Alicia Peel
Workplace Strategist
Workplace Strategy That Starts With Why
I help you strategically approach your second biggest business cost (real estate) by understanding your first (your people)
Avoid wasting money on the wrong office solutions by uncovering what your organisation actually needs to excel.
Most workplace projects address symptoms - noise complaints, not enough meeting rooms, hybrid policy confusion - without uncovering the root cause.
Leadership hands a brief to a designer, gets something back, and ends up with a space that looks good but doesn't address the underlying friction. I work differently. Through a co-creation process with leadership and employees, I help you understand what you actually need before any design begins - so your space, policies, and ways of working align to your business objectives, not just aesthetics or cost.
What is Workplace Strategy Consulting?
The Simple Answer:
It's the strategic work that should happen before you engage a designer or sign a lease - understanding how your people actually work, what your organisation needs to thrive, and how your physical environment and policies should support that.
The Reality:
Most workplace decisions are made reactively or based on assumptions. Companies outgrow their space, experience collaboration breakdowns, or face retention issues - then jump straight to solutions without understanding the real problem. The result is expensive changes that don't address the underlying friction.
My Approach
I work collaboratively with leadership and employees to uncover what's actually happening. Through structured inquiry, I challenge assumptions, surface hidden friction points, and help you develop strategies that are grounded in real organisational needs - not trends, not what other companies are doing, not surface-level requests.
The Result:
Workplace decisions grounded in evidence and aligned to what your organisation actually needs - so when you do engage designers or make policy changes, you're solving the right problems.
The Background That Makes This Work
6+ years at a Fortune 500 company combining business intelligence with workplace strategy - from data analysis and strategic insights for executive decision-making to RIBA Stage 0 & 1 workplace projects, real estate portfolio modelling, and change management for large corporate and public sector clients
Strategic Interior Design diploma from IE School, Spain - environmental psychology, spatial strategy, and human-centred design principles
Proven ability to connect workplace decisions to business performance - measuring what matters, identifying behavioural patterns, and translating complex findings into actionable strategy
Co-creative methodology that works with your people, not just for them - because the best solutions come from genuine collaboration, not assumptions
Continuous learning commitment - staying current with workplace research, organisational psychology, and emerging evidence on how environments shape business outcomes
Recent Work
Real Results for Growing Companies
A 70-person engineering firm had doubled in size but their office hadn't kept pace. People complained about "too many meetings" whilst struggling to collaborate effectively. The root cause? A desk-heavy environment that forced formal meetings as the only collaboration mechanism.
In just 5 weeks, a diagnostic assessment identified five critical friction points, delivered a roadmap of quick wins achievable within 0-3 months, and provided a strategic framework for their renovation versus relocation decision.
The client's response: "The result was better than expected, including data to signpost actions and much more depth than I thought from only a 5 week trial. The resulting report has exceeded our expectations and will support a significant improvement in the working environment for our teams."
Work With Me
Workplace Diagnostic for Growing Organisations
I'm currently taking on a limited number of diagnostic projects with growing organisations facing workplace challenges. This is the strategic foundation work that should happen before any design or policy changes.
What's Included:
Leadership Conversations to understand business objectives and perceived challenges
Space and policy review to identify gaps between intention and reality
Review/analysis of existing data (surveys, utilisation, feedback) where available
What You'll Receive:
Diagnostic report identifying key friction points and their interconnections
Strategic recommendations prioritised by impact
Presentation and discussion of findings
Ideal For:
Growing companies (50-150 employees) experiencing growing pains
Organisations facing collaboration breakdowns, retention challenges, or space constraints
Leadership open to having assumptions challenged
Testimonial
"Where others focus on the space, Alicia focuses on embedding culture in your workplace environment"
“After seeing some LinkedIn posts from Alicia, which looked differently at the problems within the workplace, I immediately knew I had to make contact. Where others focus on the actual space; moving desks, painting colours, etc, or with the fixed mindset that employees should be in the office, Alicia focuses on how you embed your culture in the workplace environment, what is the value of encouraging people into the office, why do they want to come in and how to use the space to encourage collaboration.
In a short space of time, she has created an in-depth report that truly understands our organisation and can help add to our culture. When I initially spoke with her, I tried to lower my excitement at the 'art of the possible' because the initial assessment was to be done in only 5 weeks. The resulting report has exceeded our expectations and will support a significant improvement in the working environment for our teams.
We have benefited from an independent critique of our policies and working practices, done in a way which doesn't criticise but enhances what we are doing. If you have issues with your teams collaborating, if you have issues with people wanting to come into the offices, if you want to consider ways of making your meetings add value, if you are looking to create an innovative environment or if you just have space issues within the workplace, then I have no hesitation recommending that you contact Alicia to undertake a Strategic Workplace Assessment on your organisation."
Client, Engineering & Manufacturing Sector
Testimonial
"An invaluable asset to any team—strategic, innovative, collaborative, and deeply committed to excellence”
“I've had the pleasure of working with Alicia for several years, and I can confidently say she is one of the most strategically-minded and forward-thinking professionals I’ve encountered. She consistently approaches challenges with a proactive mindset, not only identifying issues but actively seeking innovative and effective solutions.
What truly sets Alicia apart is her ability to challenge the status quo in a constructive way, never for the sake of change, but always to improve outcomes and add value. She is a natural collaborator, engaging cross-functional teams with ease, and she thrives in environments where complex problems require creative and strategic solutions.
Her passion for learning and continuous development is evident in everything she does. Whether it’s mastering a new skill or exploring new approaches, Alicia brings curiosity and enthusiasm to the table. Perhaps most impressively, she has a remarkable talent for breaking down complex concepts and presenting them in a way that’s both accessible and actionable for diverse audiences.
In short, Alicia is an invaluable asset to any team—strategic, innovative, collaborative, and deeply committed to excellence.”
Peter Myers, Former Operations Director of UK&I Transportation, AECOM