feel so manipulated and trapped in what can only be described as the most poisonous environment you’ll ever be in. Both the co-founders and management will sell you into this “dream” that doesn’t, and won’t ever, exist. You are left to handle projects and campaigns that would require a team of 6 people to do all alone. They will refuse to provide you any sort of support no matter how much you plead or mentally spiral out of control. There is zero management from higher ups within the agency and both junior and mid-level employees are left in a guessing game of how exactly to push projects forward, all without any help or oversight from management. Management will tell you over and over they are there to support you, but will eventually throw you under the bus for ‘under performing’ come time of your review. The only way to move up here is if you are a ‘favorite’ or drink the ‘Cult Kool-Aid’. Every ounce of talent and dedication is disregarded unless you bow down to management’s beck and call. You’ll eventually be bullied into quitting or fired for ‘unknown’ reasons. The turnover rate is so high, you’ll be lucky if you even make it 1 year at the company, they suspiciously get rid of everyone that does not agree with them on how to run the business. The toxic ways of management breeds an even worse toxic work culture from the top down. Some employees will do anything to undermine others, even when working together. They are constantly asking employees about feedback for the deeply rooted issues that have been thriving in the company from the beginning, yet lack any initiative to move forward and progress. They are constantly preaching for more ‘diverse’ talent, yet lack an inclusive staff; they thrive on performative activism. Both co-founders will never take responsibility for the company’s problems, but instead, radiate those issues onto their very own staff, undermining their ability to perform and their work-life balance. They’ll wine and dine clients on overpriced dinners and ridiculous project expectations that they can never follow through with, because in the end, they are so disorganized and lack support for their staff that they over-promise and under deliver on every single project. The result of this is an abusive relationship between the agency and clients with expectations that will never be met on budgets that are so low. You’ll bend over backwards, working unrealistic hours, to meet client needs and in return, receive nothing. With management’s egos so big, you’re constantly told you’ll be creating ‘award winning work’, that will never happen. Do not fall into the trap of broken promises and smooth sweet talk from the co-founders. They’ll sell you into how forward leading the company is when in reality, they’ll never move past their old ways.