28 business focus Life and wine at One Waterside Drive


Following the relocation of Laithwaites head office some six months ago to One Waterside Drive at Arlington Business Park, Theale, Haslams caught up with David Thatcher chief executive of Direct Wines/ Laithwaite's to reflect on the move and life in general


How are you finding working in the new offices?


We are very happy here, and things have worked well pretty much from the day we moved in.


They say getting married and moving house are the top two most stressful events of your life – where would you rank moving offices?


There’s obviously a lot to organise and, like any big project, there are bound to be a few bumps along the way, but we had a really good team of people, both internal and external experts, who made it all happen, so that took a lot of the potential stress out of it ... Although I am sure there were stressful moments for them.


Are you glad you took the decision to relocate?


Very – the new office is a nice step up from our old home and we are all enjoying the space and light, as well as the open plan set-up.


How have you utilised the space?


We work in a very flexible way and encourage our teams to communicate with each other as much as possible. The space has been designed to maximise this in a formal and informal way. This includes meeting rooms, break-out areas, touchdown facilities and our own lunch space, 'The Chiller'. The property also includes our tasting centre and showroom which is open to the public.


How have the people in the business responded to their new environment?


Everyone seems very happy.


Do you make use of the bike parking and showers on site? If not why not… cycling is – we are told – the new golf, whatever that means?


We do indeed - all, of the lockers are taken and the bike


www.businessmag.co.uk THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – SEPTEMBER 2015 David Thatcher


If you weren’t doing your current job what would you be doing?


Assuming my age (and lack of talent) ruled me out of Moto GP Racing or playing up front for Coventry City, I would probably be staking out Tony and Barbara’s [the Laithwaites’] house to try and persuade them to give me this job.


rack is pretty full ... even I have promised to start cycling in soon ... Which I may well regret.


What is best about the new office?


I think the light and space and having all of our teams working together are the biggest advantages.


Are there any negatives… feel free to dish the dirt?


Nothing beyond the odd teething problem that you’d expect in any new building.


Where is next for Laithwaite's?


We’ve just been voted Best Wine Merchant and Best Online Retailer at the International Wine Challenge, so we’ll be doing our very best to keep up those high standards and deliver a brilliant customer experience online, in our shops and on the phones.


What is the best place you have sampled your company’s product?


At our annual Vintage festival at Billingsgate – an amazing venue and a brilliant chance to meet our winemakers and 5000 of our customers over two days.


Is English wine any good?


Yes – if you haven’t tried one of our English quality sparkling wines yet you really should – they are as good as, and sometimes better than, Champagne.


Finally… and probably most importantly what is your favourite wine?


Different wines for different


occasions, so it’s almost impossible to just choose one - the best part of my job is that it’s important that I try as many as possible.


One Waterside Drive is the 41,000 sq ft building located 500m off M4 Junction 12 and previously occupied by Hewlett Packard before the landlord, buoyed by successful lettings earlier in 2014 on the adjoining building to RFMD and Tenemos, negotiated a surrender of HP’s lease. This triggered a major strip-to-core refurbishment of the property which is due for completion later this month.


PV cells on the roof, a new highly energy-efficient M&E system, LED Cat 7 lighting and a generous provision of showers, cycle racks and lockers all helped contribute towards the building achieving a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating. The specification also includes replacement windows and frames, new lifts and toilets, a new extended glazed reception, new metal tiled ceilings and extensive external re-landscaping.


The letting leaves only 14,000 sq ft available on the second floor. For more information on the available space please contact the letting agents, Hicks Baker and Haslams.


Details:


0118-9211515 www.haslams.co.uk


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