John Williams
Director/Founder, SpaceInvader
John Williams is the Director/Founder of SpaceInvader, the Manchester-based consultancy he set up in 2009. SpaceInvader is now one of the UK’s premier interiors agencies, with projects covered by the press worldwide and nominated for over 80 awards.
SpaceInvader projects have, to date, been award winners at the BCO North, BCO Midlands and OAS Development Awards; the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards; the FX Awards; the Sustainable Design Collective Awards; MIX North Awards; RICS Awards; Insider Property North West Awards and the World, European and London Design Awards, where the company was also named ‘Best Medium-Sized Design Agency’ in the UK in 2020. In the same year, SpaceInvader was named ‘Interior Design Firm of the Year’ at the Corporate LiveWire Global Awards and, in 2023, won ‘Design Practice of the Year’ at the MIX North Awards (for companies with under 50 employees).
John leads his creative team across many sectors, including hospitality, stadia, commercial workplaces, retail, developer residential and cultural, public-facing environments. Clients include leading brands and institutions, from Accor to Hilton, Tribe, Pullman and Wilde Hotels Group; Lloyds Banking Group; JD Sports; Manchester City Football Club; Birmingham City Football Club; Legal & General; AVIVA; MUSE and Bruntwood.
John is a member of the BCO and a BritList-nominated designer. In 2024, he was an awards judge for the inaugural Next Generation Awards, launched by CIUK. John is a regular panellist and commentator at events and Round Tables across the design, property, hospitality, stadia and workplace sectors – from MIX Interiors and Material Source to SBVLive, Clerkenwell Design Week, Meet Up North and DARC Thoughts. He has been profiled by Design Insider, for whom he is a Design Ambassador and by FX, as part of the magazine’s ‘Radical Thinking’ series. Design Week interviewed John about the ‘Turning Points’ in his career in 2024, and, in 2025, published his insights into successful client services. John has additionally contributed thought leadership and commentary on subjects ranging from workplace and hospitality trends to AI and regenerative design for FX, Architecture Magazine, Work in Mind, Natwest Business Hub, Be the Business, Material Source, MIX Interiors, Designerati, DARC and Hotel Designs, for whom he was also a podcast guest.
John believes in evolving and pushing design projects at every stage, whilst remaining loyal to the SpaceInvader ethos of collaboration and authentic, location-specific schemes. His relaxed and friendly personal style ensures a positive and happy studio culture, where creativity is always encouraged, directly enabling the team’s questioning, creative approach.
John is a strong advocate for a more sustainable future, pushing for the use of sustainable products and materials and projects with the lowest possible carbon impact and energy use. He believes the carbon footprint of the construction sector remains a massive issue and that businesses need to do more than pay lip service to get to net zero.
John also believes in design with a social value and that the vision of each project should continue out into the community, with both hotel and office developments offering areas for local small businesses and retailers, for example, and at manageable rent levels, so that not only the look but the vibrancy and integrity of schemes is optimised and enabled.