SPACED OUT
Edition 1 – Autumn 2013
WELCOME TO THE WORKPLAYCE
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e’ve had something of a makeover at Paramount Interiors. We’re still at the forefront of office design and furniture trends and, as always, creating the most effective workplaces for our clients, but we felt that the time was right to update our brand and marketing strategy. We wanted everything to be as impressive, forward thinking and innovative as our new ShowOffice, which meant a new logo, strapline, website, promotional video and this, our first edition of Spaced Out. Our new marketing strategy is built around the fact that we create workplaces which make the best use of technology, embracing future generations of workers whilst motivating, retaining and attracting the
top people. We do this by maximising the use of space, hence our new tagline ‘Optimising Space’. Our new video recognises the fact that the workers of the future are actually still children today and if businesses want to attract them when they join the workplace they’ll have to create an innovative, engaging office space. You can find out more about our video shoot inside. Check out our new look today and visit our brand new website paramountinteriors.com FOLLOW US ON TWITTER FIND US ON FLICKR FIND US ON LINKEDIN
INSIDE THIS EDITION • Who’s new at Paramount • Behind the scenes at our video shoot • What’s been keeping us busy • Optimising Welsh business • The latest office trends • Space Talk
WELCOME TO THE FIRST EDITION OF SPACED OUT
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t’s our opportunity to update you on everything that’s happening at Paramount. Thanks to our relationship with Steelcase and Kinnarps, two of the world’s leading office furniture manufacturers, you can also keep on top of the latest developments in the world of office design and furniture.
We’ve had a very busy 2013 and have completed some exciting projects for some great clients, including the likes of Go Compare, Cassidian and Capita Symonds. Back in January we opened our new ShowOffice in Summers House on Paramount Business Park, which has already hosted a consultation with the Silk Commission and the first board meeting of the new Cardiff Business Council. If you haven’t seen our ShowOffice yet just let us know and we’ll arrange a visit. I’m very excited to be launching our new marketing strategy, in particular our new website and video which we had great fun shooting. I’m also pleased that Macmillan Cancer Support is our official charity this year and I know the team are putting a lot of effort into raising as much money as we can for such a great cause. I hope you enjoy your first ‘Spaced Out’ experience. Let us know what you think! Best Wishes
Nigel Roberts, Managing Director nigel.roberts@paramountinteriors.com @NigelRoberts15
Brian Winward
LOOK WHO’S JOINED US
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e’re happy to welcome two new faces to Paramount; Brian Winward joins us as Regional Director with specific responsibility for developing new business within the South West of England, along the M4 corridor and in London. He brings over 40 years’ experience within the interior design industry. Following a successful internship with our Design team, first class honours graduate in Interior Design, Gareth Davies, is now a full time Junior Interior Designer.
Gareth Davies
Gareth Davies, Joseff Smith & Iwan Jones
Steve Rabone
IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO LEARN
OUR VERY OWN FUTURE WORKERS
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teve Rabone, our Managing Quantity Surveyor, is re-living his student days by taking the ‘20Twenty Leadership for Construction’ Post Graduate Certificate; a 12 month course with Cardiff Metropolitan University aiming to improve performance in construction. When asked about his return to learning Steve said, “I wanted to prove I could still challenge myself. I’ve now written a Strategic Growth Project for Paramount and made some new friends too!”
n the spirit of welcoming future generations to the workplace three interns joined Paramount Interiors for eight weeks over the summer months. Two of them came from the Go Wales scheme which offers students and graduates in Wales the chance to gain paid, project-based work experience. It was a great opportunity for a new generation of workers to get a taste of employment and it worked out well for us too, as mentioned above, with one of the interns joining Paramount full time.
