There is a general impression that universities are magical playgrounds of societies, fun and facilities whereas offices are grey lumps of concrete of varying sizes, filled with grey lumps of human of varying sizes. Not so.
Top employers realised long ago that the ambit of a great employee experience includes the working environment. From Facebook’s low office temperatures (supposed to increase creativity) to Queen Victoria’s penchant for making ministers stand in meetings so they kept them brief, managers have many ways of keeping their offices conducive to a successful company.
But every now and then a company creates a working environment which takes care of its most important assets, its homo sapiens individuals, the homines sapientes in the plural.
Pentland Brands custom built their offices to reflect their energetic and creative spirits. Fittingly for a company in charge of sports brands Berghaus, Speedo and Mitre they have gyms, an Olympic sized pool, sporting teams and beautiful outside spaces, the address isn’t "The Lakeside" for no reason. In keeping with their fashion side (Lacoste, Ted Baker etc) they’ve got discount outlets for staff and a relaxed dress code.
Their new home won The Best Corporate Workplace in the UK on completion and they garner awards left right and centre for the quality of their staff training, team ethic, and positive working environment. It shows in the figures too. A billion pound company that is family owned and run (but with 16,000 employees worldwide) must be doing something right.
What’s more, they aren’t just London based, they actually have opportunities for grads in the East Midlands and Manchester too.
So, if you’ve just graduated or will be finishing your degree next year, click hereto see that a post-university job can be based on a campus more exciting and better equipped than the one you’ve just left.
Oh, and you’ll be paid to be there.