Stories of Culture in Practice is a series where we explore how organisations build culture where the work actually happens – in meetings, feedback conversations, hiring decisions, and the moments that don’t make it into slide decks.
Culture is easy to talk about. Transparency is harder. It requires leaders to share the uncomfortable stuff – the financials, the frustrations, the decisions that not everyone agrees with – and to keep doing it, even when growth makes it more difficult.
Yet for some organisations, openness isn’t a policy or a programme. It’s simply how things work.
Blue Zoo Animation Studio is the BAFTA-winning, B Corp-certified studio behind some of the most beloved children’s shows on screen – from Numberblocks and Alphablocks to LEGO City: No Limits and The Adventures of Paddington. For over 25 years they’ve built a culture where transparency isn’t selective. It’s the default.
We sat down with Co-Founder and Managing Director Tom Box to find out what that actually looks like in practice.
Default to openness
At most companies, the question is: what should we share? At Blue Zoo, it’s the opposite.
“We try to work by questioning why something needs to be private – so effectively defaulting to transparency.” – Tom Box, Co-Founder and Managing Director
That starts at the top. Quarterly studio-wide calls cover the financials in full – how much money is in the bank, what profitability looks like – because Tom believes understanding the business model makes for a better, more engaged team. Anonymous feedback is limited to whistleblowing only, pushing people toward direct, honest communication rather than hiding behind a submission form.
B Corp as an accountability engine
Blue Zoo’s B Corp certification isn’t just an external badge. Tom sees it as a structural force that keeps transparency honest inside the business too.
“It means you have an accountability to external stakeholders built-in, so you can’t cherry-pick values when time or budget allows.”
It was B Corp that first prompted the studio to introduce quarterly roadmap meetings – a move that turned out to be transformative. As Tom puts it: ‘It opened our eyes as to how positive this can be for everyone in many other areas.’
Ask The Exec: questions without censorship
One of Blue Zoo’s most distinctive cultural practices is their regular Ask The Exec sessions – a forum where staff can interrogate leadership decisions directly. Questions aren’t submitted anonymously, but names aren’t read aloud alongside them, striking a balance between candour and professionalism.
Topics have ranged from hybrid working and AI policy to salary, career progression, and the realities of operating during a cost of living crisis. What makes them genuinely open rather than performative? A Managing Director reads out every question in full, including criticisms of their own decisions.
“Having a Managing Director read out a criticism of their own doing helps build a culture of personal responsibility and accountability from the top.”
One session saw a staff member challenge whether contract-based roles were treated fairly compared to permanent ones. The Head of People responded directly and honestly, including the reminder that a permanent role doesn’t equate to a permanent job. Uncomfortable, perhaps. But exactly the kind of transparency that builds real trust.
Balancing openness with confidentiality
Transparency doesn’t mean everything is shared with everyone. Blue Zoo works on top-secret projects where clients require strict limits on visibility, and they fully respect that. The key is in how they bring people along from the start.
“We onboard every member of staff explaining the ethos behind our transparency – that the goal is to build a trusting, positive environment, and that requires everyone to help by maintaining levels of trust and confidentiality.”
The culture of openness makes it easier, not harder, to hold those boundaries when they matter.
When decisions are unpopular
Transparency doesn’t mean everyone agrees. Tom is clear-eyed about that.
“If someone questions a decision and thinks it’s stupid, we first ask them to fully find out the reason for that choice – more often than not, a lack of context leads to simple misunderstandings.”
And if they still disagree? ‘We just have to agree to disagree. We celebrate that everyone is different, and a byproduct of that is there will always be differences of opinion.’
Hiring for culture fit
Blue Zoo’s industry is portfolio-led, which means artistic competence gets someone through the door. But the interview is where culture fit is assessed.
“It’s for the hiring managers to decide if they are the right team fit, and their attitude aligns with our studio’s ethos.”
Transparency isn’t a test candidates are put through. It’s something the team looks for in how people show up – the questions they ask, the way they engage.
The hardest part
As Blue Zoo has grown, maintaining that culture of openness has become more complex. When everyone could fit in one room, taking the temperature of the team was instinctive. Now, with remote working in the mix, it requires much more deliberate effort.
“Openness relies on good communication, and that is a two-way street.”
It’s a challenge Tom names honestly – which, perhaps, is exactly the point.
What transparency makes possible
The results speak for themselves. Blue Zoo recently received a Special BAFTA for positive impact – recognition that, for Tom, reflects what happens when a team genuinely trusts each other.
“Trust and transparency are synonymous; you can’t have one without the other. If a team is trusting, they feel more engaged by the work and enjoy working with their colleagues, leading to a higher calibre of work they are proud of collaborating to create.”
And what would happen if that transparency disappeared tomorrow? Tom doesn’t sugarcoat it: frustration, disengagement, a toxic echo chamber, and ultimately, the demise of the studio.
That’s not a hypothetical warning. It’s the reason Blue Zoo keeps doing the hard work of staying open, even as it grows.
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At HappyHQ, we help agencies and in-house teams build strong cultures and the leaders and teams who sustain them. Find out more about how we work at happyhq.co.uk/what-we-do, or say hello at hello@happyhq.co.uk