Cottsway Housing - Design, Marketing, PR & communications

Cottsway annual report

Cottsway Housing asked us to design its 2015-16 annual reports and value for money assessment. Our creative designers came up with a concept that had heritage by nodding to previous design work, but also moved the brand forward with better use of colour and white space. The organisation was delighted with the end result, which was a suite of professional-looking documents it could use to help attract investors into the business.

“Creative Bridge has taken time to understand what drives Cottsway. This means they can translate what we

want into words and designs that get our message across clearly and succinctly. They also bring independent

challenge, which has been enormously helpful in shaping our thinking about communications.”

Vivian Rosser, chief executive, Cottsway Housing

Professional design for annual reports and financial statements

Cottsway Housing asked us to produce a suite of reports, including its value for money assessment and 2015-16 annual reports. Our brief was to help the organisation look as professional as possible, as it was applying for a £130 million private bond and had a desire to attract more investors.

We have worked with Cottsway since 2013, helping to raise the organisation’s profile through customer, staff and stakeholder communications, redesigning its residents’ magazine, and auditing and making recommendations for improving its online presence in a ‘digital by default’ world.

Prior to this latest project, we had also written and designed two annual reports for the company, meaning our teams were well immersed in the company’s brand and design preferences.

For the latest reports, we proposed a development and refining of Cottsway’s existing suite of annual publications, rather than a completely new look. We introduced more white space into the designs and injected colour by making use of the brand’s extended colour palette. The customer and corporate versions of the reports were designed to be different but also have elements of consistency of design so they could be viewed as a suite of publications.

Meanwhile, our copywriters ensured the written content was primarily focused on people across the organisation, and allowed them to tell their stories in their own words.

Cottsway was delighted with the latest reports and had minimal amends to make during the design process.