10 Years of SS+A: A Decade of Impact and a challenge to think differently about visitor experience
Stephen Spencer + Associates (SS+A), the human-centred customer experience consultancy known as The Ambience Architects, is celebrating 10 years of transformative work across the cultural, heritage, and commercial sectors. But this milestone isn’t just a look back, it’s a call to action.
Founded in 2015 by Stephen Spencer, a sector leader whose career spans retail, heritage and tourism, from Regent Street to Buckingham Palace, SS+A began as a purpose-led consultancy grounded in curiosity, commerciality, and care. A decade on, it has become a vibrant network of collaborators and changemakers designing experiences that move people and drive sustainable growth.
Now, SS+A is using its 10-year anniversary to challenge the sector to go beyond surface-level experience design and focus on what truly matters – how people feel.
“Too much of what’s called ‘experience design’ is still cosmetic,” says Stephen Spencer, Ambience Director. “We’re challenging organisations to go deeper. Real transformation starts with empathy. In our tenth year, we’re more convinced than ever that emotional connection is where the magic, and the value, really happens.”
That ethos is embodied in SS+A’s newly launched Visitor Journey model. This strategic tool is designed to help organisations see their visitor journey with fresh eyes and uncover overlooked moments that shape perception, memory, and loyalty.
Highlights for the SS+A team from 2025 so far include:
- Launching the InSite mystery visitor programme to deliver a more profound (and cost-effective) view of what is really happening in our clients’ visitor experiences.
- Delivering, in record time, a completely new retail range for Glastonbury Abbey to complement its new visitor facilities.
- Developing and launching a Visitor Charter to help the Castle Howard employee and volunteer team own and share its “21st Century Renaissance” restoration and re-presentation with maximum confidence and focus – a historic moment in time; and continuing our partnership with Complete Works.
- Curating the Ambience Networking Lounge at the Museums + Heritage Show, a space for connection, curiosity, and design thinking, and Stephen co-presenting ‘God is in the Details’ with Suzanne Buck of Flow Associates, challenging the sector to move beyond the superficial.
- Joining the Experience UK/DBT Trade Mission to Cairo, engaging with the Grand Egyptian Museum, Supreme Council of Antiquities and other visionary institutions.
- Launching a sustainability partnership with Distinkt, addressing 103 objectives mapped to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and hosting weekly ‘Sustainability Hour’ sessions.
- Bringing the Ambience Clinic to Spring Fair 2025 and transforming the Buyer’s Lounge into a multisensory brand engagement zone. A highlight? Stephen’s nomination as one of Retail’s Most Influential People, a well-deserved nod in our 10th year.
- Debuting the Cultural Connections Lounge at the Cultural Enterprises Conference, welcoming over 800 delegates.
Over the past decade, SS+A has worked with hundreds of organisations and supported millions of visitor experiences, helping clients reimagine their spaces, services and strategies in the UK, Ireland, Central Europe, Saudi Arabia and beyond.
“We’ve had unexpected turns, from the growth of our Associate model during COVID to international expansion,” says Lauren Groves, Ambience Architect and COO. “But the constant has always been people. Empathy isn’t a soft skill; it’s the foundation of sustainable success.”
To mark the anniversary, SS+A are launching a series of reflections, provocations and celebrations across their website and LinkedIn pages, including Associate stories, fresh insights, and a sector-wide invitation to rethink what the next decade of visitor experience should look like.
The campaign runs through the end of 2025 and will include new tools, thought leadership, and a few surprises along the way (birthday cake not ruled out).
As Stephen Spencer says; “We’re incredibly grateful for the support we’ve received from our Associates, partners, and clients, over the past decade. Above all, our passion is to help organisations be the best version of themselves, and we see the challenges swirling around our sectors as opportunities to create even better and more sustainable models. We look forward to collaborating successfully with many more inspiring destinations, organisations, and people over the next 10 years!”
ENDS
For further information please contact:
Drea Lee
07879 476745
Notes to Editors
About Stephen Spencer + Associates
Celebrating 10 years of success in 2025, Stephen Spencer + Associates is a customer experience consultancy dedicated to driving business growth in the cultural and retail sectors. They specialise in creating impactful customer experiences that enhance sustainability and profitability.
They help organisations adapt and flourish in changing markets by innovating products, services, and experiences for evolving customer demands. By putting humans at the heart of customer experience design, SS+A enable commercial success and futureproof cultural and retail landscapes by carefully designing the structure of the customer experience.
SS+A, The Ambience Architects, enhance sustainability by helping organisations to be more purposeful, people-centric, and profitable.
