Not what it used to be - Anonymous employee Waterstons Employee Review

Decent place to start out. You’ll get exposure early and build some solid foundational experience. There are still good people in the business and teams that make the day-to-day enjoyable. Flexibility and work-life balance are generally good, and benefits are okay.

The work becomes very repetitive, very quickly. After a certain point, you stop learning because you’ve seen it all before. There’s a clear ceiling and not much beyond it – limited stretch, limited progression in terms of capability, and not many people left to actually learn from. A big part of that is the lack of real business development. The business seems stuck recycling the same types of small-scale clients and projects, which means the work never really evolves. It’s hard to grow when the work itself doesn’t change. Leadership is a major weakness, particularly at the senior level. It feels directionless and reactive rather than intentional. There’s no clear long-term plan, and communication is vague and often meaningless. It doesn’t feel like there’s a strong vision for where things are going – more like it’s just ticking along. Pay and progression become a real issue the more senior you get. At junior levels it’s acceptable, but beyond that it quickly becomes uncompetitive – especially in London. Salaries don’t reflect the market, there are no bonuses, and recognition is minimal.

Lots of independence Interesting and varied work Some great people in the team

We have been through a lot of disruption and lost some amazing people.