Tea soup

This is a blog post that I’ve wanted to write for a loooooong time! As we enter our 10th year of business – most of which have been in somewhat ‘rough around the edges’ serviced offices – we’re finally moving to a nice shiny HQ of our own in central Brighton.

Here’s the important info:

• Our last day at the Brighton Media Centre is this Friday – 20 November.
• From Monday 23 November we’ll be at Lees House, 21-23 Dyke Road, Brighton, BN1 3FE.
• Mail sent to our old address will be redirected for a few months.
• New phone numbers will be updated on our website once we have them. We’ll also email everyone we know.
• Old phone numbers will be redirected for as long as necessary, but please do update your address book once you have the new numbers as the Brighton Media Centre will eventually need to recycle the old ones.
• We’ve worked hard to make sure that our email will work seamlessly and we have various techies on red alert during the switch-over (although personally I’m cynical about these things and expect something to go wrong with an ISP or a server somewhere in the process!) If you are worried about an urgent communication getting through, please call us on 01273 648301. But I’m sure it’ll all be fine. Really.
• All of our client’s websites are safe and sound in data centres in London and will be completely unaffected by our office move, so that’s something that we don’t have to worry about.
• Yes, there will be an office warming party once we’ve settled in.
• If you’re a client or friend of ours and are curious about the new place, just drop us a line and we’d love to have you pop in for a cuppa and a look around.

OK that’s the practical stuff. On a self-indulgent and sentimental note, I just wanted to say what a big deal this is not just for me – who has worked in the same building since 2001 – but for the whole team here at NM.

Over the last couple of years, if you had asked just about anyone on the team if they could change one thing about working here, the answer would have almost certainly been ‘FFS – WE NEED A NEW OFFICE!’ We’ve been cramped; split over two floors; and put up with strange smells in the corridor (”Is that the odour of fish soup, or is there another dead pigeon in the lift shaft?”)

Brighton is a nightmare if you’re in the market for a decent quality office around 2000 square foot. We had a couple of false starts with other places, and the team have been so patient and tolerant of our sub-standard digs. We kind of can’t believe that we’re finally moving.

Our new office has such basic features as: a proper boardroom; kitchen; quiet working room (for when Will’s random outbursts are interrupting your flow) and a lovely creative space with a floor-to-ceiling whiteboard, big screen and beanbags where we can stroke our chins and invent the future for our clients.

Creating the new seating plan has been an interesting challenge. In a democratic company, everyone gets a say, and the directors don’t get any special treatment (damn!)

Probably the biggest unanswered question is what to do about the office stereo. The Wednesday tradition of the love hour will stay, but any suggestions about how to get 18 people to agree on what to play on the office airwaves would be much appreciated in the comments.

Finally, a HUGE thank you to Lasy for sorting the legals and financials; Josh, Anna, Jenni and Edd for planning the interior; but most of all to Leesa for co-ordinating absolutely everything else.

So… YAY TO NEW OFFICES! Can’t wait to have you round.