Although the year is coming to an end, we're still welcoming some lovely newbies into our W+K family.

A big hello to Victoria Smith. She's joined us a Creative Producer. She has some ace fun facts: she once had a make up brush thrown at her by Naomi Campbell and has partied with Beyonce and Jay-Z without even realising it!

This is Flore Segal. She arrives by way of Unilever's brand strategy team and the Miami ad school. Things to know about her: she's French, speaks five languages and has an impressive array of creative-crafty skills… sculpting bronze statues, sewing, upholstering and antiquing furniture. Welcome!

We've also had a couple of freelancers take the plunge and go permanent in the last week. Hurrah.

Miles has taken the aforementioned leap having freelanced here on and off for the past seven years. Yes, seven years! He's now a welcome addition to the Design department. 

Finally, Indy Basra. Another new permanent member of studio after a little freelance stint. He's previously worked at TBWA and Saatchi & Saatchi. A fun fact: he is a big Arnold Schwarznegger fan and does a mean Arnie impression.

This week we welcomed the lovely Leah to spend a week with us, giving up some of her precious summer holiday before going into her final A level year. This is her own account of the last five days in E1:

Approaching the office door early on Monday morning was certainly daunting but the tantalising aromas of toast, toast and… toast put me at ease. Alex and Nicola warmly introduced themselves and I was later given a tour of the office which, at first sight, looked like an art exhibition. It’s that cool.

This past week has been filled with meetings for Cravendale, Finlandia, Honda and a top secret new business project. However my most memorable moment was going to Wave Studios with Matt and Ray for the voice recording of the new 3 advert as part of the ‘Pay As You Go’ campaign. After being served food and drinks at its luxurious bar, we awaited the arrival of Alistair McGowan himself in the studio. His presence in the booth was surreal but his playful and powerful voice made the ad really come to life.  What I found most interesting was the attention paid to different tones, volume and character of his voice, changing the flavour every time. A couple of hours of detailed note-taking and various different recordings later, a glossy ad starring a cute pug and a hilarious voiceover was complete.

In the midst of fancy studios and meetings in library booths, my involvement with various projects, such Tesco and Stride, were stimulating and enabled me to find out what the brands stand for, who their target audiences are and their competition with other companies.

On Thursday afternoon I was asked to take photos of Mark and Paddy at the ‘Artstart’ talk at the Rich Mix cinema in Shoreditch. The ‘question and answer’ layout gave young people a clear insight into advertising from a creative perspective and what it takes to gain a foothold into the industry given our current economic climate.

(Mark is on the far left. Paddy is on the mic.)

So now my journey has come to an end. The positive and fast-paced energy at the agency is amazing and everyone I’ve worked with has been so approachable and friendly. This experience has inspired me to seriously consider a possible career in advertising. I am really excited to see everything that I have been a part of presented as finished products.

Thank you for having me, Wieden+Kennedy!