As we stood knee deep in bubble wrap with muscles aching in places we never knew we had, it dawned on us that we had taken on a massive challenge – but that we were finally almost there. Moving 150 people from three different offices in Edinburgh city centre, to one super hub with purpose-built interiors, plenty of room and high-spec technology is no easy feat, especially when attempting to do it in no more than 12 weeks!
Skyscanner’s first real home was ‘The Bourse’ in Leith; a small office with room for just about enough people to get Skyscanner going. With the success of the first few years, we outgrew that space going from 4 to 50 people, and so we moved to a new office in Edinburgh city centre. Located next to Waverley station, The Stamp Office boasted a huge designer reception, bright open spaces with plenty of space for chair races and a lunch room with a classic arcade machine. It was so big, we thought we’d never be able to fill the space…but just two years later, we had almost tripled our headcount and torn down the walls of the lunch area to fit desks for more staff. So it was time to look for a new home.
In the background, the project management team worked tirelessly to ensure that contractors finish the building on time. We now have over 5000 metres of cable, high speed Wi-Fi, an advanced server room, glass walls, tens of meeting pod spaces with exotic names, monitoring screens, a library, day beds and even branded cups and glasses… It all looks very Skyscanner.
On the day of the move, the last of the packing had to be done by 12pm. Staff packed their monitors, computers and phones into crates ready for pick-up and waved goodbye to personal boxes with favourite mugs, post-it selections and various books, hand creams and mascots. As lunchtime arrived, and we realised that productivity was somewhat challenging, the crowds started leaving the office; some for long lunches, some for work-related meetings or coffee shop laptop sessions – but many headed for the pub… The only thing we had on the agenda for the rest of the day was a 4pm drinks reception in the new office, so a few sneaky pints, while the crates were moved and the deserted offices were tidied up and cleaned of three years’ worth of laptop dust and pennies in between old wires, was a good idea.
But although we had now officially moved in, there was still lots left to do over the weekend. A team of people ignored their hangovers and came in from 9am on Saturday morning to unpack computer crates, mount monitors, put cables and wires in place, set up desk phones and get all those details sorted: books on shelves, awards on display, stationary cupboards (and even a stationary vending machine!) stocked, fridges filled with drinks and coffee machines with coffee beans. It was hard work and took 20 people two full days to finish, but when Monday dawned 130 people could come in to their new desks (as far as we know, nobody went to the wrong office…), put their personal touch to their new desk, and get to work. And now we’ve been here for 24 hours, and productivity is already increasing beyond our normal levels – it must be all that coffee!
Edinburgh, Europe, Scotland, United Kingdom, design, office, People