‘FUTURE WORKERS’ - A PARAMOUNT PRODUCTION When we decided to shoot a video that showcased our fantastic ShowOffice we didn’t want it to be your average office tour, because we don’t work in an average office. We wanted it to highlight the way that we design offices. Today’s schoolchildren are the workers of the future and we realise that they are going to shape the way that everyone will work in years to come. For that reason businesses need to create an office environment that’s going to attract and retain them when they join the workplace. That’s why, on the 5th and 6th of July, we opened our doors to some of these Future Workers and gave them free reign to use our ShowOffice however they liked! As you can imagine they had a lot of fun, jumping on the furniture and enjoying themselves! You can see the finished video on our newly designed website; paramountinteriors.com They say ‘never work with animals or children’ but, as you can see from the pictures, everyone had a great time and we’re enormously proud of the finished product! Thanks to Wordley Productions for doing such a great job on the video.
WHAT’S BEEN KEEPING US BUSY?
CASSIDIAN SECURE PARAMOUNT’S SERVICES
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e recently designed, built and furnished the new Experience Centre for global defence and security company Cassidian at its UK headquarters in Newport. Built to host partners, suppliers, senior politicians, military and civil servants, the centre will be used to showcase the company’s products and systems and act as a technology hub and meeting place. The design included a Touchlab, the only one of its kind in the UK, which serves as a giant iPad for virtual presentations, with a central column incorporated into the design as the tail of a plane to reflect Cassidian’s aeronautical connections and glowing LED plinths as portable display units. Martin Rowse, Chief of Staff at Cassidian UK, had some very kind words to say - “It has been an absolute pleasure working with the Paramount team. The initial design inspiration really sold it from the start, and to see that vision come to life makes me very proud of the space that we now have.”
GO COMPARE SING PARAMOUNT’S PRAISES
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he team at GoCompare.com approached us to help them bring to life their ideas for eight specifically themed rooms at their new offices; the Mod Room, Indoor/Outdoor Room, Disco Room, Retro ‘70s Lounge, Millennium Stadium Room, Sports Room, Cardiff Monopoly Room and Severn Bridge Room. We sought out the shiniest disco balls, the best cow print beanbags, fake grass that wouldn’t snag on furniture, snazzy wall graphics and authentic looking ‘70s style fabrics that complied with today’s safety standards. There were more kind words from Kath Denton, Operations Director at Go Compare - “You have a fabulous team who did an excellent job to a very high standard. Nothing was too much trouble, thanks so much for making a daunting task much easier!”
CARDIFF MEANS BUSINESS
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ot content with being our very own Managing Director, Nigel Roberts was also recently announced as Chairman of the Cardiff Business Council. The body, set up by Cardiff Council to promote the capital and grow its economy, held the first meeting of its advisory board at Paramount’s ShowOffice in July. Nigel will be responsible for heading up the Council’s arms-length company, communicating the views and interests of all businesses in Cardiff to the Council. It will also support the marketing and promotion of the city encouraging growth via business-tobusiness activities.
BOOK YOUR OWN MEETING! If you would like to use our Show Office free of charge for your own meeting or seminar, get in touch today by emailing angie.scarrett@ paramountinteriors.com Left to right: Slik Commission Members - Eurfyl ap Gwilym, Trefor Glyn Jones, Paul Silk, Nick Bourne and Noel Lloyd with Mark Parkinson of the Commission Secretariat.
OPTIMISING WELSH BUSINESS
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n April Paramount Interiors’ ShowOffice played host to a unique meeting between six members of the Silk Commission and some of Wales’ leading businesses.
The Silk Commission was set up to review and recommend changes to the Welsh Assembly’s devolved powers. Its first report, on financial powers, recommended that the Assembly be given tax raising and borrowing powers.
Public consultation on the second part of the commission’s remit on non-financial powers closed on September 27th. Concerned by a lack of involvement with local Welsh businesses, our Managing Director, Nigel Roberts, organised the consultation meeting to allow senior Welsh executives to put forward their views and opinions.
Topics included transport infrastructure for Wales, financial help to boost growth and employment and how the decision to abolish the WDA has adversely affected Wales’ position as a destination for foreign investors. Paul Silk, Chairman of the Silk Commission, said it had been a great evening that had given them plenty of food for thought!
