Wolfram Drosihn is an Art Director at Havas Life Bird & Schulte in Freiburg, Germany – he came over to the Havas Lynx EU office in Manchester as part of our Havas Health Exchange Programme. This was his experience of life at Lynx & Manchester!

What similarities did you notice between your office in Freiburg and here in Manchester?

The main similarities I noticed were the type of people working in the office. I don’t really know how to describe it – you can see from the beginning who is a Creative or who is a Medical Writer. I also found that everybody is open minded in Manchester, like in my German office.

What differences did you notice between your office in Freiburg and here in Manchester?

A big difference is the size of each office (Freiburg has 40 employees and Manchester has almost 300 employees) – as the Freiburg office is smaller I feel like it’s easier and quicker to communicate with one another! One main difference for me in Manchester is the corporate culture; they have a tea trolley (and gin trolley!), Summer Fridays (where the team are allowed to leave early), running club, lunch and learns etc. There are great incentives to train and keep the people happy.

You’re an Art Director at Havas Bird and Schulte – what creative work impressed you during your time in the Havas Lynx office?

As I was there for a short time I had quite limited access to the creative work. I found inspiration by working with Tim Jones, a free thinking Creative. Also working with Roger Bradley was a great experience.

What did you like about our office space?

The location of the office was only a few steps from my apartment. The office itself I found very cool, but also quite busy and sometimes noisy like a beehive!

What #LYNXLife benefits did you enjoy the most?

I enjoyed the running club on Wednesdays. The drinks trolley & Summer Fridays were the best!

What did you do in your downtime?

Two weeks is not a long time but I feel like I’ve seen so much. What I especially liked about Manchester were the very different quarters of the city. Each has its own charm; Chinatown (delicious food), the Gay Village (nice pubs near the canal), Northern Quarter (nice design & craft market), the area around the universities (Whitworth, Manchester School of Art), Deansgate/Castlefield (Architecture) to name a few. My visit to the Whitworth Gallery and the small hike in the Peak District National Park I did with Jonny, my exchange buddy, were outstanding.

What are your main takeaways from this experience?

I found it awesome to work in an international environment with friendly people. I would like to thank the Cooper team – a lot of really nice people who welcomed me, especially my exchange partner Jonny!

Would you recommend this experience to other people in the Havas Network?

Absolutely yes!