It’s 8:23am on a sunny Monday morning. I’ve just finished my coffee and I’m scrolling through news updates. I’m extremely excited about our first trip abroad since September 2020, which we planned over the weekend. I would never have thought, not in a million years, that we would be willing to go to such great lengths to have some sangria on the beach with half decent Tapas!!!
On top of that there is even more to be excited about following the big announcement by the Prime Minister earlier this month. Setting aside the vagueness of the announcement (which shouldn’t really surprise anyone by now) it looks like we are now going to be allowed to return to the office.
Yes, the long awaited day (for some) is finally here. The time to find the alarm clocks and book a last minute appointment with your barber/hairdresser. I have read over the weekend that over in Canary Wharf, JP Morgan staff are starting to remove the red stickers on desks and replace them with green ones and Aviva is dismantling the desk-spacing arrangements and taking down the ‘’maximum capacity’’ signs. A lot of bosses and CEO’s are being pretty vocal that they want people back in the offices – in a safe and responsible manner, of course.
Queensberry is no different and this is exactly what we will be doing. From 19th July we will be adopting a balanced approach and we will all work from the office 3 days a week. There are as many views on this topic as there are pebbles on Brighton beach. However, I am sure that the majority of people miss being in the office to a certain degree. Whether it is the hustle and bustle and evening drinks, taking a breather from your beloved children or free coffee and good banter with you colleagues – we all need this back in our lives.
Now let’s focus on what we, at Queensberry, do best which is being Development Managers.
And there is a lot to talk about…..
Our London team has been pretty busy this year achieving practical completion on two of our projects – Angel Central, Islington and The Mall, Walthamstow, both of which I am involved in. We are also nearing completion on the Borough Yards, which genuinely put a smile on my face as I was typing this.
Since I wouldn’t want you having to stop reading this excellent piece of journalism and having to go back to our website to read about those projects (please do go there and have a poke around later though) let me tell you a little bit about the first two, as my colleague Sebastian has already blogged about Borough Yards last month. I promise I’ll keep it short and snappy.
Angel Central project was a refurbishment of an operational shopping centre in Islington. We have repurposed the basement car park into new retail and leisure space, changed the external and internal layout of other retail units across the centre and significantly improved the overall external environment. The key highlights were introducing a bridge underneath the existing Angel wings sculpture, which required us to design and manufacture a new set of legs and raise the sculpture 3.5m on a hydraulic jacking tower before reattaching them – see a photo below. The other highlight was the contractor going into administration half-way through the project, but I would rather not talk about that one without having a drink first..!
The Mall, Walthamstow – following extensive fire damage to the centre (promise it wasn’t us!) Queensberry became involved in the redevelopment and rebuild works as well as helping our client with management and negotiation of the insurance claim. The project works included the addition of a contemporary food hall, relocation of management and security suites and brand new guest amenities. We have also refurbished one of the key entrances, which will play an even bigger role once all residential schemes in the vicinity have been completed – see a photo below.
That is it from me today and if you don’t mind I will now get ready for my first ZOOM call of the day..!
Take care everyone and I hope the sunburn after our recent heatwave isn’t not too bad?
Angel Central – Islington
The Mall, Walthamstow
