Repurposing retail and learning to flex

COMMENT Yogi Berra was not an “anthropomorphic funny animal” well known to those of us over 40 who had little choice in our childhood viewing besides three terrestrial TV channels, but was in fact a professional baseball catcher.   Notwithstanding his athletic prowess (he made the “All Star” team 18 times), he will probably live longer in history as a purveyor of pithy aphorisms, my favourite of which is “it’s like déjà vu all over again”. Given that we’re living in unprecedented times (not only in the usage of the word unprecedented), how come I seem to be getting a feeling of “where have I heard this all before?” while reading the property and business papers? Unfortunately it’s the sight, once again, of industry titans queueing up to extol the virtues of their business models in the face of overwhelming evidence that the world is moving on. I hope it’s not too harsh to suggest that the leading members of the office sector might be having their own Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf moment in the way we did in the retail industry a few years ago: “There is no presence of American infidels in the city of Baghdad.” – Comical Ali, 2003. “We intend to deliver continuing growth in like-for-like rental income over the coming years.” – David Fischel, 2017. “There will be no long-term change in occupier demand.” – Every office investor, now. The need for a hub To be clear, and to prevent this article becoming the latest in a growing canon of missives turning the issue of office work versus working from home into a culture war, I am delighted to announce that Ellandi has reopened an office – and it is right in the heart of London’s West End. We have not done this to save Pret. We have done it for two principal and very sound reasons. Firstly, it is our response to the needs and wellbeing of our staff – often younger colleagues who don’t have the privilege of a dedicated office at home, like the one I’m writing this in. Secondly, given the expansion drive that Ellandi is on, we needed a hub where we can come together to top up our esprit de corps and baptise our new recruits in the “Ellandi way”. Perhaps interestingly, though, we haven’t taken the five-year lease of our own demise that we had planned to pre-lockdown, but have become part of The Office Group. The Ellandi team has been encouraged to look at this arrangement as a membership, giving it access to all of the facilities of Henry Wood House and the wider TOG portfolio. The fact that we have a specific demise set aside in one small part is just one of the features of our agile working ethos – obviously supported by a significant investment in IT that we made pre-Covid to allow on-site, at-home or frankly “wherever” working. Shops as a service What has been refreshing about the whole experience is the process we went through to take this space – the excellence of staff dedicated to customer service in difficult times and the short-form contract to help us occupy quickly (who needs a lease?). This is an approach that the retail industry needs to learn from as we look to build new operating models, fit for the future, for our town centres. Can I claim authorship of the #shopsasaservice now, or has Antony Slumbers already coined that one? Take it from a leading retail apocalypse denier – if you’re taking to the press to urge customers to use your product, you are probably behind the curve on the change continuum. Wishing things to be won’t make them so, and past success is no guide to the future – or, as Mr Berra observed: “Even Napoleon had his Watergate.” Mark Robinson is co-founder and property director of Ellandi Image © Monkey Business/REX/Shutterstock