An interview with Holly Farmer from Huddle, the iconic workspace provider in the heart of London.
A lack of concentration, a need for human interaction and non-creativity are just some of the factors that can influence productivity. Although some have become accustomed to the; work from home ideology, can sleeping, working, socialising and relaxing be encompassed into one environment?
Creativity needs a home.
Work Ethic
I managed to speak to Holly Farmer, the Community Relationship Manager for; Huddle. A breath of fresh, air is the only way to describe someone who I believe can make a difference to any business model.
Huddle, a brand that offers; private offices, coworking, virtual offices, meeting rooms and custom workspaces. What separates this brand from others in their sector is the want and need to provide a very high level of service. There is a focus on a very human side of a business; something that is lacking with the COVID 19 situation.
Holly explained that her team provide a dose of normality; I was intrigued to find out more. Facilitating a reason to be productive in a workspace which offers safety and flexibility can impact efficiency. Home distractions impair creativity, conference call technology has taken away that personal interaction that was once important.
Safety
Huddle installed handsfree sanitisers, foot openers for doors, sticker placement to indicate which direction to walk once inside the building. All common areas limit the number of people at any one time. All guests must have their temperature taken as a precaution, which I feel is very important to protect any workspace. These are non-negotiable standards and contribute to the ambience of working away from home.
Internet Businesses
One type of business sector which has naturally increased during the last six months is Internet-based businesses. I think this is one area where having storage and the ability to add or subtract working space defines flexibility.
Startups
The lockdown has had an impact on a work-life balance. To open a business was not a consideration for many up until that point. Fear ruled a culture of nine to five as a growing credit score dependency reigned over a nine to five work bubble, the very thought of owning a business never considered.
The trend towards a start-up culture has conflicted with the more traditional model of; long office hours. For many, this is still highly desired, with a growing minority favouring flexibility and adaptability in direct contrast to employment. I think its safe to say that the expansion and contraction of a workspace are more in line with the new now and is the main feature for business in 2020. Drawn towards their on-demand space offering; for that one crucial meeting complimented by; mail collection, a phone answering service and a mail forwarding service are far from the trappings of working from home.
Bright and colourful decor sits well with playing towards the feel-good factor, very often overlooked but considered essential for productivity and efficiency. As our conversation drew to a close, I couldn’t help but think that business networking groups could only benefit from this type of service provider.
