A bridge across the pond

November 29, 2022
3 mins read
As Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds bought some American spirit to Wrexham, Moneypenny brings a touch of Britishness to Atlanta 

As Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds bought some American spirit to Wrexham, Moneypenny brings a touch of Britishness to Atlanta 

Moneypenny is bringing a little bit of Britain to Atlanta by transferring two of its team and creating a mini-Wrexham community with the appointment of Ela Bayraktar as Marketing Manager and Stephanie Vaughan Jones as Head of Business Development. Both Ela and Stephanie have between them been at Moneypenny in their UK offices in Wrexham (UK) for 20 years and are very much looking forward to their new roles in the Moneypenny Atlanta offices where they will be responsible for supporting the growth and development of the business. 

Moneypenny in Atlanta is expanding rapidly and is also recruiting for a new head of marketing and many other roles. Recognizing the value and importance of connecting culture, Moneypenny is linking its Atlanta and Wrexham, UK, headquarters through an exchange program, with team members spending time in their sister countries getting to know each other as well as the quirks and customs of being part of a global family.

Stephanie Vaughan Jones has recently moved to Atlanta on a long placement and commented: “I jumped at the opportunity to work abroad and experience new ways of working, and Atlanta is an amazing place to live and work. I can’t get over how welcoming everyone has been and how vibrant the business scene is. Just as Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds have bought a touch of the American spirit to Wrexham, we will be bringing a touch of Britishness to Atlanta.”

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Of course, there are a few words commonly used on either side of the Pond, which Ela and her colleagues have put together to help their colleagues:

A guide for those lost in translation:
US                            UK
Underwear   Pants
Pants                  Trousers
Bangs                  Fringe
Toilet                     Loo
Semi                  Lorry
Trunk                  Boot (car)
Chips                 Crisps
Cell                 Mobile
Band aid         Plaster
Trash Can Bin

Some UK expressions to amuse or confuse:
Low-hanging fruit: The easiest set of tasks to be achieved
Blinder: An excellent performance
Cut corners: To do something the easiest or fastest way
Call it a day: Decide to stop something
Go the extra mile :  Make more effort than is expected
At the end of the day: When everything is considered
As of yet: A deal is still being worked out, but nothing is finalized
Close of play: 5:30 pm

And here’s how the two HQ locations measure up: 

ATLANTA VS WREXHAM
Atlanta United FC
Founded in 2014
Play at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, 71,000
capacity
The Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Training
Ground is a 33-acre site

Wrexham A.F.C. (now owned by Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds).
National League (fifth tier)
Founded in 1864 (the third oldest professional football team in the world)
Play at the Racecourse Ground, 10,771 capacity
7-acre training ground at Colliers Park

Atlanta Industries:
Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines, AT&T, UPS, Chick-fil-A 
Wrexham Industries:
Moneypenny, JCB, Magellan Aerospace, Kellogg’s, Cadbury, Sharp, Brother

Atlanta: 498,725 population (within city limits) 
Atlanta: 65,692 population

Filmed in Atlanta:
Stranger Things, The Walking Dead, The Hunger Games, Black Panther, Loki, Divergent 

Filmed in North Wales:
Wonder Woman 1984, Doolittle, The Legend of Tarzan

People born in Atlanta: 
Julia Roberts, Chloë Grace Moretz, Chris Tucker, Gladys Knight, Dwight Howard 

People born in Wrexham:
Adrian Holmes, Robbie Savage, Tim Vincent, Amy Guy, Leon Pownall
Buried in Wrexham: Elihu Yale (benefactor of Yale University)

Atlanta Media: WXIA-TV 11 (NBC), WGCL-TV 46 (CBS), WSB-TV 2 (ABC),and WAGA-TV 5 
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Atlanta Business Journal
Gwinnett Daily Post
GwinnettForum 

Wrexham Media: BBC Cymru Wales
ITV Wales
Daily Post
Wrexham Leader
Wrexham.com

Atlanta Museum: High Museum of Art 
Wrexham Museum: Tŷ Pawb

Atlanta Food:
Barbecue, Southern fried chicken and lemon pepper chicken wings 
Wrexham Food:
Roast chicken, pork pies

Eric Schurke, CEO of North America, comments: “Celebrating our differences helps to unite and educate us. It helps us understand others’ perspectives and broaden our own. This may be a bit of fun, fueled by our US/UK office exchange program but in fostering this we foster a culture of growth and learning, resilience, agility and above all respect.”

Global experts McKinsey predicts that the global labor market will be in excess of 3.5 billion by 2030, bringing with it a further change in this ever-evolving business landscape. One that means working across countries and time zones but one that will help us to harness the power of new perspectives, backgrounds and experiences which make us all unique as individuals, never mind nations. 
Discover more: https://moneypenny.com/us/