Startle Brings Music to Life in Santander’s New Work Café

We were very excited when Santander approached us to build a custom music experience for their brand new Work Café in Leeds - the first of its kind in the UK.

What's a Work Café?

Santander’s Work Cafés, already a huge success in five other countries, are designed to be a modern, inclusive space for customers. Combining traditional aspects of a bank with a co-working area and coffee house, people can visit to work, surf the web, hold meetings, attend events and make financial arrangements, all in one welcoming space.

When it comes to the customer experience, Santander are clearly in tune with what the modern consumer wants from such a place. You only have to look at the Work Café partnership with speciality coffee brand Taylor St. Baristas to gauge their firm grasp of a quality food and beverage offering (coffee aficionados - if you know, you know).

We were pleased to hear that Santander were paying equally close attention to the atmosphere built through music - a medium we’re all exposed to and impacted by, whether we know it or not. The brand expressed their desire for a day-to-day soundtrack that reflected the contemporary, relaxed environment they wanted to create in the Work Café. But they also wanted to give customers a say in the music playing during their visits, adding a new layer of engagement.

That's where we come in

Startle built Santander a modern touchscreen solution that both powers high-quality, licensed background music, and provides a fun, tangible experience for customers. Designed to blend seamlessly into the Work Café setting, customers can interact by tapping and swiping to choose songs from a selection of playlists pre-approved by Santander, including Mellow Mornings, Retro Cool and Jazz Café.

Giving customers this level of involvement fits perfectly with the inclusive feel of the Work Café, adding an element of personalisation that will make them feel at home. The space is a great reflection of how many people work today; not being fixed to one location or working traditional 9-5 hours. As a mostly remote business ourselves, this is exactly how we work! And what this new, exciting space does best is allow people to manage their work and personal lives in a way that’s convenient for them.

The Santander Work Café is now open for business! To read more, head to their website here.

Hey, we've just met you and this is crazy. But here's our number +44 (0)203 397 7676. So, call us maybe? Or get in touch here.