WHAT WE’RE UP TO September - Team Tough Mudder Challenge in aid of Macmillan September – 100% Design, London September - Macmillan Coffee Morning, Summers House October – Cardiff Half Marathon in aid of Macmillan November - Women in Property networking event, Summers House
ARE YOU SITTING COMFORTABLY?
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ight now we’re big fans of the new Steelcase Gesture Chair; the first chair designed to support the way that people interact with new mobile technology. Steelcase conducted a global posture study and discovered nine new seating positions based on the way that people use tablets, smartphones and other mobile devices. As a result of this the Gesture’s back was designed to cradle the user no matter their posture. Its arms move like human arms, rotating to
support texting on a smartphone, typing on a keyboard or swiping on a tablet. The seat is flexible all the way to the edges supporting the user in a range of positions. Gesture was created for the way we work today, and we love it! You can try out the Steelcase Gesture for yourself by arranging a visit to our ShowOffice – simply email kym.alexander@paramountinteriors.com
DOING OUR BIT
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e’re proud that Macmillan Cancer Support is our official charity for 2103. With several of our team and their relatives being touched by the effects of cancer, we’re hoping to raise over £5,000 for the charity.
The L’Etape Du Tour Team
PARAMOUNT ON TOUR
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n Sunday July 7th former England and Glamorgan cricketers, Matt Maynard and Steve James were joined by former Wales rugby international, Rhys Williams and several other brave souls as they took to the French Alps with 11,475 other amateur cyclists for the gruelling L’Etape Du Tour.
Paramount was proud to sponsor the team, riding in aid of the Tom Maynard Trust, who managed to raise over £6,500. We love the shirts, although judging by the photo you have to be a celeb to face forward!
Our more energetic members of staff recently took part in the Tough Mudder Event and the Cardiff Half Marathon while everyone else enjoyed a nice relaxing coffee morning. You can check our progress and make a donation at justgiving.com/teams/ paramountofficeinteriors If you would like to get involved you can e-mail us at supportmacmillan@ paramountinteriors.com
TALK RISESPACE OF THE KNOWLEDGE WORKER
Helen Bartlett
THE DEATH OF THE OFFICE?
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hen I think back to the very first office I worked in it was very different to the one I’m in today. I’m lucky enough to work in our rather special ShowOffice, but the idea of the office is a much more flexible concept nowadays with many people spending more and more time working outside of the traditional workplace. When CEO of Yahoo, Marissa Myer, announced that employees could no longer work from home there was an outcry. In a world of web based businesses, where video conferencing often replaces the weekly meeting in the boardroom, a move like this was bound to spark controversy. Wherever you stand on the subject of remote working, one thing is clear, the workplace is changing and companies need to embrace that change if they want to be successful.
CONTACT US
But does all this talk of flexible working mean the death of the office? Not necessarily. Flexible working needn’t mean working from home; it just means the place where your staff are most productive! In a few years the so called Generation Z, born between 1995 and 2012, are poised to enter the workplace with little or no knowledge of a world without the internet. Their outlook on work is being shaped by social media and mobile technology. Adapting to embrace this new generation is important but not at the expense of losing talented and experienced staff, so the workplace of the future will need to attract and retain in equal measures. As a member of Generation X, my experience of the working world has been very different to Generations Y and Z, but finding a place where we can all comfortably interact is important.
One solution is a combination of areas where employees can get together and share ideas along with quiet areas for concentration and privacy. We know this works because it’s the approach we’ve taken at our own ShowOffice, with areas for collaboration, communal hot desks, a breakout lounge and even a gym! Designing a great looking office and filling it with furniture isn’t enough anymore, you have to consider the culture that you want to create. That’s what the workplace of the future is all about, and that’s what we do at Paramount.
Helen Bartlett, Design Manager, born 1973 If you have any thoughts about this feel free to contact Helen helen. bartlett@paramountinteriors.com Check out the space blog on our new website for more articles paramountinteriors.com/spaceblog
paramountinteriors.com | info@paramountinteriors.com Cardiff 029 2083 9800 | London 020 7167 6811