Case Studies

Case studies

check out some of the projects we have worked on

Case study - Research

Over the years, a number of organisations, including Aarselff, Envolve Infrastructure and Shareridge, Lorclon have invited EC into their businesses to carry out in-depth research. This work has enabled them to benchmark their current organisational culture and gain a clearer understanding of where they truly stand.

In many cases, leadership teams initially believe they understand the key challenges within their organisation. However, once the research is completed, the findings often reveal that attention has been focused on the wrong areas, allowing leaders to realign their priorities based on evidence rather than assumption.

The findings are presented back to the leadership team, supported by a comprehensive report that they can retain and refer to in the future. This report includes trended data, clear recommendations, and qualitative verbal feedback gathered during the research process.

Many of the organisations we work with employ a diverse workforce where English is not the first language. To ensure every employee has the opportunity to contribute, we provide translated survey materials in multiple languages, enabling inclusive and meaningful participation across the business.

Some organisations have also asked us to return and share the findings directly with their employees. This allows the workforce to see the outcomes of the research first-hand and reinforces that their voices have been heard. These sessions also give EC the opportunity to gather further insight, exploring the reasons behind the results and deepening understanding of employee experiences

Case study – Full programme + Research

Aarselff, Francis Brown, J Browne and Pod-Trak each made the decision to adopt the full suite of services offered by EC. Following the completion of the research phase, we worked closely in partnership to develop a tailored plan that directly addressed the challenges identified through the findings.

We collaborated with senior leadership to create a programme name that reflected each organisation’s identity and could be embedded and sustained well into the future. Employee involvement was a key priority throughout this process. As the programme would ultimately shape their day-to-day experience, it was essential that employees felt genuinely involved and invested from the outset.

Once the programme branding had been finalised, EC designed bespoke modules for each business, focusing specifically on the priority areas highlighted by the research. The overarching objective was to ensure everyone was aligned, with a clear understanding of the role they play in building and sustaining a positive organisational culture.

During delivery, EC worked directly on site and within offices alongside teams, supporting the practical implementation of the learning. This hands-on approach also allowed us to continue listening to employees, understanding their frustrations, and identifying how they wanted to be supported as the programme progressed.

18-24 months after the whole process started the research was redone to see if the culture of the business had improved and what new areas of focus were needed moving forward.

Case study – Full programme – No Research

Companies such as Ardmore, Blu-3, Sisk and Sons and EKFB chose not to undertake formal research, instead focusing on addressing specific challenges while still adopting the ethos of a full cultural programme.

For each organisation, EC delivered an initial taster session to the senior leadership team, giving them a clear understanding of our delivery style and approach. Once confidence in the programme had been established, discussions took place around how the programme would be positioned and what it would be called.

Both Ardmore and Blu-3 invited EC onto their sites to work directly with teams and, importantly, to involve employees in shaping the programme identity. Employees were encouraged to suggest programme names, with ideas narrowed down to a shortlist of five before a company-wide vote took place. This inclusive approach ensured employees felt engaged from the outset, significantly increasing ownership and long-term buy-in.

The sessions were delivered across the entire business, regardless of role, and each session included a mix of leaders, office-based staff and site teams. This created a shared experience and reinforced the message that culture is everyone’s responsibility.

Case Study – Site Support with feedback

eviL culture has developed a strong and trusted working relationship with organisations including Agent, Spencer Group, Siemens, Network Rail and Bridgeway. These partnerships involve EC spending dedicated time on specific projects to gain a genuine understanding of the culture within each environment.

During this time, EC works closely with both management teams and the full range of trades on site. Engagement typically lasts between one and five days, allowing us to fully immerse ourselves in the day‑to‑day realities of the project. By working alongside the teams, EC creates the space for open and honest conversations, enabling individuals to share the real challenges they face on a daily basis. This hands‑on approach also allows EC to experience the culture in real time, rather than relying solely on perception or assumption.

Once the time on site has concluded, EC meets with the contractor’s project management team to discuss the key themes and findings that will be included in the report before it is formally produced. This step is an important part of building trust, giving the leadership team early visibility of what has been identified and the opportunity to discuss the points openly. As a result, there are no surprises.

The final report is then produced and presented to the client, followed by a collaborative meeting to explore the findings in detail and agree next steps.

Case Study – Black Hat supervisor training

Following earlier work with the EKFB tunnelling team, EC was approached to deliver targeted support for all supervisors working on the project. The focus of this work was to enhance supervisors’ capabilities through personalised one‑to‑one coaching, with a particular emphasis on improving the quality and effectiveness of team briefings.

While supervisors are often promoted into their roles with strong technical competence and receive the relevant technical training, they do not always have the opportunity to develop the softer skills required to communicate effectively. As a result, many rely on instinct or learn through experience. This programme was designed to provide structured guidance and practical support, enabling supervisors to deliver clearer, more engaging and more impactful briefings to their teams.

Key observations and development points for each individual were recorded and shared with their line manager, ensuring transparency and alignment.

