Every big company change starts with a plan. A timeline, a workstream, a steering committee. But what separates the transformations that actually land from the ones that quietly fizzle out is not the plan. It is the people. At Panda, we have both.
And in 2025, they delivered something worth talking about. This is how two teams who, working in parallel and in step with each other, took one of the most ambitious internal transformations in our company’s history and made it stick. Not just on paper, but in the day-to-day working lives of colleagues across Ireland and the UK.
Building the foundations
By early 2025, the ambition was clear: unify our systems, simplify our structure, launch a new brand and value set, and bring our people with us every step of the way. The challenge was just as clear: doing all of this at once, across the UK and Ireland, without losing momentum, morale, or the trust of the colleagues we were asking to change.
We needed a team that could execute. And we needed a network that could carry the message.
The Transformation Team
We first laid the foundations, with our Transformation Team behind the building blocks that made it all possible. We launched a modernised structure across our business and entity restructuring kicked off to shape the brand, values, and culture work ahead. But this wasn’t all there was to it.
The second step was about alignment. Design guidelines were signed off, a culture survey and focus groups were conducted, and roadshows launched. The transformation was no longer a concept. It was becoming real, one day at a time.
The third step was where things became visible. Our new brand was launched internally to employees across the company, along with our values and what we stood for, all built through collaboration and by speaking to people face to face about what mattered most to them. On the ground, colleagues could start to see the new Panda taking shape and building excitement for something new.
Finally, once all this was done, it was go-live. New training modules were rolled out to our employees. The UK Head Office began to be refurbished, with teams working around the changes as new colours, signage, and branding brought the new Panda identity to life from the inside out.
As Maria, part of our Transformation Team put it: “From last year to this year, the change has really been embraced a lot more in the last few months—and energy is at an all-time high.” That energy did not happen by accident. It was built, week by week, by a team that refused to let complexity become an excuse.
But technology alone doesn’t create change.
For change to last, people need to understand why it’s happening and feel part of it.
That’s where our Change Ambassadors came in.
Our Change Ambassadors
Made up of more than 50 colleagues from departments across Ireland and the UK, the network became the link between the transformation programme and the people experiencing it every day.
They shared updates, answered questions, tested new processes, highlighted concerns early, and helped colleagues feel supported throughout the journey.
They also created practical resources, including knowledge hubs, training guides, and Workday walkthroughs, making new systems easier for everyone to adopt.
Perhaps most importantly, they created conversations.
Instead of change happening to colleagues, it became something they were actively involved in shaping.
As Change Ambassador Madison explained:
“It isn’t often you see a business involve everyone in changes of this scale. I think that’s a really positive sign, especially with one of our new values being Trust.”
She also reflected on something many colleagues experienced throughout the programme:
“I’ve felt a greater sense of all the arms of the business being One Team since the launch of the new values.”
Sometimes the biggest success of a transformation isn’t measured in project plans or milestones.
It’s measured in how people feel.
More Than a Rebrand
Our Panda brand marked far more than a new look. Across offices in Ireland and the UK, colleagues came together to breathe in a new chapter. It was a celebration of everything that had happened behind the scenes.
The new identity reflected a business that had evolved, not just in how it looked, but in how it worked together.
Looking Ahead
The transformation at Panda didn’t end with the launch.
Throughout 2026, Panda continues to build on that momentum, introducing new technology to improve customer and employee experiences, and continuing to embed our values into everyday working life.
Because transformation isn’t a destination. It’s something we continue to build, together.
Want to be part of Panda’s next chapter? Explore our current opportunities today.
