2008 PRESS RELEASE
Stylish new office clubs will change the way we work
A new relaxed-style of office club, such as the recently opened ‘One Alfred Place’, is being heralded as start of a trend to establish a-place-to-work-in the-city for growing numbers of professional mobile workers.
Although experts have been predicting an expanding home-based workforce for more than a decade, the reality is somewhat different. Increasingly, professionals aren’t simply looking for the chance to work at home in their pyjamas five days a week, but greater flexibility. That means an opportunity to knuckle down to write that report or make calls from the back bedroom two days a week but still needing client contact, the opportunity to network and keep a finger firmly on the commercial pulse on others.
Although businesses have been slow to respond to a move to home working, the cost of providing a large centralised HQ housing individual workstations costing an estimated £10k a year is now driving change. Many business commentators believe the office club which combines full business services in a less formal environment could be the way forward.
Quadrant’s managing director, James Scully, has witnessed the trend: “The concept behind the office is evolving and this is also influencing interiors. These new office clubs demonstrate that the space in which we choose to work is becoming softer, more relaxed. There’s a new domestic influence with stronger patterns, warmer colours and fabrics. Our design team understands this and is creating carpets that reflect a new style of working.”
Change is undoubtedly on the cards. Although membership at Alfred Place will no doubt attract those with super high salaries there’s no doubt that a simplified concept could be the answer for the thousands of ‘mobilers’ or ‘nomadics’ who turn to the high-street coffee shop as a temporary workstation in the city.
