Partnership with Purpose: Reflections on our Journey with tms

Partnership with Purpose: Reflections on our Journey with tms

At The Brokerage, we believe lasting change happens when organisations go beyond performative action and commit to reimagining their systems. That’s exactly what we’ve seen in our partnership with tms – a global brand transformation company that believes in turning insight into impact. With creativity at their core and a human-first approach, tms helps brands build meaningful connections with people. Their values – curiosity, courage, and collaboration – aren’t just words on a page; they shape how they show up in the world.

Over the past 18 months, we’ve worked closely with tms to embed social mobility and inclusive practice into the fabric of their organisation. What follows is our reflection on the journey – what we did, what changed, and why this partnership is a model for what good DEI work can look like when it’s done with intention.

tms Partnership with The Brokerage

By Aisha Lysejko, Strategic Lead, The Brokerage

It’s not just who you hire. It’s what you change.

That’s why this partnership worked.

Over the last 18 months, we’ve worked with over 50 leaders at tms -from HR, Creative, Sourcing and Finance (to name a few).

This wasn’t box-ticking. This was real, embedded, systems-level work:

1. Assessing organisational practices

2. Introducing Social Mobility

3. Training managers to inclusively recruit & onboard talent

4. HR focus groups with our Young Leaders

5. Reverse Mentoring with Leadership

6. Org-wide reflection

Learning that led to action

Every step was met with openness. Curiosity. Care.

They learnt. And did the hardest thing – where most companies fall short:

They made CHANGES to their practices.

They also:

→ Hired an intern with us.

→ Provided work experience.

→ Supported their local school.

→ And are planning for more.

 “It’s only the opportunity that’s lacking.”

Why did they commit so deeply?

Because they now know for sure:

“It really is only the opportunity that’s lacking”“This is all about finding the best talent for the roles”

On our final day, we didn’t just celebrate – we asked:

What’s next?

How do we embed more structural change?

And the leaders got to work figuring it out.

This is how DEI becomes culture:

→ Evidence-led

→ Lived experience centred

→ Systemic, not surface-level

→ Doors opened to overlooked talent

→ Backed by people who actually care

tms isn’t done.

They’ve just started building something that lasts.

And we couldn’t be more proud to be part of the journey.