Our Grand Office Unopening

As if there wasn’t enough going on in the last year, we relocated to our new head office in Livingston. ?

Packing up and leaving a building which had been our home, and in constant use for over 15 years (although somewhat abandoned for a year when everyone worked remotely) was a task in itself but throw in the fact this happened in April 2021 which, if you recall, was pre-vaccine for most colleagues and was definitely still deep in work from home territory and you can maybe get a glimpse of the challenge.?

And for certain, we weren’t moving like for like. Speaking with colleagues and listening to their views, we knew well before April that our working model would never be the same again, we simply no longer had the need for such a large suite of offices. With our colleagues (and myself) happily and successfully working from home it was clear that we would be moving to a hybrid approach when restrictions allowed, clients seemed happy with our delivery methodology and candidates ever more comfortable with video rather than face to face interactions, it was time for a change not just in the way we worked, but where we worked.?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

So, cupboards were emptied, furniture dissembled, boxes packed, and trucks loaded. Colleagues did an excellent job of utilising Facebook marketplace to pass on office equipment and other sundries no longer of use to us but happily picked up by others. ?

Then it was time to set up our new home.

Livingston has been Escape’s home since our inception back in 2000 and even as our teams and customers grew across Scotland, Livingston has always been the central hub for Escape, and we are delighted to have found an excellent space that meets our needs at the Alba Innovation Centre.

And it wasn’t just a new address, it was time for hot desking and flexibility and getting ready for colleagues returning to an actual office! It was clear that this would be viewed differently by individual team members, some excited to get out of their spare rooms or away from kitchen tables, others perhaps more cautious or even anxious about returning to a routines, habits, and norms that they’d moved on from. So, for us, it was much more than just getting new furniture set up and checking all the cables were connected properly. This was a new way of working and actually a new way of life.

Then, when we arrived at the week, scheduled to be our staff Open Day, we were ready to welcome our teams on-site (in small, socially distanced groups of course) to see their new office, some familiar faces in real life, not just on screen and to pick up a goodie bag with some treats and tools to help remote working go smoothly.

But of course, as with so many other plans in 2021, it was not to be and taking on board the updated guidance at the time we decided it just wasn’t the right moment or a smart decision to go ahead with an open day…

...cue our Unopen Day!

Video tours, online demos, an unboxing (technically, unbagging) of our gift bags and guides on what you need to know were quickly created and shared with the team.

Okay, it wasn’t the day we hoped for, but it was the right thing to do and if we’ve all learnt anything in the last couple of years, just because something has always been done a certain way, doesn’t mean that’s the only way you can do it. So no, as it turns out, you don’t need to go into an office for an office open day, you don’t even need the office to be open!

And finally, to any of our team, reading this, I hope you enjoyed our Unopen Day videos and event and of course I very much look forward to welcoming you properly to our new office as we return during 2022 and develop and get used to a more flexible way of working.

Connect with Adrian: LinkedIn | [email protected]

New office: Alba Innovation Centre the Alba Campus, Livingston EH54 7GA, 01506 461445, [email protected]

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