Pros
Great colleagues, 2 weeks WFH over Christmas.... that's it
Cons
This is the most toxic place I have worked at, and the list of why is freaking long. Overall just AVOID working here or with them if you can! 1. The biggest problem here is down to the Management, one (1) in particular. For someone who is two essential roles, couldn't do either of them correctly, and seemed to have nothing to do as kept getting involved in other things to compensate/feel involved. The A did most of the responsibilities of a M. They wouldn't give you your contract, you had to ask many times for it (2 years to be exact). Also, since they've been there so long, they're treated almost like family by the owners, so you know, nepotism. They don’t know the industry despite working there for years, but put themselves in charge of many industry related tasks. Finally, they would lie to justify criticism of your work and then gloating about it to others. 2. The management line was an ridiculously confusing. The one (1) manager was technically in a completely different department but acted as if they were above the Director and Heads. It made knowing who to go to for things complicated, especially with the Director not really acting as such (it was more a title that allowed him to get away with anything as the owner's son than an actual role - he would steal bookings from agents and only stop temporarily when complained about). 3. The treatment of assistants and interns is deplorable. An assistant role is literally assisting, they should not be responsible for anything directly unless compensated and in a limited number of cases. The point of being an agent is doing bookings and getting the commission. If an assistant does a booking, they should get the commission, otherwise it’s unfair and it’s asking an assistant to work above their pay grade for a pat on the back. The same goes for interns, they did more than they were taken in for and sometimes completely different roles. 4. The pay and work life balance. BMA paid an average of £5k under the market bench in a town where rent is at pair with London rent. On top of that, there are no real benefits. Casual dress and a lovely town was not enough. Minimum holiday allowance, when you are sometime working during bank holidays, was not enough. Not even commission is good enough - commission won’t count when trying to get a mortgage. Also, give people effing sick leave! No one should have to use annual leave to get surgery. 5. Progression was a joke. Sometimes you could go up quick if someone left, other times they skipped you and hired some new because "you were so good at your current role." Give me a break. 6. Double standards were so obvious they might as well have been neon signs. One team could work from home after the lockdowns were lifted but another team were not allowed. One team were chased regularly, another team weren’t. Taking into account which team made the most money on average, why were we more policed? It’s unfair, disrespectful, and plainly told us that we were not trusted (pretty sure this was said out right). 7. Racism. A mostly white office suddenly becomes diverse after a review saying their racist? It’s clear that they were tickbox hirings (even though they were lovely people good at their jobs). Also the one (1) manager was openly racist in the office. 8. Homophobia/bigotry by some of management. They refused to use the correct pronouns for our no binary talents, even to their faces. 9. Sexism. Director would comment on female models and artists' bodies in a manner that is unprofessional and extremely uncomfortable to listen to, borderline SH, in their presence sometimes as well, and when there was an instance of an SH accusation, one of the directors dismissed it as not that big of a deal. This was at the same time as they spoke about the MeToo movement. Hypocrisy at its best. Anyway, if you've reached the end just a further reminder, AVOID at all costs.
