REFLECTING ON COVID-19 WITH CO-FOUNDER,
STELLA GITTINS_

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT FROM THE PANDEMIC?

We find ourselves in a time like no other. A time that has never been experienced for a generation, a time when the world is a captive audience and we have realised that we are all equal. I find it amazing how people have come together. I have read about COVID-19 being the rocket fuel which is fast tracking new trends into mainstream thinking. As the pandemic starts to subside, I am stopping to think about lessons learnt and how we can grow from it.

Continuously evolving is always a key focus for me whether that’s evolving our designs, our skills, our environment and our teams personal and career ambitions.  This time has been so valuable for reflection and understanding and I feel super excited about the new norms that will evolve from this. 

THE STUDIO

Remote working is not a new concept, in fact in the A.LONDON studio the teams have been free to work from home on a weekly basis. As well as this, flexible working patterns have been encouraged for some time now. However, it was intriguing to witness how many people still came to the office on a daily basis; I wonder how we will we feel working in an office again?

During lockdown, the team have had no choice but to work from home, and throughout this period we have proven how productive and connected we can still be through advancing technologies. Zoom Bake Offs, Yoga sessions, Morning PT, Friday Socials and party trick workshops keep us connected socially, however how do we maintain a creative, collaborative environment where ideas burst and friendships form long term?

Casually stopping at someone’s desk where a spontaneous interaction sparks a spontaneous idea can’t be a thing of the past. Keeping our culture alive will rely on us finding balance, enjoying more flexibility in our home vs work life and making office life a very enticing prospect.

This week we made the move to our new premises at Mortimer House in Fitzrovia which will be home to the A.LONDON Fabric Library and Scheming room. We will continue to encourage our teams to work from home through the short to medium term, and as we welcome the teams back to the office, it will be in the form of a ‘destination’ setting, a private club environment where they can access A.LONDON facilities alongside a state of the art gym, bar, lounges and meditation zone. We will encourage good health and fitness more than ever, provide an exciting and safe environment for those that decide to work in the city for the day, and we will ensure that the environment itself encourages free flowing ideas and culture that evolves out of our values.

THE HOME

Being in lockdown I feel more connected than ever. From within my home I speak to my relatives in the U.S.A. almost weekly and some of them I hadn’t spoken to in years. However, who else over indulged in a quiz at the beginning? Who battled with the issue of telling people you weren’t available even when you were at home? Zoom fatigue is a real thing! Zoom, Teams, Slack, FaceTime and Skype technologies have always been there, but now we have been forced to make them a way of life and they are certainly life enhancing. There is a balance though. 

I have also been able to witness my toddler speak new words, learn new skills and spend more time with her and my husband as a family. I keep saying that I will never get this time again but actually on reflection I am more encouraged to consider how I balance this precious time with work life ongoing.

THE ENVIRONMENT

I have been absolutely fascinated with stories about the world is healing itself and the most amazing thing is that it has healed in such a short space of time. Air pollution levels have plummeted, the canals in Venice are clearing, animals are re-claiming land already! This proves to me that the little changes do add up and that every single individual can make a difference. 

We will continue to work towards becoming carbon neutral in the workplace and have already achieved an ISO 140001 accreditation, we will consistently assess how our schemes can be sustainable by the use of antiques, local artisans and kind materials and we will actively encourage our teams to be using their charitable hour allocations to give back.