Under-whelming company struggling to become Average whilst pretending to be World leading
Pros
AO UK has quite a range of people from a variaty of backgrounds (AO itself, Sema, KPMG (Consulting) working there so it can be a skills-rich environment....however this comes with it's disadvantages (see next section). So it has some good staff, who know their stuff and want to do a good job for the client
Cons
The way the company works - it's just ....cheap ! It tries to do everything on the cheap and it comes across in the way they generally conduct business. The 2004 / 2008 Olympics is a classic example. AO provided all the IT support for the Games - a massive achievement....but nobody knows that because AO won't stump up the cash to advertise and capitalise on their project. Crazy ! They also treat their staff fairly poorly as well i.e. if you ask them what they did for the Xmas party - they'll probbaly tell you they had a band in, a few drinks and had a great time.....which is kinda true - if you count some of the staff bringing in their own instruments to play a few tunes and the organiser handing out a few bottles of beer (that HR subsequently told us we counldn't have) and you get the picture ! If you want a squeezy fish however - this is the company for you !