EC continues to support supervisors on site, working alongside them to embed the learning, reinforce good practice, and support ongoing improvement over time.

Case study - Bespoke annual business review sessions and start backs briefings

Many of our regular clients include annual or six‑monthly stand‑down sessions as part of their wider programmes. The purpose of these sessions varies, ranging from business updates to targeted campaigns aligned with specific times of the year, such as winter or summer working.

Some organisations engage EC on a more ad‑hoc basis, inviting us to deliver guest sessions at their annual roadshows or conferences. In these instances, our role is to bring energy, interaction and engagement to the event. Whatever the focus of the day, we tailor our content to align with the key messages and help land them in a meaningful and memorable way.

We have delivered sessions in this format for a wide range of clients, including Byrne Brothers (delivered across multiple projects over several days), Enable Infrastructure (a one‑off session attended by a mix of supply chain partners and clients), Reds10 (an annual business update for all employees), ISG (nine 30‑minute sessions delivered over a single day), and Techrete (delivered across two UK offices and one in Ireland). Audience sizes have ranged from 50 to 850 attendees.

Balfour Beatty Living Places also approached EC to design and deliver an engagement session for their Black Hats at their bi‑annual conference. At the previous conference, attendees were asked what they would like to see at future events, with a clear request for support around putting people to work and delivering effective briefings. Following this feedback, the Head of Health and Safety and an Area Director contacted EC for support.

In response, EC designed a three‑hour session, delivered in segments throughout the day, providing practical tools to support effective communication during briefings and when setting teams to work. The session was extremely well received, and following its success, EC was subsequently asked to deliver the same content across a wider tour of live projects

Case Study – Leadership

While working with two contractor clients on a London‑based project for Berkeley Homes, the Project Director approached eviL culture to explore our involvement in their quarterly Senior Leadership Team (SLT) meeting held on site.

The meeting brought together senior leaders from each contractor working on the project, with a clear objective to strengthen collaboration across all organisations involved. eviL culture was asked to design and deliver an engaging session that would help leaders better understand their individual and collective roles in driving collaboration and setting the tone for the project.

We were given a two‑hour slot within the meeting to deliver a session that was both interactive and impactful, encouraging honest discussion while reinforcing the responsibilities of leadership within a complex, multi‑contractor environment.

Argent also run a regular Senior Leadership Team forum for the contractors they work with. Following the success of our work on previous projects, we were invited to showcase our approach and demonstrate the impact it had delivered. Argent were keen for more of their contractors to adopt a similar approach, based on the positive outcomes they had seen.

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everything bespoke

Reviews...

...innovation...

“We approached Evil Culture to bring some innovation and fresh thinking to our cultural safety program which had been running in a similar format for some time.

Karl and the team impressed by developing and delivering engaging content for our company wide SLT and would not hesitate to engage them again.”

...an asset to have onboard...

“Having known and worked with Karl for many years, I must say he’s been an asset to have on board.
Working closely with him to look at things from a different perspective has helped us develop bespoke impactful sessions that really gets people thinking.
Using the latest psychological tools that can help show how to get the best out of situations and making them easy to understand has helped us drive down our incident rates.
Working with everyone in the Organisation, it has helped us start a movement and push us up the Culture maturity ladder.

We are not only a safer business from working with evil Culture, we have also become a more connected and Proactive focused team.”

...of great value...

“I knew Karl in my time as CEO of J Murphy & Sons through 2015 - 2017.
He was an important member of the Cultural Development Team at Murphy - an initiative which put Murphy at the forefront of driving the much-needed deep cultural change in the construction industry.
This Cultural Development Programme (CDP) was established to bring meaning and relevance amongst the whole workforce to the company values and engage their support in the delivery of its strategic purpose and business plans.
The programme focussed on the Murphy values of Never Harm, Always Deliver, Constantly Improve, Work as One Team and Respect All. Karl was a very effective member of this team helping to develop the delivery programme and leading a number of its coaching and training modules.

I have no doubt that his knowledge, enthusiasm, energy & integrity will be of great value to the clients of his newly formed venture”

...able to engage at every level...

“Working with Karl over three years, Karl had the ability to create and communicate a very wide cultural development programme across a multi-disciplined business.
Karl had a unique skill to be able to engage with every level of the company with complete professionalism to deliver a second to none programme in the industry.
Karl managed to motivate groups and individuals to deliver the theory into practice which can't be achieved by many others in the field in my experience.

If your business needs assistance in this area, you need to look no further, Karl through EC s will deliver to your requirements, and you won't be disappointed!”

...positive change...

“Karl has been instrumental in starting to drive some really positive change with some challenging projects.

His engaging and no-nonsense approach to identifying and resolving cultural issues is really refreshing.

He rapidly builds trust with project teams, and his open sharing of opportunities with clients and contractors allows everyone to move forward.”

...helped us adapt...

“eviL Culture came in and embedded themselves into our culture and assessed where we were on behavioural safety, they then helped us adapt our model to work better for the business and its people. This was the start of a long relationship with Karl and his team which has benefitted Pod-Trak and its culture.”