London Archives - Page 4 of 4 - Magenta Associates

Thoughts from Workplace Futures

Arriving at a conference by cable car does lend a certain sophistication to the event. But the success of yesterday’s Workplace Futures conference was less …

Cathy Hayward awarded CIPR’s Post Graduate Diploma in PR

Cathy Hayward, Magenta’s managing director, has been awarded the Chartered Institute of Public Relations Post-Graduate Diploma in PR with distinction. Cathy completed the year-long, part-time …

Cathy Hayward named deputy chair of the BIFM London region

Cathy Hayward, Magenta’s managing director, has been named joint deputy chair of the BIFM London region for the next 12 months. She will work with …

Cathy Hayward named BIFM regional committee member of the year

Cathy Hayward, managing director of Magenta Associates, a communications and PR agency for the facilities management and support services sectors, has been named as one …

Richard Byatt to cycle the London to Brighton

Magenta account director Richard Byatt, is to cycle the London to Brighton this weekend in aid of the British Heart Foundation. Byatt, who has cycled …

Doesn’t Boris Johnson need to chill out anymore?

What a shame that London mayor Boris Johnson has bowed to pressure and axed two so-called “chill-out” spaces at City Hall. The report in today’s FM World Daily claims that the business lounges where staff can read, eat and hold informal meetings are being removed to make way for more desks.

The “chill-out” spaces have caused controversy because of the big expense to fit them out – about £25,000 (not that much when you consider the building’s overall budget but the Evening Standard kicked up a big fuss at the time). Some chairs apparently cost nearly £900 each, four high tables cost £2,000 each and carpets added another £4,170, according to the FM World report (although that may well be the list price and a substantial discount was achieved). In any case surely setting the spaces up and then demolishing them 12 months later is the real waste of money?

Where not to work

New technology and flexible working mean that 21st century workers can find themselves setting up a temporary office almost anywhere. But while some locations make …

London: the city that’s never dark

I’ve just got my hands on Jason Hawkes’ London at Night,
a beautiful, glossy coffee-table book with stunning photographs of the capital in darkness. It is also a sad illustration of the light pollution lack in the UK’s biggest city. Because when I say “darkness’ I refer only to a lack of sunlight. Every image on every page is flooded with light. Some are street or car lights, or lights from bars and restaurants – all probably necessary to some degree. But the majority of brightness comes from office buildings.